Government House has egg on its face
2015/03/19 08:42:11
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生活
| Government House must have egg on its face. It deserves to have egg on its face. It has made Hong Kong a laughing stock in the eyes of many tourists and locals. I am referring to the sign put up last Sunday telling visitors where to line up for the open day at Government House. The sign was so badly spelt that the person responsible should be ashamed of himself. He should be given a talking to by his boss. The sign said: "Quening direction". Government House is the home of our chief executive. Before the 1997 reunification, it was the home of our British colonial governors. It is unacceptable for a sign put outside Government House to be wrongly spelt. There is no such word as "quening". The correct spelling is "queueing" or "queuing". Both are acceptable. They come from the word "queue". As a verb, it means to line up. As a noun, it means a line of people or other things, such as cars. The word "queue" is mostly used in British English. Americans normally say "line". To have "egg on your face" means to feel very foolish or embarrassed. It is very embarrassing for Government House to have a sign that is incorrectly spelt. If you are a laughing stock, it means you have done something so stupid that it makes people laugh at, tease, or ridicule you. Many tourists and locals must have laughed at the incorrectly-spelt sign telling them where to queue up (line up) for the open day at Government House. An open day is a day when the public can visit a place where they are normally not allowed to enter. To give someone a talking to means to scold someone for having done something wrong. If you do something wrong at work, your boss will normally give you a talking to. The expression "in the eyes of" someone means in the opinion of someone. I don't think signs at Government House would have been spelt incorrectly when British governors lived there. Now that Government House has egg on its face, it must make sure signs are not spelt wrongly in the future. ＊ ＊ ＊ 禮賓府實在丟臉（egg on its face），它這樣蒙羞（egg on its face）也是應得的，它令香港成為許多遊客和本地人眼中的（in the eyes of）笑柄（laughing stock）。我指的是星期天禮賓府開放日（open day），指示人在哪裏排隊的告示牌。告示上的串字錯得離譜，負責人好應為自己感到羞恥，更應被他上司狠狠地教訓一頓（talking to）。告示牌上寫着"Quening direction"。禮賓府是我們特首的官邸。九七回歸前，它是英殖政府港督的官邸。禮賓府門外的告示牌串錯字，是不能接受的。 事實上根本就沒有"quening"這個字，正確的串法是"queueing"或"queuing"，兩個字都是對的，來自queue這個字。作動詞用時，它解作排隊；作名詞用時，則解作人們或其他事物，如車輛，等候而成的隊。Queue這個字主要用於英式英語，美國人則多說 line。To have "egg on your face"意即感到很愚笨或丟臉。禮賓府有個串錯字的告示牌，真的令人相當難堪。若你是個laughing stock，即是你做了甚麼蠢事，成為別人的笑柄。許多遊客與本地人也定必取笑這個指示他們怎樣排隊（queue up）進入禮賓府開放日（open day）、卻串錯了字的告示牌。 Open day就是開放日，公眾可參觀平時不能進入的地方。To give someone a talking to意即為着某件錯事給某人一頓責罵或教訓。若你在工作上出錯，你老闆通常也會好好給你一頓罵（talking to）吧。習語"in the eyes of"someone即是在某人眼中。當英籍港督還住在這兒時，我不認為禮賓府的告示會串錯。現在禮賓府這樣丟臉（egg on its face），它應當確保將來的告示都不會再串錯字。 mickchug@gmail.com 中譯:七刻 Michael Chugani 褚簡寧 |
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