"piece of cake"

2015/05/07 08:41:17 網誌分類: 生活

07 May

         I heard a slang expression while watching a movie at home on DVD last week. The expression I heard was "piece of cake". It is a very common American slang expression but I have never heard Hong Kong people use it. Many Hong Kong people are familiar with American slang expressions such as "no big deal" and "give me a break".

         I often hear local people use these expressions. Longhair Leung Kwok-hung says "give me a break" all the time. When I heard the expression "piece of cake" while watching the movie Gravity, it made me wonder why some common slang expressions become popular in Hong Kong and others do not.

         I sometimes eat a piece of cake or a slice of cake for dessert, but "piece of cake" has a different meaning when used as a slang expression. It means something that is very easy to do and is similar to the expression "no problem". For example, you can say: "I passed my English exam easily. It was a piece of cake." It is the same as saying: "I passed my English exam easily. It was no problem." It is similar to the American slang word "cakewalk". You can say: "Winning the boxing match was a cakewalk," which means you won very easily.

        　　There are many other American slang expressions that I seldom hear in Hong Kong. I always think about the expression "drama queen" whenever I see Democratic Party chairwoman Emily Lau Wai-hing being interviewed in English about democracy on TV or radio. A drama queen is a person who reacts to situations too emotionally. It's like that person is putting on a show. Lau Wai-hing often shouts and becomes too emotional when she is interviewed in English about democracy. She looks like she is acting even though I know she really believes in democracy. To "lighten up" means to relax and to not take things too seriously. Lau Wai-hing should lighten up and not behave like a drama queen when she talks about democracy.

        ＊＊＊

         上星期我在家看DVD時，聽到一個俚語，那就是"piece of cake"。它是一個相當常見的美國俚語，可我卻從未聽見有香港人用過。許多香港人也熟悉美國俚語，例如"no big deal"（「沒甚麼大不了」）和"give me a break"（「你算了吧」或「饒了我吧」）。我不時聽到本地人用這些習語。長毛梁國雄就常常說"give me a break"。我觀賞電影《引力邊緣》時聽到習語"piece of cake"，不禁令我深感好奇，為何有些普遍的俚語會在香港流行，有些又不會呢。

        　　我有時會吃件西餅或蛋糕（piece of cake）當甜品，但"piece of cake"當俚語用時，意思可不同了。它是指一件事很易做到，跟習語"no problem"的意思相近。譬如你可以說：「我輕易地通過了英語考試，那簡直是小事一椿（piece of cake）。」這跟"I passed my English exam easily. It was no problem."是一樣的。它亦與美國俚語cakewalk 類似。你可以說："Winning the boxing match was a cakewalk"，亦即是說，贏那場拳賽於你簡直易如反掌。

        　　也有許多其他俚語，我很少在香港聽到。每當我見到民主黨主席劉慧卿接受電視或電台的英語訪問談民主，我便常常想到習語"drama queen"。Drama queen是指一個人對事情的反應太激動，就像演戲一樣。劉慧卿接受英語訪問時，不時呼喊或者變得情緒激動。她看起來像是做戲，即使我知道她真的對民主深信不疑。To lighten up的意思就是放輕鬆，看待事情別那麼嚴肅。劉慧卿好應放鬆一點（lighten up），討論民主時不必像 drama queen那樣大呼小叫的。mickchug@gmail.com

        中譯:七刻

        Michael Chugani 褚簡寧

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