昔日文章

Using " in case of "correctly 認識 In case of 的涵義和用法 T：Thomas     M：Matthew   T: Hello Matthew! Haven’t been seeing you for quite some time. What are you up to these days? M: Sorry to cool down your cheerfulness. I have been unwell. My doctor told me to call the ambulance, just in case I feel severe pain in my heart.   T: You must take extra care of yourself. Yes, in case of emergency one must do that, or get someone close by to do that at once. M: Thanks for your concern. Certainly. If in case of emergency, I will do that.   T: Exactly. But Matthew, what you just said, if in case of emergency, that’s not correct in English. M: Really? (embarrassingly)   T: To be correct, either we can say, or write, “in case of emergency” OR “if there is an emergency”. “In case of” is a prepositional phrase, used to describe what should be done if something happens. So, adding an “if” to “in case of” is superfluous, and sounds wrong. Do you agree? M: Yes. You’re right. We do need to be careful about even minor things in English. Sorry, I’ve got to go now.   T: Take good care of yourself and get well soon!   T: Matthew您好！好久沒見了。你近來在忙甚麼？ M: 恕我掃興地告訴你，我一直感到不舒服。醫生叮囑我，萬一當我感到心胶痛，要叫救護車。   T: 你要多多保重。對，在緊急情況下必須這樣做，或找鄰近的人馬上幫忙。 M: 多謝關心。 如果萬一在緊急情況下，我會這樣做。   T: 正是。不過，Matthew，你剛才說「If in case of emergency」，在英文的文法裡是不正確的。 M: 真的嗎？（一臉尷尬）   T: 當說話或寫作時，不論用「in case of emergency」或者「if there is an emergency」，都是正確的。In case of 是介係詞片語 (prepositional phrase)，用來描述「假若當事情發生時我們該做些甚麼」。所以，在in case of 前再加上具有「如果、假若」意思的 「if」，則有點多餘及意思重疊。你同意嗎？ M: 是的，你說得對。在英語運用上，即使細微事情也需要小心。不好意思，我現在要走了。   T: 保重身體，祝你早日康復！  

Today is Mother's Day. Have you prepared any gift for your mother? A website has posted some Mother's Day gift ideas for shoppers. One of the gift options is a tote bag which fits " everything but the kitchen sink " inside. The website blogger says that these bags are environmentally friendly, durable and perfect for mothers who need to bring just about everything imaginable when going out.  The expression " everything but the kitchen sink " literally means everything with the exception of the kitchen sink. This exaggerated term became popular during the Second World War. Soldiers used almost everything that they could think of as weapons during intense bombardment.  The saying was found in a daily newspaper as early as 1911 in the USA. An American described a meal he had at the house of a Russian princess: " It was a thick, sour soup, and I am sure that it had everything in it but the kitchen sink. "  Some scholars have suggested that this expression might have come from a similar phrase " everything but the kitchen stove " , which first appeared in 1897. 今天是母親節。你為母親準備了禮物嗎？有一個網站張貼了一些母親節禮物的建議，以供顧客瀏覽。其中一個禮物選擇，是一個適合把各式各樣的東西（everything but the kitchen sink）放進去的手提袋。網站博客表示，這些手提袋符合環保原則、耐用且對外出時需要攜帶幾乎一切想像得到的東西的母親，最適合不過。 1911年在美國的一份日報裡找到。 一個美國人記述他在一位俄羅斯公主家裡用膳： It was a thick, sour soup, and I am sure that it had everything in it but the kitchen sink. 有些學者提出，這個用語也許來自一個類似的片語everything but the kitchen stove。後者最初在1897年出現。     捐款支持公教報  http://kkp.org.hk/donation

What are the largest mammals in the world? Whales, especially blue whales, are the largest living mammal species on earth. Since whales are extremely big, what is the meaning of the slang phrase " a whale of a time " ?  This phrase has nothing to do with the biblical story of Jonah, who was swallowed by a " great fish ". A lot of English versions often translate this into " whale ".  The expression started to appear in the English language in the 19th century. According to " Student Slang " written by Willard C. Gore in 1895 in the USA, " a whale " carries two meanings: (1) a person who is exceptionally strong or brilliant, as in " he is a whale in mathematics ". (2) Something exceptionally large, as in " a whale of a banquet " or something exceptionally jolly, as in " a whale of a time ". Nowadays, " a whale of a time " has become the more common colloquialism.  Due to the Covid-19 pandemic , many governments have already advised their citizens to observe the social distancing rules now if they want to have " a whale of a time " during Christmas.  世界上體積最大的哺乳動物是甚麼？鯨魚，特別是藍鯨，是地球上最龐大的現存哺乳動物物種。由於鯨魚極為龐大，a whale of a time這個俚語是甚麼意思？  這個片語與《聖經》中約納被一條大魚吞噬的故事並無關係。許多英文版本往往將此翻譯為「鯨魚」。 這個語句在19世紀開始出現在英語當中。根據美國威拉德・卡・戈爾於1895年所撰寫的《學生俚語》記載，a whale含有兩個意思：（1）一個格外強壯或卓越的人，例如「他的數學卓絕非凡」（he is a whale in mathematics）。（2）特別龐大，例如「極度大型的宴會」（a whale of a banquet），或者極其愉快，例如「快樂時光」（a whale of a time）。如今，a whale of a time已經成為較為常用的俗語。 由於新冠狀病毒肺炎大流行的緣故，不少政府已經勸諭市民，他們如果希望在聖誕節期間有一段歡樂的時光（a whale of a time），現在就要遵守社交距離規則。    捐款支持公教報  http://kkp.org.hk/donation