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Stories Behind Popular Sayings
2022.05.08
BLUEPRINT
The Hong Kong Government published the "Hong Kong Smart City Blueprint 2.0" in 2020. As a plan, Blueprint 2.0 puts forth over 130 initiatives embracing innovation and technology to build a world-famous Smart Hong Kong. Why is a blueprint called a blueprint when the print is black?   In the mid-1800s, John Herschel, a British polymath, invented the blueprint method. It has been used in construction and other fields to make an unlimited number of technical or engineering drawings at a rapid rate.   In the blueprint process, someone creates a drawing on semi-transparent paper. Then the drawing is placed over a piece of chemically coated paper. When the two papers are exposed to ultraviolet light, the background becomes blue, while the drawn lines block the coated paper from exposure and these lines remain white.   For almost a century, the blueprint technique was more cost-effective than hand-copying drawings. In the early 20th century, while it was gradually replaced by inexpensive, modern printing methods, the word "blueprint" figuratively still means a detailed plan that explains how something might be achieved.   香港政府於2020年公布《香港智慧城巿藍圖2.0》。作為一個計劃, 《藍圖2.0》提出超過130項措施,擁抱創科,構建一個世界聞名的智慧香港。既然印刷字體是黑色的,為甚麼blueprint被稱為blueprint?   18世紀中葉,英國博學之士約翰・赫歇爾發明了藍圖的製作方法。它一直用於建築和其他行業,能迅速地製成數目不限的技術製圖或工程圖。   在製作藍圖過程中,人們在半透明的紙張上繪畫一幅圖,然後把繪圖放在一張已塗上化學品的紙張上。當兩張紙在紫外光下曝光的時候,背景就變成藍色,而畫好的線條則阻擋塗層紙接觸到紫外光,於是這些線條依然是白色的。   近一個世紀以來,藍圖技術比手抄的繪圖更具成本效益。20世紀初,它漸漸被廉價的現代印刷方法所取代,而blueprint(藍圖)一字在比喻意義上,仍然意指一個闡明如何可以做到某事的詳細規劃。