昔日文章

To learn about British and American variants for the same sense 認識英式和美式英語之別 T : Thomas  J : Joe   J : Hello Thomas! So good to bump into you here. You know what? I was thinking of talking to you. T : Hi Joe! I am glad too, but why did you say that? J : Because I have got a couple of words I am not sure whether they should be considered British or American English words. Here I have got a short list… (showing the list on his phone) T : (saying aloud): garbage; semester; store; cab; downtown; fall; lift; pants; sidewalk…Is that all? J : There should be quite a few more, but those are not on my phone. T : Actually, people like us functioning in English are using such American English words all the time, and the British counterparts as well, interchangeably, so to speak. J : I see. Can you tell me the British equivalent for each? T : Sure…(speaking smilingly)…rubbish for garbage; term for semester; shop for store; taxi for cab; town centre for downtown; autumn for fall; elevator for lift; trousers for pants; and pavement for sidewalk. J : That’s another lesson for me today. Shall we go for lunch together?     J : 您好，Thomas！很高興在這裡碰到你。我正想找你談談。 T : Joe，你好！我也很高興遇上你，不過你為何想找我？ J : 因為我有幾個英文詞彙不肯定它們是英式英語，還是美式英語。我這裡有一個名單……（他拿出手機顯示該名單） T :（放聲朗讀）：garbage；semester；store；cab； downtown；fall；lift；pants；sidewalk……還有其他嗎？ J : 應該還有一些詞彙，不過我沒有紀錄在手機裡。 T : 實際上，像我們使用英語的人，經常使用那些美式英語，而與之有對應涵義的英式字詞，兩者可以交替使用。 J : 原來如此。可以告訴我意思相對應的英式英語嗎﹖ T : 當然可以。（笑著說）……rubbish（垃圾）對應garbage； term（學期）對應semester；shop（商店）對應store； taxi（計程車）對應cab；town centre（市中心）對應downtown；autumn（秋天）對應fall；elevator（升降機） 對應 lift；trousers（長褲）對應 pants；and pavement（行人路）對應 sidewalk. J : 今天又上了一課。不如我們一起吃午餐?