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Stories Behind Popular Sayings
2022.05.29
Lightbulb moment
If you look around, what types of electric lights can you see? In modern society, the most common electric lights are incandescent lamps, fluorescent lamps and LED lamps. Of these three, incandescent light bulbs have the longest history. This technology completely changed people's daily lives in the late 19th century and dominated the lighting industry in the 20th century.   In terms of symbolism, a light bulb often represents a clever idea because its invention was revolutionary. Thus, the expression " lightbulb moment " means a moment when you suddenly realise something or have new inspiration. For example: In a lightbulb moment, the mathematician came up with a ground-breaking equation.   However, the origin of the phrase is said to be related to an illuminated light bulb above a cat's head in a comic strip. Some scholars suggested that this figurative meaning was first expressed in " Felix the Cat " , a children's comedy cartoon created during the silent film era.   In recent decades, incandescent light bulbs have been replaced by LED lights, which are cheaper, more durable, and more environmentally friendly.   如果你四下張望,你看到哪些種類的電燈?在現代城市裡,最常見的電燈是鎢絲燈、螢光燈和LED燈。三者之中,鎢絲燈的歷史最悠久。這種科技在19世紀末完全改變了人們的日常生活,並且在20世紀支配了照明業。   就象徵意義而言,燈泡通常表示聰明的想法,因為燈泡的發明具有變革意義。因此, 「light bulb moment」這個語句的意思是,你突然有所領悟或得到新啟發。例如: 在靈光一現(light bulb moment)中,數學家想出了一個石破天驚的方程式。   然而,這個語句據說是源於連環漫畫中一隻貓頭上的一盞明亮燈泡。有些學者提出,這個比喻意義最初見於默片時代創作的兒童卡通喜劇──「菲力貓」。   近幾十年來,鎢絲燈泡已經被LED燈取代,因為後者更便宜、更耐用,而且更環保。  
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Stories Behind Popular Sayings
2022.05.22
Think outside the box
Here is a puzzle in the form of a square or a box of three rows with three dots each. Please connect the nine dots with four straight lines continuously, without lifting your pencil from the paper. You have one minute to complete this task. Are you able to solve this puzzle?   Some of you may not have been able to get the solution because you think that you must stay within the box consisting of the nine dots. If you want to solve this " nine dots puzzle" , you must think beyond the square.   Since its creation in the early 20th century, the nine dots puzzle has been widely adopted by psychologists and management consultants. In the 1970s, the expression " think outside the box " became a cliché, especially in the business world. For example, Our company is recruiting young people who can think outside the box.   In modern world, the ability to think outside the box may help employees to think creatively and in an unconventional manner in the face of challenges.   這裡有一個智力謎題:此正方形或框框分為3行、每行有3個點。請你在筆不離紙的情況下,用4條相連的直線,把9個點連接起來。你有1分鐘完成這個題目。你能否解決這個智力遊戲?   你們當中有些人也許未能找到解決方法,因為你們覺得必須留在這個由9個點所組成的框框之內。如果你想解決這個「九點圖智力謎題」,你必須超越正方形去思考。   九點圖智力謎題在20世紀初被發明以來,就一直獲得心理學家和管理顧問廣泛採用。70年代,「think outside the box」這個語句成為了陳腔濫調,特別是在商業世界裡。例如:我們的公司正在招募能夠跳出傳統的思維框框(think outside the box)的年輕人。   在現代世界裡,具備獨闢蹊徑的思考能力或能幫助僱員在面對挑戰時,以具創意且不因循守舊的方式思考。  
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Stories Behind Popular Sayings
2022.05.15
Wet blanket
You might have thought that the idiom " wet blanket ”is related to the discomfort that campers feel when they are covered by a soaked blanket during unexpected stormy weather. However, it is surprising that its origin is connected to fire.   As fire spreads fast and destroys everything, it is important to keep our premises safe from fire. A way of fighting a small fire is to keep fire extinguishers in residential buildings and schools.   Many years before the first fire extinguisher was patented in England in 1723, people normally kept a wet blanket in the kitchen. In case of a fire, they used the wet blanket to smother the flames quickly.   The expression " wet blanket ”was first used figuratively in the late 18th century. When someone is a " wet blanket ”or " throws a wet blanket ”over something, this means that he or she spoils or dampens other people's fun, as a wet blanket smothers fire. For example, She was such a wet blanket at the birthday party last Saturday that nobody would invite her again.   你也許以為「wet blanket」這個習語與露營人士在突如其來的暴風雨天氣中,身上因蓋著濕透的被子而感到不舒適有關。可是,令人詫異的是,它的起源卻是與火有關的。   由於火蔓延得很快且毀滅一切東西,因此重要的是確保我們的處所避免發生火災。撲滅小火的一個方法是在住宅樓宇和學校內存放滅火器。   首個滅火器於1723年在英國取得專利。在此之前的許多年,人們通常在廚房裡存放一張濕被子。一旦發生火警,他們就用濕被子迅速地悶熄火焰。   「Wet blanket」這個詞句的比喻意義首次在18世紀末出現。如果某人是wet blanket或向某事某物「throws a wet blanket」,這即是說他或她破壞他人的興致,或令人掃興,猶如一張濕被子把火悶熄。例如:她上星期六在生日會上異常掃興(wet blanket),所以沒有人會再邀請她了。  
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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。