昔日文章

In October, when the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences（瑞典皇家科學院） in Stockholm（斯德哥爾摩）announced Canadian scientist Donna Strickland to be one of the winners of the Nobel Prize in Physics（諾貝爾物理學獎）, a netizen commented that she broke through the “glass ceiling”.  Is this comment positive or negative? The metaphor “glass ceiling” is commonly used in Western countries in modern times to describe an invisible barrier that prevents women or minority groups from gaining promotion or advancement in the workplace.  Strickland shattered the “glass ceiling”, the hard-to-see obstacles in her career, because she is the third woman to win the Nobel Prize in Physics as of 2018, and the first woman to win this prestigious award in 55 years.  The expression “glass ceiling” originated in the USA. Its written form was first used in 1984 by Gay Bryant, a British-born editor who pursued her publishing career in the USA:  “Women have reached a certain point—I call it the glass ceiling. They’re in the top of middle management and they’re stopping and getting stuck.”  According to “BBC 100 Women”, Marilyn Loden, an American management consultant, created the expression “glass ceiling” in 1978 at a meeting about women’s aspirations. While many people believed that fewer women than men could progress to the senior management position because of women’s capabilities, Loden argued that the implicit gender bias was like a “glass ceiling” to further opportunities that people were not aware of.  Can you think of other kinds of glass ceiling （玻璃天花板；無形限制）that women or minority racial groups have to break through in today’s Hong Kong?   Glossary    Netizen  網民 Invisible barrier  無形的障礙 Advancement  晉升；出人頭地 Aspirations  抱負 Senior management position  高級管理職位 Capabilities  才能 Implicit gender bias  隱含的性別偏見 Minority racial groups  少數族群  

When you visit shopping malls or theme parks this week, you will see a lot of spooky decorations such as creepy cobwebs, grey skull masks and black balloons. In recent years, Halloween(萬聖節)events have become more popular among young people. Thus, some people think that the saying “the devil is in the detail” originated from Halloween traditions. However, this expression actually derives from another German proverb, “Der liebe Gott steckt im detail” (“God is in the detail”). The saying “God is in the detail” means that we have to pay attention to the details, which are important, if we want to make our task or plan successful. One day in future, when you are offered an employment contract, your parents might advise you, “Read carefully. The devil is in the detail.” In other words, the contract looks good, but the details may contain problematic terms that make the job less attractive and advantageous to you. This saying can appear in some other patterns: The devil is in the details. ( 魔鬼就在細節裏。) The devil lies in the detail. One of its earliest English versions appeared in a book entitled “The Community of Europe” written by a British journalist, Richard Mayne, in 1963: “On the principle that ‘the devil is in the details’, what should have been a merely formal occasion developed into a debate about the Community’s official languages ....” Some of you may wish to experience a scary Halloween on 31st October. However, it is also important to remember all holy saints on All Saints Day(諸聖節)(1st November) and to pray for the souls of the dead on All Souls’ Day(追思已亡節)(2nd November).  Glossary Spooky 詭異的 Creepy 令人毛骨悚然的 Employment contract 僱傭合約 Terms 條款 Advantageous 有利 Scary 可怕的 Remember 銘記 Souls 靈魂      

Whether you are good at English or not, you might find the expression “OK” very easy to use. This two-letter word is so popular around the world that a lot of non-English speakers even mix it with their own mother tongue. Thus, it is not surprising that you often hear this expression uttered by Hong Kong people from all walks of life.  你OK嗎? ( Are you OK? )  What do the two letters stand for? There are many explanations, and one of the most accepted stories originated in the middle of the 19th century. According to Allen Walker Read, an etymologist, the word “OK” was a shortened version of “oll korrect”, a playful misspelling of “all correct”. He noted that at that time, there was a fad where people deliberately formed acronyms from comical misspellings.  Its written form first appeared in “Boston Morning Post”, an American newspaper, in 1839:  “He … would have the ‘contribution box’, et ceteras, o.k.—all correct—and ….”  Nowadays, the saying “OK” means acceptable or satisfactory. It has several written forms and grammatical functions.  O.K. (好) Let’s start the talk now. (interjection)  Luckily our apartment was ok (沒事) after the typhoon. (adjective)  The manager gave an o.k. (批准) to the proposal. (noun)  I did okay (不錯) in the test. (adverb)  Despite being frequent in daily conversation, you seldom find this expression in formal writing, such as speeches, announcements and official correspondences. Thus, your teacher may not consider it OK if you use it in your homework.    Glossary  All walks of life  社會各階層 Playful  開玩笑的 Comical  滑稽的 Acceptable  可以接受的 Satisfactory  令人滿意的 Speeches  演辭 Announcements  布告 Official correspondences  公函    

Nowadays, it is more affordable for people of all ages to travel aroung the world. While most of us check out the best places for sightseeing and shopping,few of us spend time on understanding the local people and their culture when abroad. Since badly-behaved tourists may bring embarrassment and disgrace to their own countries, so governments advise their citizens that "when in Rome, do as the Romans do"(入鄉隨俗). Why does this saying specify “Rome”? Can we say “when in Hong Kong, do as the Hong Kong people do”? Since this is a proverb, the word pattern is fixed. However, because of its popularity, it has a shortened version: When in Rome, we should not boss the hotel staff around.  Interestingly, the story behind this saying is not related to tourism. It may be traced back to two important saints in the Catholic Church in the 4th century. When St Augustine(聖奧思定)was young, he moved from Rome to Milan(米蘭)to take up a post as a professor of rhetoric. He found that the Church did not fast on Saturdays as it did in Rome. Therefore, he sought advice from the Bishop of Milan,  St Ambrose(聖安博). The Bishop said (translated from Latin into English), “When I go to Rome, I fast on Saturday, but here [Milan] I do not.” It is believed that the modern English version of the proverb did not appear until the Middle Ages. In modern times, the proverb teaches that it is important for us to respect and follow the customs and rules of the unfamiliar places we visit, such as a foreign country, a new workplace or a new school. Glossary Affordable  負擔得起  Embarrassment  尷尬  Disgrace  丟臉  Proverb  諺語  Rhetoric  修辭學  Respect  尊重  Customs  習俗