2014年7月16日星期三

�果日�- 他死了、�照笑容 - 古德明

蘋果日報- 他死了、護照笑容 - 古德明


他死了、護照笑容 - 古德明

問:《華盛頓郵報》報道廣播界名人Casey Kasem之死,標題是Casey Kasem is dead,內文則說Casey Kasem has died at age 82(凱西.格森八十二歲去世),又說Kasem died Sunday morning(格森星期天上午去世)。記者用is dead、has died、died三個時式說同一件事,是要避免行文呆板嗎?


答:英文一般不會為免「行文呆板」而改用不同動詞時式。時式應按句子意思使用。英文說「某人死了」,多用is dead;假如死去不久,也會用has died;又假如說明死亡時間,則用過去式的died,例如:My husband is dead / has died: he died almost five hours ago(我丈夫死了,是將近五個鐘頭之前死的)。把這一句的five hours改為five years(五年),則句子上半截應用is dead,不用has died。《華盛頓郵報》那三個寫法,都是根據上述原則。


留意「他去世五年了」不可說He has died for five years,因為die是指斷氣那一刻,時間短促,不可能維持五年。「他去世五年了」應說He has been dead for five years、He died five years ago或It is / It has been five years since he died / since his death。


問:英文歌"People's Parties"(世人的派對)有以下一句:They've got passport smiles。這是什麼意思?


答:Passport smiles即「護照相片中的笑容」。這樣的笑容沒有什麼真感情。歌詞作者說「派對中人臉上掛着護照相片般的笑容」,是嘲諷世人虛偽。


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