讀《Usage and Abusage》

holocaust

is 'destruction by fire': do not synonymize it with disaster.  With a capital H it means the mass murder of the Jews by the Nazis.

urgent

is a strong and dignified word.  Don't cheapen it.

non-

is shamelessly and usually quite needlessly overworked by Civil Servants.  Why, e.g., non-restricted when free is available?

new and novel

The former refers to time ('it is new to me') or to state or condition ('His suit was new'); the latter to kind ('It's a novel way or method').  New is opposed to old, novel to common or well-known.

nice

is a verbal counter, a pass-partout, a word-of-all-pleasant-work; permissible - though an indication of laziness - in conversation, it is to be avoided in serious writing.

《Usage and Abusage, A Guide to Good English》，Eric Partridge著，revised by Janet Whitcut，Penguin Reference出版，第三版　1999年，ISBN　0-14--51442-2

「爛gag」英文怎說？

Corny jokes: [Cambridge Dictionary] (especially of jokes, films, stories, etc.) lacking new ideas and sincerity; too often repeated and therefore not amusing or interesting
Corny是陳詞濫調，跟爛gag有點分別。有些人搞爛gag是很原創地悶的。

Laffy Taffy jokes: [a colleague] Laffy Taffy jokes are from the candy wrappers of Laffy Taffy candy. Their jokes were known for their dumb puns and worldplays.
[Wikipedia] "What do you call a cow with a twitch? -- Beef Jerky."
"What is Labor Day? -- That's when mommies have their babies."
這兩個例子的「爛度」很接近中文「爛gag」的意思。我想Laffy Taffy jokes就是最接近的翻譯。但它帶著太重的特定參考－沒有Laffy Taffy糖果的地方便不會明白這個詞。我沒見過這糖果，就算見過也沒印象。Corny也許不準確，但雖不中亦不遠，還可以吧。

幾多day

有些字我們講時會用英文字，那些字有哪幾類﹖

• 有些字先有英文未有中文，如email，用慣了，後來雖然有中文，還是繼續用英文﹔
• 有些字我們是從英文開始認識的，如很多的專業用語，也是用慣了﹔
• 有些字中文太長，或難唸﹐如「更緊密經貿關係」，「更緊密」太難唸，連新聞報幕也用CEPA﹔
• 有些字中英文雖然有固定對應，可是兩者的內涵是不一樣的，如「privacy」對「私隱」，那個「隱」字透出來「藏起不讓人知」的含意，在privacy是沒有的﹔
• 有些字用中文（母語）說出來太尷尬，改用非母語，如「sh_t」和「f__k」。一樣粗鄙的東西，用非母語來說，隔了一層，仿彿便可以擺上飯桌﹔
• 反過來，有些字，如congratulations，非用英文不足以表現它負載的強度，或者說話人的氣勢。

有次開會，有人不停地談「responsibility」。他一面講，我一面納悶﹕/re.spon.si.bi.li.ty/﹐六個音節啊。要是他能講兩音節的「責任」，我們一共節省多少時間﹖

「日」字既短、又易唸、又不是新概念、又沒有道德障礙﹐這樣來看，「呢份嘢你幾多day搞得掂」這類句式為甚麼會出現，倒也費解。

Good mor零

電視廣告似乎有這麼一個趨勢：英文字故意讀港式發音。最明顯莫如：「good mor零！你我每天亦一起，送贈我清涼感覺」，還有剛剛聽到「play sta唇」。專業配音的人（是不是叫ＶＯ﹖），我總不信平時是這樣唸的。是不是廣告商為求貼近民眾而不扮高深﹖

Until

那天去看影藝最後一面﹐從天橋離開﹐見到那間保險公司的超巨型廣告牌寫「我唔想做到70歲先退休」﹐英文是「I don't want to work until I'm 70」。英文那句﹐我看着只覺得是「我70歲前都唔想做嘢」。其實應該怎麼寫呢﹖

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