2012年12月14日星期五

古德明: Doll’s size 和 kindly




問:斯旺(Michael Swan)的《實用英語》(Practical English Usageseem字條有以下例句:The cup seemed almost doll's size in his hands。按doll是可數名詞,為什麼不冠以a

答:假如不知道這一句作者是斯旺,我會說doll's size不是正確寫法;而即使知道,也不能不說這一句應該改寫,因為意思模糊不清,既可解作The cup in his hands seemed almost the same size of a doll(茶杯在他手上,看來像洋娃娃大小),也可解作The cup in his hands seemed almost the same size as a cup made for a doll(茶杯在他手上,看來就像洋娃娃的茶杯那麼小)。照道理,原句應是第二個意思,所以,我會改寫如下:The cup seemed almost toy-sized in his hands

問:我在政府部門工作,見同事之間通信,假如請對方做某事,常用kindlyplease kindly起句。我覺得這寫法很造作,先生認為怎樣?

答:請人家做某事,最好說please,不要說kindlykindly please。賈尼斯(J Harold Janis)的公文英語字典Modern Business Language and Usage in Dictionary Form就說("Kindly" isa stilted synonym for "please"。換言之,用kindly來說「請」,公文中顯得生硬。事實上,正如《牛津高階英文詞典》kindly條下說,kindly所說的「請」,常帶不耐煩含義,例句是:Kindly leave me alone!(請不要打擾我!)