又中又英 - Grammar | 褚簡寧

　　How important is grammar in today's world where the Internet, social media, and ever-changing slang words have radically changed the way we use the English language? Grammarians insist grammar is the linchpin of the English language. A grammarian is a person who studies and writes about grammar. The word “linchpin” used this way means the most vital part of a system, such as a language, that holds the other parts together. It can also mean the most important member of a group, such as a sports team.

　　I have said before that I believe grammar is becoming less of a linchpin of the English language. People who learn English nowadays just want to be able to speak and write it in a way that others can understand. They don’t want to be grammarians. Most native English speakers just go with the ebb and flow as social media changes the English language. The expression “ebb and flow” means a frequently changing situation. I often receive WhatsApp messages from friends who write “c u” instead of “see you”.

　　I heard a member of the US Congress say “the math ain’t mathing” on a TV show recently. This expression is grammatically incorrect. The word “math” means “maths” in American English. The word “mathing” is not a proper word. But the slang expression “the math ain’t mathing” is common in the US. It means something is not logical or doesn’t make sense. You can say “doesn’t add up” if you want to be grammatically correct. It means the same as “the math ain’t mathing”.

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　　網絡、社交媒體，以至不斷變化的俚語正徹底地改變了我們使用英語的方式，文法在今天的世界到底有多重要？Grammarians堅持文法是英語的linchpin。A grammarian是研究和撰寫關於文法的語法學家。Linchpin在這裏是指一個系統例如語言中最關鍵的部分，使所有其他部分連結在一起。它也可以解作一個組別如運動團隊中最關鍵的人物。

　　正如我以往曾說過的，我相信文法將越來越不那麼是英語的支柱（linchpin）。今天人們學習英語，只希望能以其他人能懂的方式去說話和書寫。他們可不想當語法學家（grammarians）。大部分以英語為母語的人，只會順着ebb and flow而活，因社交媒體一直改變着英語。習語ebb and flow是指一直變化起伏的狀況。我便不時收到朋友傳來的WhatsApp訊息，寫“c u” 而不是 “see you”（回頭見）。

　　我最近就在電視節目上聽到一個美國國會議員說“the math ain’t mathing”。這個習語在文法上是不正確的。“Math”是美式英語「數學」（maths）的意思，而“mathing”根本不是一個正確的字。然而，俚語“the math ain’t mathing”在美國卻很常用，它的意思是某事情並不合邏輯，或說它並不合理、說不通。如果你想用一個文法正確的，你可以說“doesn’t add up”，它跟“the math ain’t mathing”的意思是一樣的。

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Michael Chugani褚簡寧
中譯：七刻