又中又英 | A creature of habit | 褚簡寧
Many people are creatures of habit. I am also a creature of habit in many ways. A creature of habit is someone who always does the same thing in the same way. My daily morning routine is to wash my face after getting out of bed and then sit on my balcony with a mug of hot water. I then drink a mug of hot English tea with a little milk, followed by a small portion of fruit and unsalted walnuts. After breakfast and showering, I boot my laptop. As a creature of habit I always worry if my laptop will go on the fritz when I boot it.
Users were often worried their desktops would suddenly go on the fritz when computers first came out. But desktops and laptops have advanced so much nowadays that they seldom go on the fritz. If something, such as a car or fridge, is on the fritz it means it is not working properly or broken. As I have noted before, English is the main language in America, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. They are called Anglosphere countries. Although they share the English language their slang expressions and words are not always the same.
The slang expression "on the fritz" is used mainly in the US. A similar slang expression in British English is "on the blink". If your smartphone is not working properly, you can say it is on the blink. Both "on the fritz" and "on the blink" are used mainly to describe machines, such as cars or TV sets, that are not working properly or broken.
許多人都是creatures of habit，我也是creature of habit。A creature of habit就是墨守成規、生活極為規律的人。我每天早上的例行公事就是起床後洗臉，然後坐在露台上，喝一杯熱水。其後我會再喝一杯加一點點奶的熱英國茶，接着吃一小份水果和無鹽核桃。吃過早餐和淋浴後，我就會打開我的手提電腦。作為一個習慣性動物（creature of habit），當我開電腦的時候，我總是擔心它會不會出甚麼故障（on the fritz）。
當電腦首度面世之時，用家不時擔心他們的桌上電腦會不會突然壞掉（on the fritz）。但今天的桌上電腦和手提電腦已經改良了許多，它們很少會故障（on the fritz）。若某物例如一架車或是一個雪櫃is on the fritz，意即它無法正常運作，或者是壞掉了。正如我以前說過的，英語是美國、英國、加拿大、澳洲和紐西蘭的主要語言，他們被稱為英語圈國家（Anglosphere）。雖然他們共同使用英語，但他們的俚語和用詞並不總是一樣的。
俚語on the fritz就主要在美國使用，近似的英式用語是on the blink。若你的智能電話不能正常操作，你可以說它是on the blink。On the fritz和on the blink主要都是用來形容機器，例如汽車或電視機，不能正常運作或是壞掉了。
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Michael Chugani褚簡寧
中譯：七刻
