又中又英——Like Rats Abandoning a Sinking Ship
Michael Chugani 褚简宁
2020-01-21 13:00 HKT
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Christmas and the Western New Year have come and gone. Chinese New Year is just a few days away. It is known globally as Lunar New Year although Hong Kong people prefer to call it Chinese New Year. People on the mainland usually call it the Spring Festival. To me, this doesn’t make sense because Chinese New Year is always in winter, not spring. I prefer to call it the Lunar New Year because the first day of Chinese New Year is based on the lunisolar calendar. The word “lunisolar” relates to the phases of the moon and the sun. The Lunar New Year is also the New Year for Vietnam and Korea. That’s why I think it’s more accurate to call it Lunar New Year instead of Chinese New Year.
The first day of the Lunar New Year in 2020 is January 25, which is just a few days away. It will be the Year of the Rat. People born in the Year of the Rat are supposed to be intelligent and quick-witted. If you are quick-witted, it means you are good at thinking and reacting very quickly. But in Western culture, there are many English idioms that denigrate (insult, criticize) rats. A good example is “like rats abandoning (or deserting) a sinking ship”. This idiom describes disloyal people who will leave very quickly to save themselves when something is failing.
For example, you are like a rat abandoning a sinking ship if you are among the first to leave something that is failing, such as a company or a sinking ship, to save yourself. If you rat on someone, it means you are not loyal to that person by revealing secrets about that person. For example, if your good friend tells you he wears black clothes and a black mask to secretly join protests and you tell the police or his family, you have ratted on your friend. There are many rat idioms. I will explain some more in my next column.
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圣诞和西方新历新年来了又走了。中国新年还有几天就要来临。它在世界各地其实多被称为农历新年，虽然香港人较倾向叫它做中国新年。内地人则通常叫它做春节。对我来说这并不太合理，因为中国农历新年通常都在冬季而非春季。我较倾向叫它做农历新年，因为年初一是根据阴阳（lunisolar）历去计算的。Lunisolar一字是关乎于日相与月相。农历新年也是越南和韩国的新年。因此我认为叫它做农历新年，比称之为中国新年更为准确。
二○二○年的农历新年大年初一是在一月二十五日，距今只有几天。今年会是鼠年。鼠年出生的人应该都是聪明且机智的（quick-witted）。若你是 quick-witted，意即你是转数快的、机敏的，能迅速作出反应。但在西方文化中，有许多英文成语是诋毁（denigrate）老鼠的，其中一个很好的例子就是“like rats abandoning (or deserting) a sinking ship”。这个俗语是形容那些不忠诚的人，当发现事情不对劲的时候，他们都（像老鼠一样）争着跳船自保。
譬如，若你为求自保，是第一批人去逃离某间快要倒闭的公司又或快要沉没的船，那你就是like a rat abandoning a sinking ship。若你rat on someone，即是说你告密出卖了某人，将其秘密披露给他人知道。譬如，若你的好友跟你说他穿黑衣和戴黑色口罩，去秘密参与示威活动，你却跟警方又或他的家人告密，那你就是 ratted on your friend。关于老鼠的成语还有许多，我在下一篇专栏中会再解说多一些。
[email protected]
中译：七刻
Michael Chugani 褚简宁
The first day of the Lunar New Year in 2020 is January 25, which is just a few days away. It will be the Year of the Rat. People born in the Year of the Rat are supposed to be intelligent and quick-witted. If you are quick-witted, it means you are good at thinking and reacting very quickly. But in Western culture, there are many English idioms that denigrate (insult, criticize) rats. A good example is “like rats abandoning (or deserting) a sinking ship”. This idiom describes disloyal people who will leave very quickly to save themselves when something is failing.
For example, you are like a rat abandoning a sinking ship if you are among the first to leave something that is failing, such as a company or a sinking ship, to save yourself. If you rat on someone, it means you are not loyal to that person by revealing secrets about that person. For example, if your good friend tells you he wears black clothes and a black mask to secretly join protests and you tell the police or his family, you have ratted on your friend. There are many rat idioms. I will explain some more in my next column.
＊＊＊＊＊
圣诞和西方新历新年来了又走了。中国新年还有几天就要来临。它在世界各地其实多被称为农历新年，虽然香港人较倾向叫它做中国新年。内地人则通常叫它做春节。对我来说这并不太合理，因为中国农历新年通常都在冬季而非春季。我较倾向叫它做农历新年，因为年初一是根据阴阳（lunisolar）历去计算的。Lunisolar一字是关乎于日相与月相。农历新年也是越南和韩国的新年。因此我认为叫它做农历新年，比称之为中国新年更为准确。
二○二○年的农历新年大年初一是在一月二十五日，距今只有几天。今年会是鼠年。鼠年出生的人应该都是聪明且机智的（quick-witted）。若你是 quick-witted，意即你是转数快的、机敏的，能迅速作出反应。但在西方文化中，有许多英文成语是诋毁（denigrate）老鼠的，其中一个很好的例子就是“like rats abandoning (or deserting) a sinking ship”。这个俗语是形容那些不忠诚的人，当发现事情不对劲的时候，他们都（像老鼠一样）争着跳船自保。
譬如，若你为求自保，是第一批人去逃离某间快要倒闭的公司又或快要沉没的船，那你就是like a rat abandoning a sinking ship。若你rat on someone，即是说你告密出卖了某人，将其秘密披露给他人知道。譬如，若你的好友跟你说他穿黑衣和戴黑色口罩，去秘密参与示威活动，你却跟警方又或他的家人告密，那你就是 ratted on your friend。关于老鼠的成语还有许多，我在下一篇专栏中会再解说多一些。
[email protected]
中译：七刻
Michael Chugani 褚简宁
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