又中又英——blank stare
Michael Chugani 褚简宁
2020-12-03 04:16 HKT
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Some time back, I sent a WhatsApp message to the office of a top government official to ask if the official would come to my TV show. The reply I got was “don’t hold your breath”. I smiled to myself and replied I won’t “hold my breath”. When I told friends and colleagues about the reply, they gave me a blank stare. It turned out most of them did not understand the meaning of “don’t hold your breath”. It’s a common expression which fluent English speakers often use. I was surprised so many of my friends didn’t know its meaning.
The expression has a simple meaning but the words that make it up can be confusing to people who are not fluent English speakers. If you “hold your breath”, it means to stop breathing. It is, of course, almost impossible for people to hold their breath until they die. It is natural for people to breathe again when they can no longer hold their breath. Professional divers can hold their breath for a long time but they still need to surface to breathe. The expression “don’t hold your breath” means don’t wait for something to happen when it is very unlikely it will happen. In other words, don’t stop breathing to wait for something to happen when there is very little possibility it will happen.
When the office of the official I invited to my show told me “don’t hold your breath”, he meant the official will not come, so don’t stop breathing to wait for the official to come. If people give you a “blank stare”, it means they have a plain facial expression that shows they don’t understand what you have said. I have a blank stare every time Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor insists the national security law has not affected free speech. Now that I have explained the meaning of “don’t hold your breath”, I am sure people will not give me a blank stare when I use it.
不久前，我给一位政府高官的办公室传了一个WhatsApp短讯，问那位官员可否上来我的电视节目。我收到的回复是“don’t hold your breath”。我暗自微笑，回复道我不会“hold my breath”。当我跟我的朋友和同事谈起这个回复时，他们都给我一个茫然的眼神（blank stare），原来他们大多不知道“don’t hold your breath”的意思。这是一个很常见的习语，操流利英语的人很常使用。我很惊讶我有那么多朋友不知道它的意思。
这个习语的意思非常简单，但其组成的字词可能会令那些英语不甚流利的人相当困惑。若你“hold your breath”，意即屏息静气、停止呼吸；那当然，除非人死了，否则几乎不可能会有人可以一直闭气（hold their breath）。当人不能再闭气（hold their breath），很自然就会回复呼吸。专业的潜水员可以长时间闭气（hold their breath），但他们仍然需要回到水面呼吸。习语“don’t hold your breath”意即不要等待某事了，因为那事不大可能会发生。换句话说，当某事发生的可能性微乎其微，就别屏息凝气静待它会发生了。
当我邀请的那位官员的办公室跟我说“don’t hold your breath”，他的意思是那位官员不会来的了，所以别屏息凝气静候那位官员到来了。若人们给你一个“blank stare”，意即他们木无表情、很茫然的没有反应，因为不明白你在说甚么。每一次特首林郑月娥坚持《国安法》并未影响言论自由，我都是一脸茫然（blank stare）。现在我已解释了“don’t hold your breath”的意思，相信我再用这个习语之时，人们不会再给我一个茫然的神情（blank stare）了吧！中译：七刻
Michael Chugani 褚简宁
The expression has a simple meaning but the words that make it up can be confusing to people who are not fluent English speakers. If you “hold your breath”, it means to stop breathing. It is, of course, almost impossible for people to hold their breath until they die. It is natural for people to breathe again when they can no longer hold their breath. Professional divers can hold their breath for a long time but they still need to surface to breathe. The expression “don’t hold your breath” means don’t wait for something to happen when it is very unlikely it will happen. In other words, don’t stop breathing to wait for something to happen when there is very little possibility it will happen.
When the office of the official I invited to my show told me “don’t hold your breath”, he meant the official will not come, so don’t stop breathing to wait for the official to come. If people give you a “blank stare”, it means they have a plain facial expression that shows they don’t understand what you have said. I have a blank stare every time Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor insists the national security law has not affected free speech. Now that I have explained the meaning of “don’t hold your breath”, I am sure people will not give me a blank stare when I use it.
不久前，我给一位政府高官的办公室传了一个WhatsApp短讯，问那位官员可否上来我的电视节目。我收到的回复是“don’t hold your breath”。我暗自微笑，回复道我不会“hold my breath”。当我跟我的朋友和同事谈起这个回复时，他们都给我一个茫然的眼神（blank stare），原来他们大多不知道“don’t hold your breath”的意思。这是一个很常见的习语，操流利英语的人很常使用。我很惊讶我有那么多朋友不知道它的意思。
这个习语的意思非常简单，但其组成的字词可能会令那些英语不甚流利的人相当困惑。若你“hold your breath”，意即屏息静气、停止呼吸；那当然，除非人死了，否则几乎不可能会有人可以一直闭气（hold their breath）。当人不能再闭气（hold their breath），很自然就会回复呼吸。专业的潜水员可以长时间闭气（hold their breath），但他们仍然需要回到水面呼吸。习语“don’t hold your breath”意即不要等待某事了，因为那事不大可能会发生。换句话说，当某事发生的可能性微乎其微，就别屏息凝气静待它会发生了。
当我邀请的那位官员的办公室跟我说“don’t hold your breath”，他的意思是那位官员不会来的了，所以别屏息凝气静候那位官员到来了。若人们给你一个“blank stare”，意即他们木无表情、很茫然的没有反应，因为不明白你在说甚么。每一次特首林郑月娥坚持《国安法》并未影响言论自由，我都是一脸茫然（blank stare）。现在我已解释了“don’t hold your breath”的意思，相信我再用这个习语之时，人们不会再给我一个茫然的神情（blank stare）了吧！中译：七刻
Michael Chugani 褚简宁
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