又中又英——“a far cry from”
Michael Chugani 褚简宁
2021-08-26 04:18 HKT
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While talking on the phone with someone recently I used the expression “a shot in the dark” without giving it a second thought. Then I realized it's an expression I seldom hear in Hong Kong even though it's common in English speaking countries. I seldom use it here because I know it's not common and people may not understand it. As I said in a previous column, there are many common English expressions that I seldom use because they are unfamiliar to Hong Kong people. One such expression I used in a recent column was “the willies”. As I explained,“the willies” means a strong feeling of nervousness, discomfort, or fright.
The expression “a shot in the dark” means taking a guess at something without any knowledge about the issue, which means the guess will most likely be wrong. If you know nothing about horse racing but guess a horse will win, you are taking a shot in the dark. The idea of this expression is it is almost impossible to shoot at a target in the dark. Archers will find it almost impossible to shoot an arrow at a target in the dark. If you do something without a second thought it means you do something without thinking about it because it’s not important or you don’t have the time to think about it.
Since returning to Hong Kong from the US I have been speaking mostly Cantonese. I speak English only with my foreign friends and when I did my TVB English show, which I no longer do. I have often worried that I may be less fluent in English if I mostly speak Cantonese here. My worry is a far cry from when I first returned to Hong Kong. At that time I worried I had been in the US for too long and could no longer speak fluent Cantonese. The expression “a far cry from” means completely different from something else.
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最近我跟某君通电话，不假思索（without giving it a second thought）便用了“a shot in the dark”这个习语，其后我才意会到，我在香港鲜有听见人用这个习语，但它在英语国家却是很常用的。我在此地也很少用到它，因为我知道它并不普及，人们未必明白其意思。正如我在之前的专栏中所说，有许多普及的英文习语我很少用到，因为香港人对之较陌生。其中一个这样的习语是“the willies”，我在最近一篇专栏中就有用过；正如我所解释的，“the willies”是指紧张、焦虑不安又或毛骨悚然的。
习语“a shot in the dark”即瞎猜，在对某事情或议题背景毫无认知的情况下猜想，意味着这种盲目臆测很可能会猜错。若你对赛马毫无认识，却在胡猜某只马会跑出，你便是在 taking a shot in the dark。这个习语的概念是在黑暗中射箭，要射中目标几乎是不可能的。若你do something without a second thought，意即你毫不犹豫、想都没想便去做某事，因为它是不重要的，又或你根本没时间可以多想。
自我从美国回港以来，主要都在说广东话，只有跟我的外籍朋友在一起，以及在无线主持我的英语节目时，才会说英语，但现在已没再做该节目了。我不时会担心，若我在这里主要说广东话，我的英语或会变得不那么流利。这跟我第一次回港时的担忧截然不同（a far cry from），那时我担心自己在美国待太久，不再能说流利的广东话。习语“a far cry from”意即跟别的事物相去甚远、大相迳庭。中译：七刻
Michael Chugani 褚简宁
The expression “a shot in the dark” means taking a guess at something without any knowledge about the issue, which means the guess will most likely be wrong. If you know nothing about horse racing but guess a horse will win, you are taking a shot in the dark. The idea of this expression is it is almost impossible to shoot at a target in the dark. Archers will find it almost impossible to shoot an arrow at a target in the dark. If you do something without a second thought it means you do something without thinking about it because it’s not important or you don’t have the time to think about it.
Since returning to Hong Kong from the US I have been speaking mostly Cantonese. I speak English only with my foreign friends and when I did my TVB English show, which I no longer do. I have often worried that I may be less fluent in English if I mostly speak Cantonese here. My worry is a far cry from when I first returned to Hong Kong. At that time I worried I had been in the US for too long and could no longer speak fluent Cantonese. The expression “a far cry from” means completely different from something else.
＊＊＊＊＊
最近我跟某君通电话，不假思索（without giving it a second thought）便用了“a shot in the dark”这个习语，其后我才意会到，我在香港鲜有听见人用这个习语，但它在英语国家却是很常用的。我在此地也很少用到它，因为我知道它并不普及，人们未必明白其意思。正如我在之前的专栏中所说，有许多普及的英文习语我很少用到，因为香港人对之较陌生。其中一个这样的习语是“the willies”，我在最近一篇专栏中就有用过；正如我所解释的，“the willies”是指紧张、焦虑不安又或毛骨悚然的。
习语“a shot in the dark”即瞎猜，在对某事情或议题背景毫无认知的情况下猜想，意味着这种盲目臆测很可能会猜错。若你对赛马毫无认识，却在胡猜某只马会跑出，你便是在 taking a shot in the dark。这个习语的概念是在黑暗中射箭，要射中目标几乎是不可能的。若你do something without a second thought，意即你毫不犹豫、想都没想便去做某事，因为它是不重要的，又或你根本没时间可以多想。
自我从美国回港以来，主要都在说广东话，只有跟我的外籍朋友在一起，以及在无线主持我的英语节目时，才会说英语，但现在已没再做该节目了。我不时会担心，若我在这里主要说广东话，我的英语或会变得不那么流利。这跟我第一次回港时的担忧截然不同（a far cry from），那时我担心自己在美国待太久，不再能说流利的广东话。习语“a far cry from”意即跟别的事物相去甚远、大相迳庭。中译：七刻
Michael Chugani 褚简宁
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