又中又英——jam-packed

　　New York City has many diners which are jam-packed (full) during lunch. Diners, which started in the 1920s in the US, became popular in the 1950s. In the TV comedy series Seinfeld, the main characters often meet for lunch at their favourite Manhattan diner. Jerry Seinfeld, who created the TV series with comedian Larry David, plays a fictional character of himself in the TV series, which was named after his surname. Seinfeld aired in 1989 and ended in 1998. It was one of America’s top comedy shows. Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David had the idea for the show at a diner near Times Square. I stumbled upon that diner recently and went inside to take pictures！　　The expression “stumble upon” used this way means to discover something by chance. I ate at several diners recently. They are similar to Hong Kong’s cha chaan tengs although the décor and menus are poles apart. The word “décor” means a room’s furnishings and decorations. When things are poles apart it means they are very different. A diner is a small restaurant, usually family owned, that has a basic and inexpensive menu. It has booths for two or four people. The word “booth” used this way means a seating area with a table and seats with high backs that partition the booth from the next booth. Most diners have a counter, like a bar, where people sit on stools to eat.
　　Diners serve comfort food such as hamburgers, sandwiches, fries, omelettes, and hand-made milkshakes. The expression “comfort food” means simple types of food that gives people comforting thoughts of home or childhood. Cha chaan tengs are like diners because they are inexpensive and mostly family-owned. They serve Hong Kong-style comfort foods such as Portuguese Chicken with Rice, Borscht soup, French Toast, pineapple buns with tea, and macaroni soup noodles with eggs and sausages. But unlike US diners, cha chaan tengs are too noisy and crowded. Many customers have to sit on stools with small round tables. The waiters are unfriendly. But the food is delicious!
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　　纽约市有许多小餐馆（diners），午市时份都挤满了人（jam-packed）。小餐馆（diners）于一九二〇年代在美国兴起，一九五〇年代渐趋流行。在电视喜剧《宋飞正传》中，主角们就常聚首在他们最喜爱的一间曼哈顿餐馆（diner）中一起吃午餐。杰瑞‧宋飞跟喜剧演员拉里‧大衞开创了这套电视剧，亦在电视剧中饰演跟仿照他自己的虚构角色，剧集亦以他的姓氏命名。《宋飞正传》于一九八九年首播，一九九八年结束，是美国最受欢迎的喜剧节目之一。杰瑞‧宋飞和喜剧演员拉里‧大衞就在纽约时报广场附近的一间小餐馆（diner）有这个节目的构思。我最近就偶然发现（stumbled upon）那间小餐馆（diner），还进内拍照！
　　习语“stumble upon”在这里是指偶然发现某事物。我最近就到过几间小餐馆（diners）进膳。它们跟香港的茶餐厅相似，虽然两者的装潢（décor）跟餐牌是天壤之别（poles apart）。Décor是指室内摆设跟装饰等布局。当事物是poles apart，意即它们南辕北辙、有很大的分别。A diner就是小餐馆，通常是家庭式经营的，菜单都是基本而实惠的。它亦设有booths，可坐二至四人——booth在这里解厢座、卡位，有比较高的椅背隔板，分隔不同的卡位（booth）。大部份的小餐馆（diners）都有吧枱座位，就像酒吧中的那些，客人可以坐在高凳上进食。
　　小餐馆（diners）卖的都是comfort food，例如汉堡包、三文治、薯条、奄列和手工奶昔。习语“comfort food”是指带有某种「疗愈」作用的简单食物，给人「家」的安舒感，又或能勾起童年回忆的。茶餐厅也像小餐馆（diners），因为它们价钱也很实惠，也有很多是家庭式经营的。茶餐厅供应的则是港式疗愈美食（comfort foods），例如葡国鸡饭、罗宋汤、西多士、菠萝包配茶，还有肠仔蛋通粉。但跟美国餐馆（diners）不同的是，茶餐厅太嘈吵和挤逼了，许多食客都要围着圆枱，坐在小圆凳上，侍应们亦不很友善，不过食物就很美味！[email protected]
　　中译：七刻
Michael Chugani 褚简宁