Michael Chugani 褚简宁 - “one-trick pony”｜又中又英
Michael Chugani 褚简宁
2022-08-30 00:00 HKT
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A person's ability to speak a language can get rusty if that person doesn't speak it for a long time. That happened to me when I lived in Washington DC for seven years. I seldom spoke Cantonese. When I returned to Hong Kong in the 1990s, I had to brush up on my Cantonese. After the 1997 reunification, I went to Seattle where I lived for about five years. My Cantonese became rusty again. When I returned to Hong Kong I had to brush up on my Cantonese again. I have now been back in the US for a year and feel I am losing my edge again in speaking Cantonese.
The word“rusty”has several meanings but if you say your Cantonese is getting rusty, it means it is not as good as before because you have not used it for a long time. To brush up on something means to improve your knowledge of something because you have partly forgotten it. If you are losing your edge on something it means you are not as good at doing something as before. If you are good at playing the piano or speaking English but don't use your skills for a long time you will lose your edge. After returning to Hong Kong from Seattle I brushed up on my Cantonese and was eventually even able to co-host TV shows in Cantonese.
Now that I am back in the US I have heard many English expressions that I had forgotten while in Hong Kong. One such expression I recently heard is“one-trick pony”. A pony, as I have explained recently, is a small type of horse. A one-trick pony is someone or something that is good at doing only one particular thing. If a magician is only good at doing one particular magic trick, you can say the magician is a one-trick pony. If your dog only understands one thing, such as when you ask it to sit down, then your dog is a one-trick pony.
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如果一个人长时间没有说一种语言，那人说该语言的能力就会衰退（rusty）。这就发生过在我身上，是我住在华盛顿特区七年之后，那时我很少说广东话。当我于一九九○年代回香港时，我需要多加练习（brush up on）我的广东话。一九九七回归以后，我去了西雅图，在那儿住了五年，我的广东话又生疏（rusty）了，回港的时候我又要再复习（brush up on）广东话。现在我回到美国已经一年了，感觉自己的广东话又再变钝（losing my edge）了。
Rusty有几个意思，但若你说你的广东话开始rusty、「生锈」了，那即是指因为你已很久没有说广东话，而不再像从前般流利。To brush up on something是指要去重温、改进你在某事上的知识又或语言能力，因为你有部份已经忘记了。若你正在losing your edge on something，即是你失去了某些优势，做某事没从前那么好了。若你擅长弹钢琴又或能操流利英语，却长时间没有弹奏或说英语，那你这些技能就会变钝（lose your edge）。我从西雅图回港后，便好好重练了（brushed up on）我的广东话，以至我最终还能跟人一起主持一个粤语的电视节目。
现在我回到了美国，听到许多我在香港已经忘掉了的英文习语。其中一个我最近听到的习语是“one-trick pony”。正如我从前解释过的，a pony就是矮种小马。A one-trick pony就是「仅有一招」的人或事物，即一个人只有一个专长，或一样事物仅有单一用途。若一位魔术师单单擅长表演一个特定的魔术，你便可以说那魔术师是只有一个把戏的小马——a one-trick pony。若你的狗只能听懂一个指令，例如叫牠坐下，那你的狗也是a one-trick pony。
中译：七刻
Michael Chugani褚简宁
The word“rusty”has several meanings but if you say your Cantonese is getting rusty, it means it is not as good as before because you have not used it for a long time. To brush up on something means to improve your knowledge of something because you have partly forgotten it. If you are losing your edge on something it means you are not as good at doing something as before. If you are good at playing the piano or speaking English but don't use your skills for a long time you will lose your edge. After returning to Hong Kong from Seattle I brushed up on my Cantonese and was eventually even able to co-host TV shows in Cantonese.
Now that I am back in the US I have heard many English expressions that I had forgotten while in Hong Kong. One such expression I recently heard is“one-trick pony”. A pony, as I have explained recently, is a small type of horse. A one-trick pony is someone or something that is good at doing only one particular thing. If a magician is only good at doing one particular magic trick, you can say the magician is a one-trick pony. If your dog only understands one thing, such as when you ask it to sit down, then your dog is a one-trick pony.
＊
＊
＊
＊
＊
＊
＊
如果一个人长时间没有说一种语言，那人说该语言的能力就会衰退（rusty）。这就发生过在我身上，是我住在华盛顿特区七年之后，那时我很少说广东话。当我于一九九○年代回香港时，我需要多加练习（brush up on）我的广东话。一九九七回归以后，我去了西雅图，在那儿住了五年，我的广东话又生疏（rusty）了，回港的时候我又要再复习（brush up on）广东话。现在我回到美国已经一年了，感觉自己的广东话又再变钝（losing my edge）了。
Rusty有几个意思，但若你说你的广东话开始rusty、「生锈」了，那即是指因为你已很久没有说广东话，而不再像从前般流利。To brush up on something是指要去重温、改进你在某事上的知识又或语言能力，因为你有部份已经忘记了。若你正在losing your edge on something，即是你失去了某些优势，做某事没从前那么好了。若你擅长弹钢琴又或能操流利英语，却长时间没有弹奏或说英语，那你这些技能就会变钝（lose your edge）。我从西雅图回港后，便好好重练了（brushed up on）我的广东话，以至我最终还能跟人一起主持一个粤语的电视节目。
现在我回到了美国，听到许多我在香港已经忘掉了的英文习语。其中一个我最近听到的习语是“one-trick pony”。正如我从前解释过的，a pony就是矮种小马。A one-trick pony就是「仅有一招」的人或事物，即一个人只有一个专长，或一样事物仅有单一用途。若一位魔术师单单擅长表演一个特定的魔术，你便可以说那魔术师是只有一个把戏的小马——a one-trick pony。若你的狗只能听懂一个指令，例如叫牠坐下，那你的狗也是a one-trick pony。
中译：七刻
Michael Chugani褚简宁
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