2011年11月15日 星期二

糖果




小孩愛吃糖,所以英文課必然會教 sweet 一字。不過美國人不說 sweet,改說 candy



本以為美國人只換了一個字,其他用法跟 sweet 相同,但最近跟美國同事通電郵,才知道原來他們不說 a candy,只會說 a piece of candy;一些糖果就會說 some candy some candies



對於 some candy 這個用法,栗感到頗不自在,尤其是在配了圖的頁面,看起來更是古怪。拿了圖畫去找兩位外籍同事,問他們意見,回覆如下:



澳洲人:(表情憤怒) I'm not a Yankee. I don't know.

英國人:(語氣傲慢) We don't say 'candy', we say 'sweet'.



看來 candy 可以列入辦公室十大禁語了~~~


4 則留言:

  1. 因乜挑起佢地不快之根?你都係虛心下問啫,點解無端得罪咗佢地
    你個問題要問大狸狸囉
    [版主回覆11/15/2011 18:45:07]我都唔知點解佢哋咁唔高興,照計我都幾有禮貌吖...... (最後我查到,用some candy是沒有問題的 ^.~)

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  2. 一個簡單的WORD都咁有學問﹗
    [版主回覆11/17/2011 13:15:39]係呀,仲要愈鑽研愈多!

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  3. 妳唔講我都真係唔知!~嘻嘻~
    [版主回覆11/17/2011 13:15:58]我都係人哋講我先至知 :p

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  4. 因為candy可以是countable noun或uncountable noun,所以說some candy或some candies都得。又,pieces of candy是幾塊糖果,而some candies則是幾種糖果。
    [大猩猩回覆11/19/2011 11:15:11]The teacher, if I could start afresh, I would have opted for studying in the US, like what some of my high school classmates did, instead of in HK.
    [The Teacher回覆11/19/2011 10:15:56]Ha! Gorilla, I'm not sure about that. You are too modest....:-) I learn my English via immersion, while you apparently learned yours the old-fashioned, analytical way...;-)
    [大猩猩回覆11/19/2011 08:15:00]Thank you, The Teacher, you know better than I do.
    [The Teacher回覆11/19/2011 01:18:18]I disagree slightly with the Gorilla. Candy is uncountable unless you mean very specifically different kinds of candy.
    [版主回覆11/17/2011 13:16:10]謝謝補充!

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