放農曆年假前，好幾天都在下雨，弄至地面又髒又濕。平衡力素來不好的栗，走起路來自然得份外小心，何解？因為路面濕，自然便滑；一滑，笨手笨腳的栗，就好容易向前滑了出去，然後跌個四腳朝天。
那幾天乘港鐵上班時，聽見站內廣播，提醒乘客注意地面濕滑，小心別滑倒。但很奇怪，中文廣播說「天雨路滑」，英文卻是 The floor may be slippery，比中文多了一分疑惑。
按栗理解，「天雨路滑」該是因果關係，即「因為天雨，所以路面濕滑」，其中沒有任何假設成分吧？況且，天下雨，人用傘，地面不濕滑才出奇，那個 may 字是否婉轉得有點多餘呢？想了幾天，還是想不出個所以然。
網絡向來卧虎藏龍，希望高人讀到栗的問題，能不吝賜教，萬二分感激！
The only explanation I could think of is, while the floor is certainly wet, but wetness does not always necessarily imply slipperiness, does it? The amount of the water has to be right, and the floor must have a very smooth surface in order for it to be slippery. If that's true, then the "may" is appropriate.
回覆刪除[版主回覆02/15/2008 08:24:00]Dear Teach: Many thanks for your explanation!
I agree with you that wetness does not always necessarily imply slipperiness. I forgot that the floor can be rough.