Saturday, September 13, 2008

今天的Cheeky Quote

"A man should be like Kleenex--soft, strong, and disposable." (Cher)

本日Cheeky Quote應該會對已婚男性朋友們特別有共鳴吧!此話語出美國演員及歌手雪兒(Cher),說男人要像舒潔面紙(Kleenex)一樣,柔軟、強韌,且用過即丟(disposable)。

覺得她很毒舌,一語道破男人的悲哀嗎?在英文中我們可用sarcasm(諷刺)來形容這種說話口氣。以sarcasm見長的名人你一定得見識見識這位愛爾蘭劇作家Oscar Wilde(王爾德)以下節錄他的一些經典名言,看看大家能體會多少(當然如果有不懂的,可能並非單純是語言的問題,而和我們對作者所談到的人物、事件等背後的文化認識有關,這點也是每個學習外語者要慢慢去涉獵與體會的。不過別急,慢慢累積就變成你的了)

“A little sincerity is a dangerous thing, and a great deal of it is absolutely fatal.”
“Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.”
“America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between.”
“Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months.”

有人說,解釋是幽默的頭號殺手。我先不解釋,甚至也不翻譯,如果你能心神領會後發出會心一笑,那就算你對Wilde的Sarcasm頗有幾分領悟了!

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