雜七雜八英文部落格

味精/味素的英文怎麼說？ 答：MSG，因為是 Monosodium glutamate 的縮寫。之前我也寫了一篇 MSG 是什麼的縮寫 Pic CC-BY-NC-SA by  antanukai 不過依據但地區，可能會用當地有名的味精品牌來指涉，例如 Aji No Moto （就是「味の素」的日文羅馬拼音）、Tasting Powder、Accent Flavor Enhancer 等。

from  pixabay 彗星：comet 劍橋字典 comet 的說明：an object that moves around the sun, usually at a great distance from it, that is seen on rare occasions from the earth as a bright line in the sky. 彗星尾：comet tail

cc by-nc-sa by P. L. Tandon 端午節 Dragon Boat Festival 最常見的講法。Dragon Boat 就是龍舟 ( wikipeida ,  merriam-webster ) Dragon Boat Race = 龍舟賽 Double Fifth Festival Double: 雙倍, Fifth: 第五 因為端午節是農曆 5 月 5 號，有些地區亦有「重五節」的說法 Duanwu Festival duan wu 就是端午的漢語拼音，因為在國外生活的華人很多，端午節也算是大事，不少老外會知道。這種從別的語言 reborrowing 變成英文可溝通的例子其實不少，特別是其背後的文化背景很難完美翻譯的，例如：功夫 Kung fu、江湖 Jianghu 等。 粽子 sticky rice dumpling sticky rice = 糯米 dumpling 包餡料的食物類型，如餃子、小籠包、湯圓、湯圓 有些字典會直接叫 rice dumpling Zongzi (zong zi) 跟 Duanwu 一樣道理 ( wikipedia ) 立蛋 egg balancing wikipedia stand/balance an egg (on its end) Science Myth: Can You Balance an Egg on the Spring Equinox? 科學迷思：你可以在春分的時候立蛋嗎？

答：potsticker 解析 Pic CC-BY-NC-SA by  Steven Woo pot any of various types of container, usually round, especially one used for cooking food 罐/壺（鍋）  stick to cause something to become fixed, for example with glue or another similar substance 黏住，黏貼；固定住  Wikipeida 的餃子條目有一些說明  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiaozi#Types 這裡有一篇文章在解釋中華鍋貼跟日本煎餃（gyoza）的異同，有興趣的話可以加減看一下  What’s the Difference Between Gyoza and Potstickers?

就學貸款 student loan 上次介紹了 學費的英文怎麼說 ，這次來介紹就學貸款的英文。 根據劍橋字典的說明  https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/student-loan an agreement by which a student at a college or university borrows money from a bank to pay for their education and then pays the money back after they finish studying and start working 但這其實不是唯一答案，以下的也通 college loan tuition fee loan

Pic CC-BY by  shoobydooby 這個字在正式的字典上還查不太到，在  Urban Dictionary  找到了以下的解釋： a person who bargains extremely lower that retail or reasonable price. also, being ridiculously cheap. 簡單來說就是殺價殺到完全不合理的奧客，或不可思議的便宜。 這個字的由來是 Lowball 這款撲克遊戲。老實說我也不會玩，但根據 wiki 上的解釋：手上剩餘點數最少的人贏 a variant of the card game poker, in which hand values are reversed so that the lowest-valued hand wins 衍生為 lowballer 指殺到爆低價格，也就是為什麼很容易在二手交易網站上看到這個字了。

Pic CC-BY-NC by  Juan Carlos Mejía 答： tuition 劍橋字典解釋得還蠻清楚的： (mainly UK) ​teaching, ​especially when given to a ​small ​group or one ​person, such as in a ​college or ​university  (mainly US (UK usually tuition fees)) the ​money ​paid for this ​typeof ​teaching 簡單整理如下 英式英文： tuition：教學 tuition fees：學費 美式英文： tuition：學費 另外還有一些講法也可以表達，如： school expenses school fees his parents paid for his schooling ( oxford dictionaries: schooling )

CC BY-NC-SA by  Pavel P. ventilation the ​movement of ​fresh ​air around a ​closed ​space, or the ​system that does this. 圖片裡的通風窗，英文叫做 ventilation grill  (連結是 Google Image 搜尋，可以看到實際範例) 通風扇 (尤其是工業用那種大風扇或裝在牆上的排風扇) 叫做 ventilation fan ventilate to ​cause ​fresh ​air to ​enter and ​move around a ​closed ​space. air 當動詞 to ​become ​dry and/or ​fresh, or to ​cause to ​become ​dry and/or ​fresh. 例句 ( 來源 ) The room needs to be aired. 房內需要通風。

CC-BY-NC-SA by  Monceau 答：handkerchief 英文解釋：A piece of cloth, usually square and often fine and elegant, carried for wiping the face, eyes, nose or hands. 或口語 hanky kerchief  本身也是一個字：方頭巾 CC-BY by  Kristen Stubbs

答：A la carte ( 發音 ) 其實這是從法文 À la carte 來的，但已經是英文的一部份了，根據  wikipedia: À la carte  的說明 The phrase was adopted into English in 1826, predating by a decade the common use of the French language loanword "menu". A la carte 甚至比另一個常見的法文外來語 "menu" 還要早被採用。 反過來要「套餐」的話比較簡單，就是 set meal。雖然也有相應的法文 Table d'hôte，但好像沒有 À la carte 這麼普遍被使用在英文中。（至少新加坡是這樣，至於英美可能就要請在當地生活的人補充了）

Pic CC-BY by  akasped 幾個禮拜前北美遭「北極漩渦」肆虐，新聞的部份我想大家都在電視、報紙上看到了。 不過很多新聞都沒有把「北極漩渦」的原文寫出來，這邊剛好來講一下 polar vortex  (北極漩渦) :  A polar vortex (also known as a polar cyclone, polar low, or a circumpolar whirl) is a persistent, large-scale cyclone located near either of a planet's geographical poles. polar  (北極) : of or near the area around the most northern or most southern points of the earth. 順帶一提: polar bear  (北極熊) : a large, white bear that lives in the cold regions of the north. vortex  (漩渦) : a mass of air or water that spins around very fast and pulls objects into its empty center.

Pic CC BY-NC-SA by  antitezo TL;DR; Molotov cocktail，或簡稱 Molotov 照慣例的英解摘錄: Molotov cocktail (cambridge) : a type of petrol bomb petrol bomb (cambridge) : a bottle filled with petrol or other liquid fuel with a piece of cloth in its top, that is set on fire and thrown petrol: 汽油 (這是英式, 在美式英語一般用 gasoline) Wikipedia 上有教  Molotov 製作步驟 裡面也提到 Molotov 有「窮人的手榴彈」的膩稱 (poor man's grenade)

如果之前有讀過一些衣服種類的英文，應該蠻多人知道 tank top (或簡稱 tank) 不過還有個俗稱更俗: wifebeater (wife beater 或 wife-beater 也可) 為什麼要叫 wifebeater 呢? 一說是肌肉男愛穿吊嘎、然後肌肉男感覺好像會打老婆。另一說是在美國影集 Cops  裡，打老婆的角色常穿吊嘎。 wife-beater pic CC-BY-NC-ND by  stevebev 英解: The term "A-shirt" is short for "athletic shirt" because it is often worn in sports, such as basketball and track-and-field events. In the United States, it is also known colloquially as a tank top or by its other nicknames, wife-beater or guinea tee. ( wikipedia: Sleeveless_shirt#A-shirt ) a man's white tank top ( merriam-webster: wifebeater ) A kind of sleeveless shirt, often but not exclusively worn as an undershirt. ( wiktionary: wifebeater ) 從英解的第 1 點可以知道，有幾個同義詞: A-shirt (athletic shirt) tank top wife-beater guinea tee 除了已經列在上面的連結，還有些參考自 這個網站 ，裡面也有網友回報 wifebeater 的用法在美國、英國還蠻常見的。

今天要來教大家兩個不良片語：eskimo brothers 跟 wiener cousins igloo Pic CC BY-NC-SA by  keltose "Eskimo Brothers" are men that have slept with the same woman. At one time or another, they 'shared an igloo'. It's similar to "wiener cousins". ( wiki.answers ) slept: sleep 的過去完成式，sleep 本來就可以翻成「與誰上床」的意思，依照前後文來看，在這裡就是這個意思。 igloo: 冰屋 a circular house made of blocks of hard snow, esp. one built by the Inuit people of northern North America. ( cambridge dictionary: igloo ) 「共用一個冰屋」(強調)，簡單來說，就是穴兄弟... 另外，也可以寫成 eskimo bros。 至於 wiener cousins... wiener Pic BY-ND by  mdssandwiches cambridge dictionary - wiener : a frankfurter (= thin, red-brown sausage) wiener 是維也納香腸，暗指小雞雞，剩下的不解釋。

saturate to make something or someone completely wet, or to make a place completely full of something ( cambridge: saturate ) (Pic CC BY by  Horia Varlan ) 好像沒有太多可以講解的，所以我找了幾種不同東西的「飽和」，可以順便看一下他們的英解： 溶液濃度飽和 In physical chemistry, saturation is the point at which a solution of a substance can dissolve no more of that substance and additional amounts of it will appear as a separate phase ( wikipedia: Saturation ) * solution : 溶液 * dissolve : 溶解 色彩飽和 colorfulness, chroma, and saturation are related but distinct concepts referring to the perceived intensity of a specific color. ( wikipedia: Colorfulness ) 市場飽和 When the amount of product provided in a market has been maximized in the current state of the marketplace. ( investopedia: market saturation ) 最後，別忘了對應句子選擇適合的型 動詞 saturate 形容詞 saturated 名詞 saturation

Aluminium foil, Pic CC-BY by  wstryder Aluminium foil is aluminium prepared in thin metal leaves, with a thickness less than 0.2 millimetres, thinner gauges down to 6 µm are also commonly used. ( wikipedia: Aluminium_foil ) Aluminium foil剛好可以拆成鋁、箔兩個字來看： Aluminium  (鋁) Aluminium (or aluminum) is a chemical element in the boron group with symbol Al and atomic number 13. ( wikipedia: aluminium ) a light, silver-colored metal used esp. for making containers, cooking equipment, and aircraft parts ( cambridge: aluminium ) foil (箔) a very thin sheet of metal, used esp. for wrapping food. ( cambridge: foil ) 那為什麼會有錫箔紙的俗稱呢？ 因為早期的確是用錫做的（錫箔 Tin foil ），但因為錫味會留在食物上的缺點，現在市面上應該都是鋁製的了。

公共電話最常見的用法是： Payphone Payphone (Pic CC-BY-NC-ND by  HeyNix ) 照慣例的英解先： a public phone that is operated using coins or a card ( cambridge: payphone ) A payphone (alternative spelling: pay phone) is a public telephone, often located in a telephone booth or a privacy hood, with pre-payment by inserting money (usually coins), a credit or debit card, or a telephone card. ( wikipedia: Payphone ) 然後既然兩則應解都直接用 public telephone ，你當然也可以直接用。 附帶一提，Pop Rock團體 Maroon 5 (官方翻譯：魔力紅) 有一首歌就叫  Payphone ，雖然MV劇情還蠻硬凹的... 在Wikipedia上看到一些其他的字，但意思有點不一樣，以下說明： telephone booth (美國、加拿大) telephone box (英國、澳洲) =電話亭 telephone booth (Pic CC-BY-NC by  el dubb ) Red telephone box 由Giles Gilbert Scott爵士所設計的公共電話亭，應該算蠻知名的英國特色。台灣也有設立仿製的電話亭喔！ Red telephone box (Pic CC-BY-NC-SA by  Click-track Heart ) 以下雖然也是公共使用的電話，但不是投幣或插卡的電話，而是比較偏向專線直播的公共用電話。 Callbox  (點進去是wiki，有照片，下同) 這個我查到在美國是指專線用途的電話，例如緊急電話、職員或客戶直播的電話。 但在英國等於telephone box。 Police box 英國的警察公共電話亭，跟一般的公共電話...

翹孤輪/翹前輪：Wheelie Wheelie (Pic CC BY-NC-ND by  Two Big Paws ) In vehicle acrobatics(特技表演), a wheelie is a vehicle maneuver(花招) in which the front wheel or wheels come off the ground due to extreme torque(力矩) being applied to the rear wheel or wheels. ( wikipedia: Wheelie ) 煞車翹後輪：Stoppie Stoppie (Pic CC-BY-ND by  LeeLilly ) The stoppie (also known as Endo), is a motorcycle and bicycle trick in which the back wheel is lifted and the bike is ridden on the front wheel by carefully applying brake(煞車) pressure. It is also sometimes called a front wheelie. ( wikipedia: Stoppie ) 所以我們知道至少知道有三種可用： stoppie endo front wheelie 但很多人似乎以為front wheelie是翹前輪（用front wheelie搜尋的話，會發現很多照片是翹前輪的），所以要講翹後輪的話，stoppie還是最明確的用法。 有前(front)輪當然也就有後(rear)輪，雖然也有查到有人在用rear wheelie，但似乎不多，總之翹前輪=wheelie，翹後輪=stoppie。 另外還有一種翹後輪，不是透過煞車，而是靠著動力倒車（例如沙灘車、特技腳踏車），這種可以用backward wheelie。 對方聽不懂wheelie或stoppie的話怎麼辦呢？其實回歸原始，翹孤輪就是 front/rear wheel(s) come off the ground (如果你是指汽車翹前輪的話，wheel要加s) 有興趣...

「黑色星期五」有幾種完全不同意思的可能： 美國的瘋狂採購日 不吉祥的13號星期五 1869年9月24日的金融危機 美國的瘋狂採購日：Black Friday (Pic CC-BY-NC-ND by Michael Holden ) 時間是在每年感恩節（通常是11月的第 4 個星期四）的隔天，這天百貨公司會打很驚人的折扣，也會有很多客人大清早就在排隊搶便宜。 叫做黑色是因為會計簿記上是以黑色=盈餘，紅色(赤字)=虧損。另外員工也會用「這天會忙到死」自嘲。 照慣例的英解： the Friday after Thanksgiving when stores in the US reduce the price of goods in order to attract customers who want to start their Christmas shopping ( Cambridge ) (in the US) the day after Thanksgiving, noted as the first day of traditional Christmas shopping, during which crowds of consumers are drawn to special offers by retailers ( Oxford ) 不吉祥的13號星期五：Friday the 13th, Black Friday 這個的發生規則就不用講了吧？ 但關於13號黑色星期五的起源還蠻多說法的，主要有： 聖殿騎士團被國王逮捕屠殺 的日子、耶穌被釘死的日子(但較無法確認)，另外也有幾個悲劇歷史事件發生在13號星期五等種種巧合，所以出現這樣的迷信。 原本不祥的13號黑色星期五是用Black Friday沒錯，但現在、至少以美國來講，已經主要改用Friday the 13th了，除了連字典都查不太到Black Friday有「不祥」的解釋， 恐怖電影「黑色星期五」 的原文片名也是用Friday the 13th。 英解： Friday the 13th is considered an unlucky day in Western superstition . ( wikipedia ) ...

這幾天facebook瘋狂轉貼" Ma the bumbler "，果然近幾年大家都過得很苦啊～ Pic CC BY-ND by  Foreign and Commonwealth Office 但bumbler到底是啥呢 雖然很多媒體已經很熱心的幫你翻譯成「笨蛋馬英九」，但我們當然不會這樣就滿意，畢竟媒體的話跟政客一樣不可信，還是自己做功課比較實際。 Okay, 首先查一下字典 bumbler : Someone who bumbles ; a stumbler or blunderer ( google字典 ) bumble : (verb) to speak or move in a confused way ( Cambridge字典 ) blunder : (verb) to make a big mistake, usually because of not taking care or thinking ( Cambridge字典 ) Someone who makes mistakes because of incompetence ( wordnet ) incompetence : Inability to do something successfully; ineptitude ( google字典 ) ineptitude : not skilled or effective ( Cambridge字典 ) lacking the skills or knowledge to do a job or perform an action correctly or to a satisfactory standard ( Cambridge字典 ) 啊，不知不覺就搞得花花綠綠的了，各位不妨把這個當個小練習，多看英文解釋也會有幫助的。然後，參考字典所說，bumbler並不是單純的指「笨蛋」，它跟stupid或fool還是有差別的，解釋裡可以看到bumble主要是在說「技能、知識太差、不用心而犯錯」，加上r結尾變成bumbler。 這不是我說的，是economist說的喔～我只是解說單字～不要說我政治意識型態 最後，有興趣的話也可以瞧瞧 wi...