易犯的英文法錯誤-5

易犯的英文法錯誤-5

Embarrassing Grammatical Mistakes Even Smart People Make

Note: 編按：

美國人的英文，由於疏忽或教育水準不佳，即使聰明人亦常有出錯，久而久之，習以為常，以為錯的就是對的，反正『大家都錯，便是大家都對』。但偶而也有好心人士挺身而出，糾正一下，接不接受隨你，因為離開學校後，不太有人願意或膽敢挑出你的錯誤……。下列為某女士苦口婆心之善言忠告，其實這些錯誤，也發生在其他英語系的民族身上，只是有人知道，有人卻不知道而已。

When someone uses grammar incorrectly do you make an assumption about his or her intelligence or education? Like it or not, words, spelling, and punctuation are powerful and can leave a lasting impression on others. But even the most educated people often unknowingly make common writing and speaking flubs. Check out this long list of ubiquitous grammar mistakes. Guarantee: You'll either learn something new or find a few of your biggest pet peeves here. (And likely, you'll find fault with my own use of the English language. I welcome your thoughts, critiques, and insults in the comments.)

Christina DesMarais/2017年7月10日

當有人錯誤地使用文法時，你會猜想他的智慧或教育程度？不論你喜不喜歡，字詞、 拼音和標點符號，可以對其他人留下持久的印象。但即使是受過最高教育的人，往往不知不覺中，犯下這些常見的寫作和談話的錯誤。看看這一長串的無處不在的語法錯誤。保證： 你會學到一些新的東西或找到一些你最大的怪毛病。（而且可能，你會自我挑剔自己用的英語的毛病。本人歡迎在評論中，表達你的想法，批評甚或辱罵）。

31. TIE ME OVER(誤)

     Tide me over (正)- 助人度過難關/ 暫時止飢餓

Tie + 人+over：把人牢牢地綁住。比較：

The cow is tied to the tree. (牛被绑/繫在樹旁)

說明：You don't really want someone to tie you on top of something, do you? The phrase "tide me over" is talking about sustaining someone through a difficult time and refers to the ocean's tide, which is capable of moving boats to a new location when the wind will not.

我們並非要求別人綁住自己。"tide me over"乃指海潮會把人捲至另一目的地，意指「助人度過難關」。

                 

               我吃點心暫時止飢餓                                         小吃店

tie/tide發音接近

Comp. Time and tide wait for no men. (歲月不待人)

                    

                                               歲月不待人

      They are tied. (他們打成平手)

      He is tied up.  (他十分忙碌)

      Traffic is tied up during the rush hours. (上下班尖峰時候，交通阻塞)

32. TOW THE LINE(誤)

         TOe THE LINE (正)- 遵守規則

說明：

tow v. 拖曳，例：” No parking. All vehicles will be towed away at owners’ expense”-這是常見的違規停車警告標語。-「此處禁止停車。違者車輛拖吊，拖吊費車主負責。

To "toe the line" means to follow the rules. It comes from runners who put their toe to the line before running a race.

toe為腳尖，"toe the line"意謂參加徑賽起跑者的腳尖，立在起跑線上，表示不犯規，嚴守規則。

                                           

toe另有其他成語：

He walked on tiptoe lest he should be found. 他躡手躡腳，唯恐被發現。

He is a gentleman from top to toe. 他是位百分之百的紳士(完全他) 。

They are going toe to toe with Bruce Lee. 他們將和李小龍苦戰 (= fight hard苦戰)                         

33. CHALK FULL(誤)

      CHocK FULL(正)- 滿嘴(食物)

  

              滿杯咖啡

The word "chock" is an Old English word which means "cheek" as well as "full to the brim." In other words, "chock-full" means "mouthful."

說明：chalk n. 石灰: a piece of chalk: 一枝粉筆，其發音接近chock, 古英語，意謂臉頰(cheek) ，也作「滿到邉缘」。chock n. 原作墊木、輪檔解。chock -full=很滿 mouthful=full to the brim。比較：choke v. 使…窒息 He was choked to death. 被扼死。

34. THROWS OF PASSION(誤)

      THROeS OF PASSION(正)- 激情

                         愛情包括情欲和虛幻，僅在激情時，兩者才會莫名其妙地混合一起

Just know that a throe is a sharp attack of emotion. So, to be in the "throes of passion" is to be violently consumed by something.

說明：throe 与throw 發音相同，throe當名詞用，指激烈的情緒或劇痛，常用複數形。後者為動詞。但也作名詞用，含擲、冒險、投距之義。The church is at a stone’s throw. = The church is at hand. 教堂在一箭之遠=近在咫尺。

兩人住得太近了，石頭都可以扔到

35. A MUTE POINT (誤)

A moot POINT (正) 爭論之重點

Mute means silent, so would you really want to make a point that doesn't say anything? A point that is "moot" is debatable or doubtful. So, a point can be moot, but not mute. (*moot 只能表示某方面、某一點有爭議)

說明：mute a. 無聲、静音，指事物。亦可指人=啞巴 (dumb)。"moot"，值得爭論的、已解決的/不值再爭的。比較：beside the point:与主題無關

Justin Lai編譯

11/06/2017