English - The Real Deal

今天Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince终于上市，作者J.K.Rowling的网站自然也就成了香饽饽。去溜了一圈，果然不同凡响。里面有个版块叫Rubbish Bin（text only version here），不由让我会心一笑。

中学里学的都是英式英语，所以习惯了管垃圾箱叫rubbish bin。课本里还教过一个dustbin，不知怎的就牢牢刻在了我脑海里。刚到美国的时候还闹过笑话。记得第一次问人垃圾箱在哪儿是这样的情形：

Me: Excuse me. Where’s the dustbin?
Some guy: What?
Me: Where’s the dustbin?
Some guy: Sorry. Where’s what?
Me: Hmm… Where is the rubbish bin?
Some guy: Oh, you mean trash can?
Me: Yeah, yeah, yeah, trash can. Thank you very much.

之后还有好几次在跟同学聊天的时候讲到垃圾箱，dustbin总是脱口而出（老习惯毕竟难改啊），每次都换来一脸的茫然。没办法，在别人的土地上混，就得讲别人的话。所以经过一段时间的强迫调整，终于彻底改口了。现在看到垃圾箱，第一反应就是trash can。

当然，垃圾箱还有别的说法。建议大家参考Wikipedia的相关条目（最后一张照片很精彩）。特别注意这段说明：

In the American English usage, waste receptacles made of metal are most commonly referred to as “garbage cans” or “trash cans”, as the word “can” generally refers to a container made out of metal. The word “bin” or “dustbin” is more ambiguous as to the material used, but is favored (in some regions) if the material is plastic.

顺便提一句，今天在好几份报纸上看到了“我是Harry Potter的忠实fans”这样的话，实在不吐不快。首先，洋泾浜不可取。说难听点就是不三不四，两头不到岸。其次，一定要夹杂点英文的话也至少要用对才行。某人是Harry Potter的fan，某些人才是Harry Potter的fans！换句话说，我永远只可能是一个fan，而不是fans！这个低级错误在中文圈内特别常见，我想一定是“粉丝”泛滥的结果。所以拜托大家好好讲英语/中文，改掉恶习，别动不动就来“粉丝”、“偶稀饭”、“酱紫”、“期待ing”这类的语言。

Bonus video: Life of Agony - Love To Let You Down

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 16th, 2005 at 2:05 am and is filed under Culture, Everyday Life, British English. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.