Archive for October, 2006

Organic Act

Tuesday, October 24th, 2006

摘自Charles Berlitz的Native Tongues一书:
In a UN discussion of the Organic Act introduced in Tanganyika prior to independence, the English-to-Russian translator, the daughter of émigré parents, fluent in Russian but educated outside of Russia, translated the law as Organicheskiy Akt - literally a correct translation but a phrase that in modern Russian also means “sexual intercourse.” Perhaps […]

Parkinson’s disease

Sunday, October 22nd, 2006

这个是最新的:

这个是几个月前的:

看完了这两段短片,我真为Michael J. Fox心疼。大家有机会找他的书Lucky Man来看看吧。
相关链接:
Parkinson’s disease
Stem cell controversy

Aggressive

Monday, October 16th, 2006

来自读者Janice的问题:
想请教一下,aggressive 可否修饰人?Eg. She is an aggressive person. 如果这样修饰人,是否带有贬意,表示这个人很有攻击性的意思;或者是说这个人很有进取心。倒底是哪种意思表达的多一些,特别是这个词可否用在写推荐信推荐某人的时候。 Many thanks!
aggressive的确既可以表示挑衅的、富于攻击性的,也可以表示积极进取的。前者可以算贬义,后者则是褒义。两种意思都可以修饰人,所以到底是什么意思,需要根据上下文来判断。
这两种用法都很常见,五五开吧。至于在写推荐信的时候,最好还是不要讲aggressive person,因为“怎么怎么样的person”给人的感觉是在描述这个人的本质,或者说最具代表性的特点。(纯粹个人意见,不一定正确)。这跟没有person(即形容词是表语而非定语)的情况有明显的不同。
不妨简单对比一下:
He is a selfish person. (他是个自私的人。)
He is selfish. (他很自私。)
两句都不是好话,但第一句给人的感觉更糟,因为自私几乎就是这个人的定义,是他最本质、最有代表性的特点。第二句只是说明他自私这个事实,但他可能还有很多其他优点,自私不见得可以代表他、概括他。
正因如此,aggressive person往往是“有攻击性的人”,因为“有攻击性”很有可能是某人最有代表性的特点,而“有进取心”充其量只能算是个优点,很难成为某人的defining characteristic。
所以,在推荐信里,还是不用某某是个aggressive person这样的描述为妙。如果非要用aggressive来表达有进取心,可以换种方式。比如,假设你要推荐的人是推销员。你应该说“He is an aggressive salesman and a nice person.” 而不要直接说“He is an aggressive person.”
重申,以上只是我个人的看法,不一定正确。大家有什么高见,记得要分享哦。
Bonus video: Lupe Fiasco featuring Jill Scott - Daydream

Soul patch

Tuesday, October 3rd, 2006

今天才看到这篇报道,晚了近三个月。Better late than never.
Mouse potatoes, himbos and googling go mainstream
关键部分摘录如下:

The mouse potato (who spends as much time on the computer as his/her 1990s counterpart did on the couch), the himbo (attractive, vacuous - and male) and the excessively emotional drama queen were among 100 new words added to the 2006 update of America’s best-selling dictionary, […]