sharing

Grey goods traders

 

grey goods / parallel goods 水貨

(noun 名詞)

 

黑市、紅色資本、綠色生活，用顏色來形容人或物，總帶象徵意義。原來英語也不乏類似例子。那麼，水貨為何是灰色的？

水貨，即有問題但又非違法的貨品，英語稱為grey goods實在非常形象化，意謂在黑和白之間之灰色地帶的貨品。

例句: Milk powder has become popular grey/ parallel goods recently.

 

grey goods traders 水貨客

(noun 名詞)

 

在grey goods後加traders（交易者）一詞，便指水貨客。

例句: There have been more and more grey goods traders buying milk powder in Hong Kong and trickle the milk powder to the Mainland for sale so as to make profit.

 

trickle 螞蟻搬家

(verb 動詞)

 

新聞不時有「賊人以螞蟻搬家的方式，把戶主的財物偷偷運走」的說法，生動而具體地描述人們逐少把東西從一處運到另一處的行為。英語倒放過這些勤勤懇懇的小昆蟲一馬，卻一樣趣味十足。

Trickle本指液體滴漏，亦可比喻為螞蟻搬家，兩者都在大家不知不覺間，綿綿細水地把物件運往別處。

 

  • trickle down／up 上／下滲

(phrasal verb 片語動詞)

 

在動詞後加不同的介詞（preposition），便能輕鬆做到一詞多用！

由上而下、由下而上，原來都可以用Trickle配詞組成。

 

例句: If money trickles down, it moves slowly from the richest people to the poorest people in a society.

例句: If money trickles up, it moves slowly from the poorest people to the richest people in a society.

 

milk powder scarcity threat 奶粉荒

例句: Hong Kong has suffered a milk powder scarcity threat.

 

  • scarcity短缺　vs  scarce短缺

(noun 名詞)      (adjective 形容詞)

 

Scarcity 和 scarce 中文都解短缺，但以英語來說，前者是名詞，後者則是形容詞。細心比較兩句例句，便知道當中分別。

 

例句: The scarcity of employment opportunities has made young people worried about their future.

例句: Milk powder is scarce in Hong Kong.

 

make yourself scarce為了避開不快事而離開

(idiom 慣用語)

 

遇上不快的事情，有時我們都希望可以溜之大吉。這本來跟用make yourself scarce 就能恰當表達這種行動。

例句: I decided it was time to make myself scarce.

 

§ 關鍵詞：grey goods, milk scarcity

 

   
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