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Charlie Hebdo Attack

 

法國諷刺漫畫周報《查理周刊》上月遇襲，難道言論自由真有邊界？歐美齊呼「我是查理」，但《紐約時報》一專欄作家竟以「我不是查理」為題，又所謂何事？

 

As we are mortified by the slaughter of those writers and editors in Paris, it's a good time to come up with a less hypocritical approach to our own controversial figures, provocateurs and satirists.

 

mortify 令人尷尬

(verb 動詞)

 

例子：Sally was mortified when she dropped her panties out of her gym bag.

 

slaughter  屠殺；宰殺

(verb 動詞)

 

hypocritical 虛偽的

(adjective 形容詞)

 

► hypocrisy 虛偽

(noun 名詞)

 

例子： Frank was so hypocritical to tell them to be quiet when he was making so much noise.

 

controversial 備受爭議的

(adjective 形容詞)

 

例子： My talk show was deemed controversial because many subjects were seen as taboo.

 

provocateur 挑釁者

(noun 名詞)

 

► provoke 挑釁

(verb 動詞)

 

例子： It is dangerous and stupid to provoke a wild animal.

 

satirist 諷刺作家

(noun 名詞)

► satire 諷刺（作品）

(noun 名詞)

 

例子：Who would have thought that your life could be in danger for being a satirist.

 

人生百態，光怪陸離，荒唐之事何其多。諷刺作家以戳破虛榮為己任，註定不討喜：

 

Satirists and ridiculers expose our weakness and vanity when we are feeling proud. They puncture the self-puffery of the successful.

 

puncture 戳穿

 (verb 動詞)

 

例子：The kids punctured the balloons with the pencils.

 

self-puffery 自滿

(noun 名詞)

 

► puff, puff up（使）膨脹，（使）鼓起

(verb 動詞)

 

文章作者亦提到，諷刺作家汲汲於暴露原教旨主義者的愚昧：

 

Moreover, provocateurs and ridiculers expose the stupidity of the fundamentalists.  Fundamentalists are people who take everything literally.

 

literally 名副其實地，按字面含義來講

(adverb 副詞)

 

例子：He is a joker.  Don't take him literally.

 

一般來說，我們發言固然要注意尊重他人；但人人界線不同，如果硬要為言論自由劃界，恐怕不妥當，更不應用以合理化暴力行徑。作者認為，社交禮儀比白紙黑字的法律靈活得多：

 

It's almost always wrong to try to suppress speech, erect speech codes and disinvite speakers.

Fortunately, social manners are more malleable and supple than laws and codes.

 

suppress （用武力）鎮壓，壓制，制止

 (verb 動詞)

 

例子： Peter suppressed his feelings towards Lucy because he was shy.

 

erect 樹立

(verb 動詞)

 

例子：The building was erected over a hundred years ago.

 

malleable 易受外界影響的；可塑的；易被控制的

(adjective 形容詞)

 

例子： The metal was so thin that it was malleable.

 

supple 易彎曲的，柔軟的，柔韌的

(adjective 形容詞)

 

例子：Her limbs are so supple that she can extend her legs way over her head.

 

Crystal’s Slang Time

 

翻查字典，erect 除了指「樹立」外，原來另有所指… …

 

erect

= sexually stimulated

 

俗語怎樣說？不少外國影片都會出現以下字眼：

 

boner (=erect)

 

例子：Jerry got a boner from making out with his girlfriend.

 

boner 犯錯

(verb 動詞)

 

例子： Jack spilled ice cream all over his date's dress and really bonered the evening.

例子： I studied so hard for the test but totally bonered it and got a D.

   
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