Chinese Practice
得不償失
the losses outweigh the gains
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
照片:維基共享資源
(de2 bu4 chang2 shi1)
成語「得不償失」原作「得不酬失」,出自《後漢書》「故得不酬失,功不半勞」,意為:「因此所得到的抵償不了所失去的,所成就的不及所付出的一半」。這是描述漢代朝廷花了很多功夫鎮壓境內西羌人的抗爭,但卻效果有限。雖然漢人在數量上比西羌明顯更具優勢,且多次成功鎮壓西羌叛亂,但其所耗費之人力與金錢太過巨大,終而導致漢代國勢的衰敗。
宋代詩文大家蘇軾在回覆其弟的〈和子由除日見寄〉一詩中用到這成語,並把它寫作「得不償失」。
這句話的意思為失去的比得到的更多,英文常譯為the losses outweigh the gains。我們在四月十七日的「活用成語」單元所介紹的英文片語Pyrrhic victory
(皮洛士的勝利),在某些語境中也可以用來表達得不償失的意思。另外,類似的片語還有not worth the candle(不值得點蠟燭)。中世紀時電燈尚未發明,燭光為太陽下山後唯一的照明光源。若有活動被認為是浪費時間,就可說是不值得花錢準備蠟燭來照明的。最後,還有一個片語叫作false economy(假節約),意思是說,你為了省錢而買品質較差的東西,結果長期下來,卻是花費了更多錢買東西去更換它。
(台北時報編譯林俐凱譯)
他多年來把陪家人孩子的時間都用來加班,為了多賺點錢卻失去了寶貴的親情,得不償失,他後悔不已。
(For many years he wasted time he could have spent with his child doing overtime at work, losing precious time spent with his family for the sake of a little extra cash. It was not worth it, and he came to regret it.)
你不要得理不饒人,吵贏了架卻傷了感情,這樣得不償失。
(If you win the argument, but lose a friend, it isn’t worth it in the end.)
英文練習
the losses outweigh the gains; false economy
The Chinese idiom 得不償失 was originally written 得不酬失, from a phrase in the Hou Han Shu (Book of the Later Han Dynasty) reading "故得不酬失,功不半勞": “And therefore the gains do not compensate for the losses, the achievement does not equal half the work put in.” This was a direct reference to the Han court’s efforts in fighting uprisings of the Western Qiang people living in Han territories. Despite the Han’s considerable numerical advantage, and the fact that they managed to suppress several Western Qiang uprisings, the human and monetary cost of this effort was huge, to the extent that it contributed to the decline of the dynasty.
Much later, the Song dynasty poet Su Shi would reference that idiom in a poem replying to his brother, entitled “Responding to a Poem Received on New Year’s Eve from Ziyou,” in which he used the phrase 得不償失.
It means the losses outweigh the gains, the phrase often used to translate it in English. In certain contexts, the term Pyrrhic victory — discussed in Using Idioms on April 17 — can be used to describe the idea behind 得不償失. Then there is the phrase “not worth the candle.” In medieval times, before electric lighting, candles were the only light source after the sun had gone down. If an activity was considered a waste of time, it was said not to be worth the cost of the candle used to cast light over it. Finally, in English there is the idea of the “false economy,” where you think you are saving money by buying something of lesser quality, but end up having to spend more purchasing replacements in the long term.
(Paul Cooper, Taipei Times)
I’m not spending any more time on this game: it’s not worth the candle.
(我不想玩這遊戲了,這不值得我花時間。)
You might think you’re saving money buying cheap clothes, but they’ll fall apart after two washes. They’re a false economy.
(你以為買便宜的衣服可以省錢,但這衣服才洗過兩次就破了,這是假節約。)
South Korea’s famous kimchi is falling victim to climate change, with scientists, farmers and manufacturers saying the quality and quantity of the napa cabbage that is pickled to make the ubiquitous dish is suffering due to rising temperatures. Napa cabbage thrives in cooler climates, and is usually planted in mountainous regions where temperatures during the key growing summer season once rarely rose above 25 degrees Celsius. Studies show that warmer weather brought about by climate change is now threatening these crops, so much so that South Korea might not be able to grow napa cabbage one day due to the intensifying heat. “We
It’s widely recognized that there are far more right-handed people than left-handed people in the world. Being right-handed simply means preferring to use one’s right hand for tasks that involve only one hand, such as writing and eating. But have you ever wondered about the possible reasons behind the global dominance of the right hand over the left? As with many complex biological questions, multiple factors appear to be at play. First, one reason seems to be genetics. __1__ Therefore, the global dominance of right-handedness is something that has been passed down through many generations of humans. Next,
A: What’s even more horrible is that the five suspects who purposely supplied ketamine to actor Matthew Perry were all his “friends.” B: Who exactly are the five suspects? A: They include Matthew’s two doctors, a broker, a drug dealer, and even his live-in assistant. B: Those scumbags should go to jail. A: Yeah, one of the doctors may be sentenced to up to 120 years in prison. A: 更可怕的是,提供男星馬修派瑞「K他命」的5人全是他的「朋友」。 B: 嫌犯是誰啊? A: 其中包括他的2位醫生、1位仲介、1位毒販、甚至他的同居助理! B: 那些人渣真該去坐牢。 A: 對啊,其中1位醫生可能面臨120年徒刑。 (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
Continued from yesterday(延續自昨日) https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang Finally, cultural influence also plays a role in which hand people prefer. Historically, items that require physical manipulation have been designed for right-handed use. For example, tools like scissors and musical instruments are often constructed with right-handers in mind, making it difficult for left-handers to use them. __4__ While these factors offer some explanation, they remain speculative. The precise reasons for the global prevalence of right-handed people continue to be debated. Nevertheless, left-handedness will remain a phenomenon of great curiosity among scientists and researchers for many years to come. 最後,文化影響也在人們偏好哪一隻手上扮演一角。歷史上,需要用到肢體操作的物品都被設計來供右手使用。舉例來說,像是剪刀、樂器等工具常常就是考慮到右撇子而打造的,造成左撇子難以使用這些工具。因此,許多天生就是左撇子的人可能就必須透過學習使用右手來適應。 雖然這些因素都提供了一些解釋,但它們仍是推測而已。全球右撇子如此普及,確切的原因仍持續被爭論著。不過,在未來的許多年裡,左撇子依然會是科學家和研究人員相當好奇的一個現象。 What Did You Learn? (A) Specifically, different areas of