Thu, Dec 26, 2019 page15

• American & British English 美式英文&英式英文

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  It’s possible that few British people have ever heard the term “crossing guards.” They do exist in the UK, it’s just that they are called “crossing wardens” or, more colloquially, “lollipop ladies.” The lollipop refers to the circular stop signs on poles that they typically carry with them to indicate when it is safe, or not, to cross. If the term sounds patronizing, it’s worth remembering the crossing guards are there for the benefit of children. An alternative name is “lollipop woman” — or “lollipop man” if male, of course — but the alliteration in lollipop lady just makes the term sound friendlier.

  Lollipop ladies would help children cross the road outside schools, at pedestrian crossings called “zebra crossings” — crosswalks in the US — after their black and white stripes.

  There are many different words for objects encountered along the street in American and British English. For a start, in the UK, the schoolchildren would be walking on the pavement, not the sidewalk; on the drive to school, their parents may have had to negotiate roundabouts rather than traffic circles; and they might have passed buildings along the high street — main street in US English — such as cinemas rather than movie theaters, chemists instead of drugstores, off-licenses not liquor stores and petrol stations instead of gas stations. In the past, they may have passed people queuing outside phone boxes (rather than lining up outside phone booths), along the way.

  

  (Paul Cooper, Taipei Times)

  聽過「crossing guards」（交通指揮員）一詞的英國人可能很少，但這詞在英國的確存在，只不過是叫做「crossing wardens」（交通管理員），或更口語地稱為「lollipop ladies」（棒棒糖女士）。棒棒糖指的是他們常拿的連著桿子、寫著「stop」的圓形舉牌，用來指引何時可以安全過馬路。如果覺得叫人家「棒棒糖女士」顯得自己好像高高在上，那我們別忘了，交通指揮員在那裡是為了要幫助兒童。另一種說法是叫做「lollipop woman」──若是男性，當然就叫「lollipop man」）──但「lollipop lady」這兩個字所押的「L」頭韻，讓這名稱聽來更和譪可親。

  「lollipop ladies」會協助孩子在學校外面過「zebra crossings」（斑馬線）──這行人穿越道因其黑白條紋像斑馬而得名；斑馬線在美國則是叫做「crosswalks」。

  

  A school crossing guard stops traffic in Florida, US on May 17. 學校交通指揮員舉排牌示意停車。五月十七日攝於美國佛羅里達州。

  Photo: Reuters
  照片：路透

  很多路上會遇到的事物，在美式和英式英文中的說法並不相同。學童出門，在英國是走在「pavement」（人行道）上，而非美式的「sidewalk」。父母開車去學校的路上，或許得經過「roundabouts」（英式的「圓環」），而非美式的「traffic circle」；也可能經過了「high street」（英式「商店大街」，美國叫「main street」）沿路的建築──例如「cinemas」（英式「電影院」）而非美式的「movie theaters」、「chemists」（英式「藥妝店」）而非美式的「drugstores」、「off-licenses」（英式「酒品店」）而非美式的「liquor stores」，以及「petrol stations」（英式「加油站」）而非美式的「gas stations」。若在以往，或許途中會看到等著打電話的人們，在「phone boxes」（英式「電話亭」）外排隊，而非美式的「phone booths」。

  （台北時報林俐凱譯）
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