新冠疫情期間，媒體曾經報導「廣州零號感染源，疑透過餐廳空調傳播」，之前媒體也常出現「零號病人」之類的報導，諸如：「義大利 0 號病人出院，遭起底竟是......」，「紐約確診人數近6萬，……零號病人出院」。
所謂「零號病人」，就是台灣平常我們說的「首例」。如：「台首例武漢肺炎病患出院」，【獨家專訪】台灣首例武漢肺炎確診個案治癒過程！
「零號病人」英文叫 patient zero 或 index case，其實就是某個國家／地區第一個列入紀錄的案例。關於 index case，Wikipedia 的定義如下：
Photo/Graphic courtesy of Bookman l 圖片:書林
The index case (sometimes referred to as patient zero) is the first documented patient in a disease epidemic within a population, or the first documented patient included in an epidemiological study.
為何第一個案例會說成patient zero？BBC 有一則關於新冠肺炎的報導裡提到它的由來：
愛滋病流行期間意外創造了「零號病人」一詞。80年代初期，美國美國疾病管制與預防中心(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)的研究人員調查愛滋病在洛杉磯和舊金山的傳播時，以英文字母O來指「加州以外」(outside of California) 的某個案例。其他研究人員誤將這代表外州 (outside) 的字母“O”，解讀為數字“0”，因此「零號病人」的說法就這樣誕生了。
…patient zero is a term used to describe the first human infected by a viral or bacterial disease in an outbreak…. Whilst investigating the spread of the disease…researchers…used the letter “O” to refer a case of someone “outside the state of California.”
Other researchers wrongfully interpreted the letter as a number 0 – and so the concept of patient zero was born. (Fernando Duarte, BBC, February 24, 2020)
在台灣，我們的日常生活中也出現類似的例子：很多人以為「OK 便利商店」英文唸作OK Convenience Store，其實在美國叫Circle K，Circle K Stores, Inc. is an American chain of convenience stores headquartered in Tempe, Arizona. 我們則是化「零／圈」為字母O！
文章由書林出版公司提供：
www.bookman.com.tw
蘇正隆 — 台灣翻譯學學會前理事長、師大翻譯研究所兼任副教授; 編著《英語的對與錯》，《世紀病毒：必讀防疫英文知識與詞彙》...等
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,
On blazing hot summer days, fresh ingredients and cool refreshments straight from a refrigerator feel like nothing short of a miracle. However, chilled foods didn’t begin with modern refrigerators. In fact, the origin of refrigeration precedes the invention of this now-indispensable appliance by centuries. Initially, the quest for refrigeration was motivated more by the desire to cool beverages than to preserve food. The ancient Greeks and Romans, for instance, used snow stored in insulated pits to chill wine. Around the fourth century BC, the Persians made a significant stride in refrigeration techniques when they devised the yakhchal. Fashioned from
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
RSS