There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. -- Ernest Hemingway

星期二, 5月 13, 2008

有趣的語言學



今天要教大家有趣又實用、在各位還牙牙學語、不知道怎麼拼就會唸的單字:

FUCK!

網路上流傳著一則沒有根據的說法: 十五世紀的英國因為民風保守,王室貴族要生小孩時,得獲得國王的允許(Fornication Under the Consent of King, F.U.C.K) ,把這道喻令掛在門外才可以炒飯製造北鼻。另外一則說法是大英帝國的殖民地時期,被抓到的嫖客都要掛上"不合法的淫亂知識"(For Unlawful Carnal Knowledges) 另有一說是十九世紀倫敦的警察抓流鶯抓不勝抓 (剛好是開膛手出沒的年代),所以也是把"For Unlawful Carnal Knowledges"省略變成F.U.C.K來公告這些可憐的女人罪刑。註1


FUCK 這個字的由來,除了上面的說法外,據說維基百科的說法:

15世紀時有一首詩“跳蚤和蒼蠅”,此詩由拉丁語和英語混合寫成,諷刺了英國劍橋的卡爾梅修道士,其詩名取自第一句“Flen,flyys,and freris”即,“跳蚤,蒼蠅和修道士。”有fuck一詞的一行是“Non sunt in coeli, quia gxddbov xxkxzt pg ifmk.”其中的拉丁文“Non sunt in coeli,quia”意為“他們(指修道士們)不在天堂,因為”後面的“gxddbov xxkxzt pg ifmk”顯然是隱語,不過只要透過字母重映射的方法即可破譯,其規則為向前回推一個字母(需註意當時的字母沒有J、U和W):

* gxddbov xxkxzt pg ifmk.



* fvccant vvivys of heli.

如此一來全句變為“Non sunt in coeli, quia fvccant vvivys of heli.”意思是「他們不在天堂,因為他們與伊利的婦女性交。」句中的「fvccant」即為故意將「fuck」偽裝成拉丁文形式。


"Fuck"在上述的影片,除了當形容詞、副詞、名詞外,還可以當作中綴修飾語(infix) "un-fucking-beliable" (真他媽的難以致信)

影片的中文字幕翻得不錯,不過有點小錯誤。

I don't give a fuck 是說 "我他馬的一點也不在乎" ,並非 "我什麼屁都不會給你"。相同的用法的還有 "I don't give a damn"。...說到"I don't give a damn"那又是另外一個故事。1939 年的經典電影《飄》,或譯《亂世佳人》(Gone With the Wind) 最後一幕,當郝思嘉問:「白瑞德,如果你走了,我該何去何從?」(「Rhett, if you go, where shall I go? What shall I do?」)白瑞德回答說,「坦白講,親愛的,我他媽的不在乎。」( 「Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.」 )

根據當時保守的 《美國電影出版條約》,為了"damn"這個字還要重罰5,000元美金。後來美國電影同業公會還因此通過修正案解套.... "除非是做用於重要而必須的描述, 在適當的時代背景之下, 任何建立在於史實或是俗語對話或場景, ... 或是引用文學, 以本質上不人反感或傷風敗俗為前提,此外禁止使用"hell"或"damn"這些字眼。" 註2通過之後,《飄》就是第一個受益者。有了這個白瑞德條款,難怪今天的美國電影 "what the ...." 的對話特別多。



註一: Wikianswers: What does 'Fornication Under Consent of the King' mean?
註二: Wikipedia: Gone with the Wind: Reference 20

星期六, 5月 10, 2008

走! 帶你去看桐花!(圖多)

轉眼又是桐花盛開的季節,今天要報一條桐花路線給賞花的朋友知道:

中山高速公路>公館交流道下>台六線>福義路>客屬大橋>119號縣道>銅鑼雙峰山步道


檢視較大的地圖

因為我家住在公館灰熊近,所以計畫利用假日騎腳踏車爬山去拍了幾張相片:


沒有想到上次化學治療劑量太強烈,我即使隔了兩週還是有貧血還有些微感冒的症狀。騎到山坡發現並沒有很陡,可是騎腳踏車爬上去有像不帶氧氣筒登喜馬拉雅山的感覺。兩公里不到的山路走走停停花了我快一個小時。看著摩托車一輛一輛呼嘯而過,心中不免有股辛酸的感覺


當然這種感覺爬上山遠眺公館平原馬上就一掃而空啦!







日本有位變態系藝人叫做H.G,在幫助人流了一身汗說過:"その充実感"(好充實的感覺啊!)




...大概就像醬子吧。 (汗)

爬上了雙峰步道,陣陣傳來撲鼻的桐花香,今年的第一棵桐花發見!



滿地的白色桐花,好像下雪一樣。



逛了逛四周,綿延大概一公里左右的小山路。能夠騎車在山中的產業步道,曬了曬春日的太陽,留點小汗真是件幸福的事。當然也要天公做美啦! 沒有下雨真是感謝神。

回途經過公館優美的稻田當然也要給它拍一下:



以下是自製的桌布還有照片歡迎另存下載或連結:

相簿在這裡


延伸參考:
2008 客家桐花祭食宿情報!
行政院客委會客家桐花祭公式網站

星期日, 5月 04, 2008

醒醒! 葉大雄!



「看哪! 大雄每天都過得渾渾噩噩的!」

有個粗俗的比喻說人生就像被強暴,當你無法反抗的時候,就只能享受它。

我當然不贊同這種似是而非的謬論(paradox),人生是只有一場沒有薩恩露德(save and load)的大冒險兼勇者公主養成遊戲。與其抱怨技能點錯了或是轉職不順不如多累積經驗值吧!

因為生病的關係從過年開始就斷斷續續的入院出院入院出院,我看過隔壁病床生病意識不清的老伯,我住院的隔天早上他就走掉了。就這麼巧,他生病兩年的時間我剛好見到他的最後兩天。也有狀況不錯的大叔,我要出院的時候看到他的病況好轉,照顧的看護微笑的跟我打招呼,眼看就可以拔管要慢慢康復了,結果在我下次辦理住院時卻聽護理站說他走掉的消息。

《那一夜,他們說相聲》有個段子這樣說:「生命中,你不知道上天什麼時候會對你強制性的斷水斷電」

舅舅從事保險,他跟我說他的一個小學同學,在工廠工作到一半腦溢血就走了,沒有病史、沒有任何外傷,留下沒有謀生能力的妻子與嗷嗷待哺的三個小孩。....轉開電視看到社會新聞這類極需要社會大眾伸出援手的人事每天都在發生,shit happens,誰知道,下一秒在看這篇文章的你我會發生什麼事情?

我不想寫些賺人熱淚或是散播"面對人生的美麗與哀愁"等灑狗血的B.S的思想文章,莎翁說過:「地獄空空如也,因為所有的惡魔都在這兒」註1,這是一個充滿自私又功利的社會。我現在很少租悲劇結尾的電影來看,因為坦白說我的人生到目前截稿為止已經夠像一場悲劇,呃,鬧劇。現在極需要一個高潮,如果出現一個令人掃興的結尾(anticlimax) 那不僅觀眾會很倒胃,主角搞不好也演不下去了。

所以有宗教信仰很重要,嗯。

上帝是奇妙的導演,總讓你猜不透他手上的劇本。但你在舞台上忘詞的時候總是有人高舉著聖經對你提詞。看不見下一幕你的角色,也沒有預演這回事,沒有喊卡的戲裡有痛苦也有歡笑。無論演得稱不稱職,謝幕的時候,你總可以低聲說道:「這美好的仗我已經打過了」註2

小時候因為戴了一副眼鏡,加上剛好也姓葉,十足的一副白斬雞書生樣,所以不情願滴背負了"葉大雄"這個綽號有一段時間。長大才知道野比太(のびた)原來不姓葉,但我總是對漫畫中的各個人物總有十足的親切感,好像小叮噹是陪我ㄧ起長大的朋友可以抓來秉燭夜談話當年一般。前幾天看到日本雅虎有提供大人免費站著看(立ち読み) 腦中就浮現大雄在書店白看漫畫,被老闆用雞毛撣子趕的畫面。

上面的圖片取自第四集的"海底攀岩"(海底ハイキング),大雄從海底地震中歷劫歸來,正在好好休息的時候,被阿福等人取笑的畫面。 我想這次從醫院做化療回來後,也是該計畫下個冒險,脫離渾渾噩噩的生活了。



註1: 莎士比亞《暴風雨》原文為: "Hell is empty, and all devils are here." 《The Tempest,1,2.》

註2: "那美好的仗我已經打過了", 《新約》提摩太後書三章七節。

星期六, 5月 03, 2008

The Lord will save me.

What will you do, then?

They say patients who diagnosed as having Hodgkin's Disease are blessing in disguise. Because it’s curable, 70 percent of patients after receiving OPD chemotherapy will recover. Unfortunately, I am the one of poor 30. For there is a saying, cancer is not a matter of life and death. ... It’s more serious than that.

Since 2006 Oct, I had passed the Air Traffic Control test held by CAA, then the medical exam showed something was there in my chest. My life changed, twisted, and started toward a track where I cannot predict like an accelerating train without a brake. I had 12 time chemotherapy, then 20 time radiation therapy. Not to mention all kinds of medical exam, blood phlebotomize, CAT scan, PET scan, WHATEVER scan. It all takes me about almost a year to finish the treatment, and the tumor finally shrank. But the cancer just metastasized, it never stopped growing.

This year I had a PET scan (definitely, it’s not a scan for pets) and the result is heart-breaking. The image showed I had another tumor near the left armpit. So I had gone to Veteran’s Hospital in Taichung to have my bloody continued treatment.

My doctor in Veteran’s Hospital said a good news to me: “If you not gonna have any treatment, you will die in a half year. Have a stem cell transplantation, you will still have 40 percent to recover. If it all doesn’t work, Allogeneic stem cell transplantation will have many complications, and don't worry, you will pass away very quickly.” Well, I had to admit that this is the very first time I was so close to death that I can clearly see his ugly face.

So this Chinese New Year, I spent my time in the hospital for 12 days. Then I got out for a week. Then I was hospitalized again, to have an extensive chemotherapy. So far, I had four times chemotherapy. The doctor also put central venous catheter kit to collect my stem cells… TWICE! Normally you just need to have a little operation to put that thing once, unfortunately the first time they did not collect enough stem cells. So last time I did the operation again and made sure they had enough stem cells.

To look on the bright side of life, I am baptized now. At least I’m purposed driven and I have learnt how to pray when I feel that I really cannot hang on anymore. I can’t imagine how I could survive those painful suffering treatment without scriptures: “…through the valley of showdown of death, I will fear no evil, for you’re with me” “…He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” Every time when I look the scriptures, I am always full of tears.

I know I lost my job which I earned and prepared for the test for a year. I know I probably will lose the girl I adore because I couldn’t confess to her. I know, I have already lost two years of my life and those “belle chose”. By having the illness, I know how they feel, Daniel in the Lion Den, Job who tore up his clothes. “…The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away, may the name of the Lord be praised.” I believe that the Lord will save me, and lead me not into temptation, Amen.

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