Friday 22 May 2015

「利大於弊」英文怎麼說?

在商場上,尤其作為決策人士,我們常常主動或被迫考慮是否採取某項行動,或者要在兩個以上的方案中作抉擇,因此,權衡利弊得失便成了家常便飯。「利大於弊」英文該怎麼說呢?可別學網友kuso 說成「Z > B」,否則老外肯定一頭霧水!
正確答案是:The advantages outweigh the disadvantages(好處比壞處更重要)
outweigh 是及物動詞,意指「比…更重要、比…更有價值」。
例:From my point of view, the advantages of launching controls over foreign currencies outweigh their disadvantages.(我認為,管制外匯的好處超過壞處。)
除了上述兩個常見用法外,再來學學以下幾個慣用語:
A saving grace(可取之處)
例:This marketing campaign didn’t help the sales at all, but it has a saving grace: it promoted the brand name.(這個行銷活動對銷售一點幫助也沒有,但它有個可取之處:打響品牌名號。)
Choose the lesser of two evils(兩害相權取其輕)
例:I know both plans have disadvantages, but we have no other alternative. We may just choose the lesser of two evils.(我知道兩個計劃都有缺點,但我們沒有其他方案了,只能兩害相權取其輕。)
Penny wise and pound foolish(揀了芝麻,丟了西瓜)
例:You think you can get more discount by buying more. But actually you are just penny wise and pound foolish.(你以為可以藉由多買一些來取得更多折扣,但事實上你是揀了芝麻丟了西瓜。)

常聽到的英文簡報開場白“Thank you for your coming”,其實說錯了!

「謝謝各位的到來」,這句話最常出現在英文簡報的第一句。 這麼簡單的開場白,原來也會說錯!簡報開場白,以下這三句都不對:
(X)Thank you for your coming.
(X)Thank you for your joining.
(X)Thank you for your attending.
中文「謝謝您的參與」、「謝謝您的到來」、「謝謝您的出席」,都很正常,但coming/joining之前加了一個your,就顯得拗口,老外不會這麼說,但他們發現,這種說法在日本、中國和台灣特別流行。
這些句子為什麼在文法上不通呢?這樣解釋好了,原來這句話的原型是:Thank you for coming.這裡的coming不是一個名詞,而是「現在分詞」,用此表示正在進行的動作。例:I am working的working也是一個現在分詞。
如果要說Thank you for your…,後面加一個名詞是可以接受的,如:
(O)Thank you for your attention.
(O)Thank you for your help.
前兩句開場白可改成:
(O)Thank you for coming.
(O)Thank you for joining.
比較複雜的是Thank you for your attending.這句就算是把your去掉,還是不太對:
(X)Thank you for attending.
(X)Thank you for your attendance.
這兩句話在文法上雖然OK,但句意冗贅。attend的意思和中文的「參加」不盡相同,以英文解釋,它指的是"go and show up",你參加一場會議,用attend a meeting指go and show up in the meeting。當你的觀眾人都在現場了,還”attend”顯得累贅。若一定要這麼說,就用:Thank you for being here.
最後幫各位整理一下,方便記憶:
(X)Thank you for your coming. → (O)Thank you for coming.
(X)Thank you for your joining. → (O)Thank you for joining.
(X)Thank you for attending. → (O)Thank you for being here.
(X)Thank you for your attendance. → (O)Thank you for being here.