You Shanghai Me?

今日是年初三赤口，傳統就指這日不要拜年，否則會有口角。今日小弟卻要和大家口角一下，介紹一個和侮辱人有關的字詞。

Shanghai是指上海，這可能是小學生也知道的。不過，原來shanghai 一字在英文也可作動詞用，意指以誘騙、恐嚇、暴力手段招募船員，從事此行為者稱為crimps（掮客）。

這些事情主要於在19世紀中葉發生，當時掮客最直接shanghai船員的方法是在他們在不自覺的情形下偽造他們的簽名來簽署船支合約，並拿下一筆「血腥錢」。

時至今日，Shanghai 則較多時候指日常交易買賣中的詐騙`，特別是指和中國人事務上的欺詐。我們在考試作文中或不宜使用此字，不過學懂了這用法時，在外國被人指罵也不會一頭無緒。

P.S 當我看到這篇文時，一部平凡不過的Android Tablet 竟賣萬元，真的想對賣機的人說一句：You Shanghai Me?
http://thosewerethedays.wordpress.com/2012/01/17/%E5%81%89%E5%A4%A7%E7%A5%96%E5%9C%8B%E9%A0%98%E5%B0%8E%E5%B0%88%E7%94%A8%E3%80%81%E8%B2%B4%E9%81%8Eipad2%E7%9A%84%E5%B9%B3%E6%9D%BF%E9%9B%BB%E8%85%A6%E3%80%8C%E7%B4%85%E6%B4%BE%E5%A3%B9%E8%99%9F/

Phrasal Verbs(片語) 8 - A Problem at the Airport

這個情況相信大家也不會想遇上，要麼突然有公共廣播系統讀你的名字出來，也不是甚麼好事…

When they arrived at the airport, they went straight to the desk, checked in and collected their boarding cards. Then, as they were buying a cup of coffee, the public address system called out Nigel’s name.
‘I wonder what they want,’ he said. ‘Can you look after the bags, Jill? I hope they get it sorted out before the plane takes off.’
He heard his name being called again.
‘Hold on,’ he said. ‘I'm coming.’

Check in ! - At the airport you go to the check-in desk to say you have arrived.
Call Out N1 N2 P1 - A public address system or a person calls out messages or
announcements.
look after N2 P2 - A babysitter looks after children.
sort out N1 N2 P1 - You sort out a problem which has to be solved.
hold on ! - This is usually used in conversation, when you want someone to wait e. g. ‘Tell him to hold on, I’m on my way.’
Take off -! 見On the plane

N1 － 動詞與介詞可以分開 ／ 和物體名詞(Object Noun)或名詞詞組(Noun phrases)同用
N2 － 動詞與介詞不分開 ／ 和物體名詞(Object Noun)或名詞詞組(Noun phrases)同用
P1 － 動詞與介詞可以分開 ／ 和物件代名詞(Object pronoun)同用
P2 － 動詞與介詞不分開 ／ 和物件代名詞(Object pronoun)同用
G - 動名詞(Gerund)跟隨使用
! - 動詞與介詞不分開, 沒有直接的物件

Phrasal Verbs(片語) 7 - Buying a Flat

講到買樓，也許不是人人買得起，卻是全民討論的問題…筆者暫時應該也買不到，不過在blog解說英文倒又可以，今日就看看一段講述買樓的對話…

‘So this will be your first home?’ asked the agent.
Jack said and Sylvia said ‘no’ at the same time. Jack explained. ‘We had been saving up to buy a house, but it all fell through because I lost my job.’
'1 see,’ said the agent. ‘Well, I can show you round some decent flats.’
’Good,' replied Sylvia. ’What’s the procedure?’
‘Every week we print a list of the flats we have for sale. Here's this week's. I want you to take it away and give it a good look over. And then let me know which ones you like.’
‘Do you want me to pay a deposit now?’ asked Jack.
‘Oh, don’t worry about that now. We'll get round to that sort of thing later.’

Save up N1 N2 P1 ! - If you wanted to buy a car, but did not have enough money, you would be able to afford it after after you had saved the money
fall through ! - Robert had planned to go to Turkey, but he was unable to go. His plans had fallen through.
show round N1 P1 - You show someone round a house, taking him from room to room.
take away N1 N2 P1 - In McDonald you either sit down to eat your food, or you take it away.
look over N1 N2 P1 P2 - You look over a room or a house if you want to inspect it before buying
get round to N2 P2 G - When he stopped delaying it, he would get round to applying for a job.

N1 － 動詞與介詞可以分開 ／ 和物體名詞(Object Noun)或名詞詞組(Noun phrases)同用
N2 － 動詞與介詞不分開 ／ 和物體名詞(Object Noun)或名詞詞組(Noun phrases)同用
P1 － 動詞與介詞可以分開 ／ 和物件代名詞(Object pronoun)同用
P2 － 動詞與介詞不分開 ／ 和物件代名詞(Object pronoun)同用
G - 動名詞(Gerund)跟隨使用
! - 動詞與介詞不分開, 沒有直接的物件

P.S 有些人指Year 1 時要申請公屋，到了畢業才有，那麼屆時就可以儲多些錢，做首期…你認同嗎？