As far as、探口風 - 古德明

As far as、探口風 - 古德明

問:As far as ... is concerned和as far as ... goes這兩個說法,是怎樣用的?
答:As far as作連接詞,有「就……而言」或「極盡」的意思,例如:(1)As far as the eye could reach, there was not a single house left standing after the storm(暴風過後,極目望去,沒有一棟房子沒有倒塌)。(2)As far as I know, he grew up in a small town in Germany(據我所知,他在德國一小鎮長大)。
As far as ... is concerned可以解作「根據某某的意見」,也可解作「關於某人、某物」,例如:(1)As far as I am concerned, he is the best singer in Hong Kong(我認為,他是香港最出色的歌手)。(2)As far as his work is concerned, I have no complaints(就他的工作來說,我沒有不滿)。
As far as ... goes是指「就……本身而言」,往往帶「其本身有局限」含義,例如:Chinese medicine is good as far as it goes, but we cannot dispense with Western medicine(中醫是不錯的,但有其不足之處。西醫可不能廢棄)。
問:據我所知,sound out指「試探……的意見」,但我的同事不少用sound out當作「表示」、「說出」的意思,這用法對嗎?
答:Sound out只可解作「探……的口風」,不可有其他解釋,例如:I will sound him out about the matter(我會就這件事探探他的口風)。