問:一九六零年代滾石樂隊有I Can't Get No Satisfaction這首歌,意思是不是「我要滿足」?
答:這是所謂雙重否定(double negative)句。讀者只要把can't改為can,歌詞意思就很清楚:I can't get no satisfaction / I can't get no girl reaction(我無法獲得滿足,我無法令女人有反應)。這是說性慾未能宣泄的苦惱。
雙重否定句,今天普遍視為缺乏教育者用語。不過,英國文豪喬塞(Geoffrey Chaucer)以至莎士比亞,都有用這種句法。而即使是今天,I shouldn't be surprised if或I shouldn't wonder if這種句式之後,也常見用雙重否定說法,通常不會視為錯誤,例如:I shouldn't be surprised if it didn't / did rain(假如下雨,我不會感到奇怪)。
問:His whole appearance was that of a little boy grown large(他看來像個變大了的小男孩)這一句,grown是不是應改為has grown?
答:這一句的grown large之前,略去了who had二字。Who had grown large這類關係子句(relative clause),往往可略去who等關係代名詞(relative pronoun)以及had等輔助動詞(auxiliary verb),例如:(1)He showed me a finger (that was) badly cut(他給我看一隻嚴重割傷的手指)。(2)The man (who was) talking was a professor(在說話的那個人是個教授)。
【代郵】陳小姐:鐵達時廣告「時間,讓愛更了解愛」一語,看似哲理高深,實則胡言亂語,與今日無數流行歌無異,一哂不值,評論奚為。