單戀、暗戀、活雞、死雞 - 古德明

單戀、暗戀、活雞、死雞 - 古德明

問:In love with是不是只可說「相戀」,不可說「單戀」?「暗戀」是不是crush?
答:In love with除了指「相戀」,也可指「單戀」,例如美國名作家奧斯汀(Jane Austen)小說 Emma 第十七回男主角Knightley對女主角說:(I) have been in love with you ever since you were thirteen at least(至少你十三歲開始,我就深愛着你)。那愛意女主角多年來都不知道。
「暗戀」英文沒有特別說法,說to be secretly in love就可以,例如英國名作家狄更斯小說 Mrs Lirriper's Lodgings 第二回寫一個懷春少女:She had been secretly in love with Duke with all her heart for nearly a year(她全心全意暗戀杜克,已有將近一年)。
To have a crush on someone不一定是說「暗戀某人」,說「明戀」也可以。Crush一般是指短暫的迷戀,而迷戀者和所戀者往往並不匹配,例如:She had a crush on her chemistry teacher, who was already married(她迷戀她那個已婚的化學教師)。
問:看電視新聞,聽到「活雞養殖場」一詞,然則應該還有「死雞養殖場」吧?「活雞養殖場」是英文的直譯嗎?
答:「活雞養殖場」毫無疑問是現代漢語,大概等於中文的「養雞場」或英文的chicken farm,例如:Thousands of chickens were killed after the outbreak of avian influenza on a chicken farm(一個養雞場爆發禽流感之後,幾千隻雞被殺)。請不要問這幾千隻雞是「活雞」還是「死雞」。