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這山望著那山高

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英譯：
The grass is greener on the other side of the hill/fence

說明：
這句成語的字面意思是「山坡 (或籬笆) 那邊的草總比這邊綠」，大意是說總覺得別人擁有的或他們的處境看起來比自已的好，雖然事實上並非如此。這成語經常被簡化為 “The grass is greener on the other side” 或甚至 “The grass is greener”。

例句：
Don’t compare yourself with others. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. Just do your best. (你不必去跟別人作比較，這山望著那山高，你只要盡最大努力去做好就可以了)

You might think you’d be happy if you were working in my company, but, well, the grass is greener on the other side. (你真是這山望著那山高，如果你來我的公司工作看看，你就知道你現在有多麼幸福了)

本文亦刊載在下列網址：
http://htmfiles.englishhome.org/idioms/idioms_chinese-2.htm

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Discreet, discrete (adjs.)

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這兩個形容詞有時會被搞混。discreet 意為「(言行舉止) 謹慎的，慎重的，考慮周到的」(prudent, judicious, having good judgment)，如 You can confide in him; he is very discreet. (你可以信賴他；他行事非常謹慎)；It wasn’t very discreet of you to ring me up at the office. (你在辦公室打電話給我有點考慮欠週)。這個字的反義詞為 indiscreet。

Discrete 意為「分離的，個別的；有別的；不連續的」(separate, distinct, noncontinuous)，如 These are discrete elements that share no basic characteristics. (這些是個別的元素，它們的基本特性完全不同)；The picture consisted of a lot of discrete spots of color. (這幅畫由許多互不相連的色點所組成)。

這兩個同音異形異義字 (homophones) 雖源自同一拉丁字，但意思卻截然不同。不少人因此發生拼字錯誤或意思混淆的情況，甚至現今無論在印刷品、信件或其他非正式寫作中仍不時可見這樣的錯誤或意思上的誤解。尤有甚者，許多人將 discretion 誤以為是 discrete 的名詞。事實上，discrete 的名詞是 discreteness，而 discretion 是 discreet 的名詞，意為「謹慎，慎重；自己決定，自行裁決」– 這名詞通常用在 at one’s discretion (由某人自行決定) 此一常見的片語中，如 The hours of meetings will be at the chairperson’s discretion. (開會的時間將由主席自行決定)。

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look on; look on as; look out; look over; look round; look to; look up; look up to; look upon as; lord it over + (sb); lose out; lose out on; lose out to; luck out

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look on
旁觀
Everybody just looked on as the two men fought.
The crowd just looked on as the old lady was mugged.

look on * as
視為
I look on her as a close friend.

look out
當心，留意
Look out! you’re going to drop that!

look * over +
檢查，視察，察看；看一看
They came to look the house over with a view to buying it.

look round +
察看 (房子)
We looked round the house and decided that we didn’t like it enough to buy it.

look to +
期望，希望，指望
They’re looking to me to help improve sales figures.

look * up +
查閱 (字典等)
I take time to look up new vocabulary words.
I didn’t know what “loquacious” meant and had to look it up in a dictionary.

look * up +
(順道) 看望，拜訪
If you ever travel to Taipei, you should look me up.

look up
(情勢等) 好轉，改善
The economy is looking up.

look up to +
尊敬，敬仰
He looks up to his father.

look upon * as
視為
I look upon him as a close friend.

lord it over + (sb)
在 (某人) 面前擺架子；對 (某人) 逞威風
She loves to lord it over her employees.

lose out
吃虧；失利；輸
Many people lost out when the new regulations were enforced.

lose out on +
(在某方面) 吃虧；失利；失敗
Because I left the company, I lost out on my bonus.

lose out to +
輸給，敗給；被擊敗；被取代
People without IT skills often lose out to those with the skills.

luck out
走運
I really lucked out when I met my partner.

本文亦刊載在下列網址：
http://htmfiles.englishhome.org/phrasalverbs/phrasalverbs-l.htm

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Q： I told you he was going to come to the party. 這句明明是過去式，為何使用表示未來的 be going to 呢?

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A：類似 I told you he was going to come to the party. (我告訴你他會來參加聚會) 這樣的句子，我們可以稱之為「過去的未來式」(future in the past)；它們是用來表示在過去某個時間點你認為某事未來會發生。至於你的想法或看法是否正確則不重要。這種句型在英文中頗為常見。茲將它們的幾個重點敘述如下：

1. 與簡單未來式 (simple future) 一樣，「過去的未來式」有兩個不同的型態：would 和 was/were going to。

  • I told him I would help him later. (我告訴他稍後會協助他)
  • I knew John was secretly going to meet Jane after the party. (我知道約翰將在聚會後偷偷地和珍見面)

2. 「過去的未來式」遵守簡單未來式的基本用法規則，即 would 的基本用法與 will 一樣，而 was/were going to 的基本用法與 am/is/are going to 相同。

  • He promised he would send a postcard from Egypt. (他承諾會從埃及寄來明信片)
  • I had a feeling (that) the vacation was going to be a disaster. (我覺得這個假期將是一場災難)

3. 與所有未來式一樣，「過去的未來式」不能用在以 when, while, before, after, by the time, as soon as, if 和 unless 等開頭的副詞子句或時間子句中，亦即在這些子句中不能使用 would/will/be going to。

  • I already told Mark that when he arrived, we would go out for dinner. (我已經告訴馬克，在他到達時，我們將外出吃晚餐) (正)
  • I already told Mark that when he would arrive, we would go out for dinner. (誤)
  • Sally asked if I was going to go to class late. (莎莉問我上課是否會遲到) (正) — 在這句中，if (= whether) 所引導的子句是名詞子句而非副詞子句。

此外，由於在英文中我們可以使用現在進行式來表示不久的將來 (in the near future) 要發生的事件，所以「過去的未來式」亦有可能以過去進行式的型態出現。例如，下面兩句也是「過去的未來式」：

  • She was aware of the fact that we were meeting after class. (她知道我們下課後要碰面)
  • I told my mom I was having dinner with some friends after work. (我告訴我媽媽下班後要跟一些朋友聚餐)
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Tasteful, tasteless, tasty, distasteful (adjs.)

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Tasteful 和 tasty 分別衍生自名詞 taste 不同的意思，前者的意思與「品味；鑑賞力」有關，而後者的意思與「味道；滋味」有關。因此，這兩個形容詞應被視為截然不同的兩個字。tasteful 意為「有品味的；有鑑賞力的，有審美力的；雅緻的，高雅的，優美的」，如 Her comments were very tasteful. (她的評論很有品味)；The study had tasteful furnishings. (書房的室內陳設高雅優美)；tasteful decoration (雅致的裝飾)。

Tasty 意為「(食物) 味美的；可口的；好吃的」(palatable)，但通常不用來形容甜食，如 This really was a tasty meal. (這真是美味的一餐)；She served a wonderfully tasty lunch. (她供應了非常美味可口的午餐)；a few tasty snack (一些可口的小吃)。此外，tasty 在英國俚語中還意為「迷人的；有性吸引力的 (男性形容女性的用語，通常被視為對女性的冒犯)」，如 John’s new girlfriend is very tasty. (約翰的新女友很迷人)；His sister’s rather tasty. (他的妹妹相當有性吸引力，讓人想入非非)。

Tasteless 既是 tasteful 也是 tasty 的反義詞；換言之，tasteless 兼具比喻和字面的意思。這個形容詞的比喻意思為「(衣服、家具或裝飾等) 沒品味的，格調低的，俗氣的；(言談或舉止) 不雅的，不得體的」，如 His room is full of tasteless ornaments. (他的房間盡是沒有品味的裝飾品)；She thought his comments rude and tasteless. (她認為他的評論粗魯不雅)；a tasteless remark/joke (不雅的話/笑話)。tasteless 的字面意思為「沒有味道的；淡而無味的」(flavorless, insipid)，如 The student canteen serves cold, tasteless pizzas. (學生餐廳供應淡而無味的冷披薩)；a tasteless piece of chicken (一塊淡而無味的雞肉)；tasteless vegetables/soup (沒有味道的蔬菜/湯)。

至於 distasteful，雖然它也只有比喻的意思且在拼字上看似在 tasteful 的前面加上 dis-，但它可不是 tasteful 的反義詞! distasteful 意為「令人反感的；使人不愉快的；討厭的」(unpleasant, disagreeable)，顯然它與 tasteful 是不相關的兩個字，如 Many people have complained that they found the pictures distasteful. (許多人抱怨這些圖片令人反感)；a rather distasteful duty (相當令人討厭的職責)；a distasteful joke (令人倒胃口的笑話)。

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Q：英文名片上學位的順序如何排列? 譬如說，我擁有 J.D. 和 M.A.。

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A：一般而言，在英文名片上，學位是放在姓名的後面，而學位的排列順序是由左至右、由小至大，亦即由學士、碩士、博士依序排列。所以，您的姓名和學位可寫成：

George W. Bush, M.A., J.D.

註：M.A. 為 Master of Arts (文學碩士) 的縮寫，而 J.D. 為 Juris Doctor 的縮寫。

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Q：She is always coming to class late. 這句的語意為何?

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A：這句的意思是「她上課老是遲到」。這是英文一種滿特別的句型。

當現在進行式與 always 或 constantly 等字連用時，它是在表示某一令人厭煩、不悅、惱怒或驚訝的事情經常發生。注意：它的語意與簡單現在式非常相似，但卻是在表達負面的情緒。記得要將 always 或 constantly 置於 BE 動詞 和 V-ing 之間。例如：

  • He is constantly talking. I wish he would shut up. (他老是嘰哩聒拉講個不停。我希望他閉嘴)
  • I don’t like them because they are always complaining. (我不喜歡他們，因為他們老是抱怨東抱怨西的)

同樣地，當過去進行式與 always 或 constantly 等字連用時，它是在表示過去某一令人厭煩、不悅、惱怒或驚訝的事情經常發生。注意：它的語意與 used to (表示過去的習慣性動作 — 但現在已不存在) 非常相似，但卻是在表達負面的情緒。記得要將 always 或 constantly 置於 BE 動詞 和 V-ing 之間。例如：

  • She was always coming to class late. (她上課老是遲到)
  • He was constantly talking. He annoyed everyone. (他老是嘰哩聒拉講個不停。他讓每個人感到困擾)
  • I didn’t like them because they were always complaining. (我不喜歡他們，因為他們老是抱怨東抱怨西的)
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Q：(1) I saw him leave the house. 和 (2) I saw him leaving the house. 這兩句的意思有何不同?

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A：這兩句的意思都是「我看見他離開房子」，但它們的含意並不相同。第 (1) 句是說我目睹了他離開房子的整個過程 (從事件或動作的開始到結束)，而第 (2) 句是說我在他離開房子的過程中目睹了這個動作，亦即我是在動作或事件進行中看見的。

這種感官動詞句型是英文一種相當常見的句型，必須熟記。在「感官動詞 (see, hear, feel, notice, watch 等等) + 受詞 + 動詞」的句型中，受詞後面的動詞只能用原形動詞或現在分詞 (其語意差別如上所述)，不能用不定詞 (to + v)。例如：

  • I saw them arrive. (我看見他們到來)
  • We watched the children playing basketball. (我們觀看那些小孩在打籃球)
  • Did you notice anyone leave/leaving the house? (你有看到或注意到任何人離開房子嗎?)

但在被動態結構中，感官動詞後面必須接帶 to 的不定詞。例如：

  • They were seen to arrive. (他們被看見到來了)
  • The dark-haired man was seen to leave the house. (那位黑髮男子被看見離開那棟房子)

在上述的「感官動詞 + 受詞 + 動詞」句型中，受詞後面的動詞是做為受詞的補語，即受詞補語，它們是主動態；但它們也可以是被動態，此時受詞後面的動詞 (即受詞補語) 要用「be + 過去分詞」 (但必須去掉 be，否則就犯了大錯)；若是被動進行式，則用「being + 過去分詞」(但必須保留 being，否則同樣犯了大錯)。請看下面的例句：

  • I saw the man knocked down by the car. (我看見那個男子被汽車撞倒)
  • I stopped to look at the building being demolished. (我停下來觀看那棟建築物被拆除)

上面第一句是說我目睹了那個男子被汽車撞倒的整個過程 (譬如說，原本他是在馬路上行走，沒多久一輛汽車從後面將他撞個正著，之後他就倒臥在血泊中)；而第二句是說我目睹了那棟建築物正在被拆除，換言之，拆除動作在我觀看這一事件之前就已展開，而在我停下來看此一事件的當時，拆除動作正在進行中。

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Q：一般的文法觀念是，rather than 前後的詞類和結構須平行對稱，但下面這三個從字典和文法書籍摘錄出來的例句，前兩句似乎違反了這個原則，令人困惑，不知是否可以加以解說以釋心中疑惑? (1) Rather than cause trouble, he left. (他不願惹麻煩，寧可離去)；(2) She made students think for themselves, rather than telling them what to think. (她讓學生獨立思考，而不是告訴他們怎麼思考)；(3) The job will take months rather than weeks. (完成這項工作需要幾個月，而不是幾週)

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A：當 rather than (= but not，意為「而不是；不是 … (而是)；與其 … (不如)」) 用作對等連接詞時，它前後所連接的兩個字詞在型態和結構上必須平行對稱，如 He ran rather than walked. (他不是在走而是在跑)，You are doing this for yourself rather than for others. (你做這件事不是為別人而是為你自己) 以及問題中的第 (3) 句。但 rather than 亦可當介系詞用，此時被比較的兩件事物或兩個字詞未必要有相同的型態和結構，也就是說不一定要對仗工整，如問題中的第 (2) 句就是這種情況。在 The Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Style 中也有一個幾乎一樣的例句：Rather than staying home on a Saturday night, we went out to six different bars. (週末夜我們外出一連光顧六家不同的酒吧，而不是留在家裡)。

由於 rather than 既可當作對等連接詞亦可用作介系詞，所以當它連接不定詞時，後面的不定詞可帶 to 或不帶 to (視為對等連接詞時)，也可接動名詞 (視為介系詞時)。例如：

  • I decided to stay at home rather than (to) go/going to the cinema. (我寧願待在家裡也不要去看電影)

問題中的第 (1) 句則是 rather than 的另一種用法。在這項用法中，儘管意思與上述相同，但 rather than 係位於句首，後接通常省略 to 的不定詞 (但亦可接動名詞)。所以，問題中的第 (1) 句也可寫成 Rather than causing trouble, he left.，而上面提到的 Oxford Dictionary 中的句子也可寫成 Rather than stay home on a Saturday night, we went out to six different bars. 再舉一例：

  • Rather than criticize/criticizing your husband, why not find out if there’s something wrong? (與其責備妳的丈夫，為什麼不看看是不是什麼地方出了問題?)

最後值得一提的是，當 rather than 連接兩個成分作句子的主詞時，其主動詞的單複數通常與前面那個主詞保持一致。例如：

  • The teacher rather than the students is to blame. (該受責備的是老師而不是學生)
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Proposal (n.), proposition (n., v.)

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Proposal 和 proposition 只有在「建議；提議；提案」的意思上是同義詞，可以互換，如 That’s an interesting proposal/proposition. (那是一項有趣的建議)；the government’s latest proposal/proposition (政府最新的提案)。但有關商業和生意上的建議和提議，一般都使用 proposition 而不用 proposal，如 We made him a proposition: He would join us, and we would support his company. (我們向他建議：他和我們聯合，我們就支持他的公司)；I have a business proposition to put to you. (我有個商業建議要對你說)。在最後一句中，business proposition 可視為固定搭配，不能寫成 business proposal。同樣地，(an) insurance proposal 也是固定用語，意為「(保險) 投保」，如 an insurance proposal form (保險投保書)，不能寫成 insurance proposition。

在其他特定意思上，這兩個字截然不同，千萬別搞混。除「建議；提議；提案」的意思外，proposal 也意為「(建議等的) 提出」，如 Proposal is easier than performance. (建議容易實行難)；the proposal of new regulations (新條例的提出)。再者，proposal 還意為「求婚」，如 She accepted his proposal at once. (她立刻就接受了他的求婚)；She has had a proposal. (已經有人向她求婚了)。proposal 的動詞為 propose。

Proposition 有數個特有的意思：1.「主張；觀點；論點；看法；見解」，其後通常接 that 所引導的名詞子句作同位語 (注意：that 不能省略)，如 The students discussed the proposition that man is basically good. (學生們討論了「人性本善」這個論點)；the proposition that all religions are equally valid (認為所有宗教都同樣合法主張)。2.「(需要對付或必須處理的) 人；事情；問題」，如 We could build a tunnel instead of a bridge, but that’s a much more difficult proposition. (我們可以建隧道而不建橋樑，但那是個困難得多的問題)；The new manager is a formidable proposition. (新任經理是個難纏的傢伙)，但有些人反對 proposition 這項口語或非正式用法的意思，可能是因為在這些句子中，proposition 所構成的名詞片語其實只要使用形容詞就可以了，如上面兩句可以分別更簡潔地改為 We could build a tunnel instead of a bridge, but that’s much more difficult. 和 The new manager is formidable.。3.「(男女間的) 求歡」，如 He made me a proposition. (他向我求歡)。proposition 的第 4 和第 5 個意思分別為「法律議案；法律修正案」及「(數學和邏輯的) 命題」。

Proposition 還可當及物動詞用，意為「(尤指冒犯地) 向…提出嘿咻要求；向…求歡」，如 Dad said he was propositioned by a call girl at the ritzy hotel. (父親說他在那家豪華飯店時曾有應召女郎找上他)；He propositioned every girl in the bar, but none were interested. (他對酒吧裡的每位女孩提出嘿咻要求，但沒有人理睬他)。值得注意的是，當動詞用的 proposition 比當名詞用、意為「求歡」的 proposition 要來得常用許多，所以「他向他的秘書求歡」一般都寫成 He propositioned his secretary. 而甚少寫成 He made his secretary a proposition。此外，「求歡」和「求婚」雖僅有一字之差，但意思相差豈可以道里計，因此千萬別將 proposition 和 propose/proposal 搞錯了。