頭條日報 頭條網 - Sold down the river by Michael Chugani

Most British-trained barristers in Hong Kong speak fluent English. Barristers such as Martin Lee Chu-ming, Audrey Eu Yuet-mee, and Gladys Li Chi-hei speak very fluent English. Li Chi-hei even speaks with a flawless (perfect) English accent. Legislative Councillor Alan Leong Kah-kit, leader of the Civic Party, is also a British-trained barrister who speaks fluent English. But as I have pointed out before, even people who speak fluent English sometimes make mistakes. Leong Kah-kit mixed up two very common idioms during an interview on an English-language radio station last week. He criticized Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying in the interview for suggesting that all 70 legislative councillors should make regular study visits to Guangdong.

        L eong Kah-kit said he would definitely not join the study visits because the chief executive had already “sold Hong Kong people down the drain”. It is wrong to say “sold down the drain”. The correct expression is “sold down the river”. When you sell someone down the river, it means you betray or do something morally wrong to that person. To betray a person means to be disloyal to that person. You can “betray” your country or “sell your country down the river” by giving information to help the enemy of your country. Leong Kah-kit accused the chief executive of “selling Hong Kong people down the river” or “betraying” Hong Kong people by not accurately explaining to the central government Hong Kong’s desire for genuine democracy.

        Leong Kah-kit incorrectly said “drain” instead of “river” when he used the idiom. He mixed up the idiom with the idiom “go down the drain”. A drain is the pipe where waste water goes down. The hole in the bathtub where water goes down is a drain. If you say something has “gone down the drain”, it means it has been wasted. For example, many people feel the government is wasting public money by building an expensive high-speed railway from Hong Kong to Guangzhou. They believe billions of dollars of public money is going down the drain, especially because the project has been delayed and will cost far more than the original price.

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        大部份在英國受訓的大律師都說得一口流利英語，像李柱銘、余若薇和李志喜這些大律師，都能說非常流利的英語，李志喜說時甚至可以帶有完美無瑕（flawless）的英式口音。公民黨黨魁、立法會議員梁家傑，同樣是在英國受訓的大律師，能說流利英語。但正如我從前所指，即使說流利英語的人，有時也不免會有些錯漏。梁家傑上星期在一個英語電台節目的訪談中，就混淆了兩個很常見的習語。他在訪問中批評特首梁振英建議全體七十位立法會議員，得恆常到廣東考察。

        梁家傑說，他絕對不會參與考察團，因為特首已經“sold Hong Kong people down the drain”。不過，說“sold down the drain”是錯誤的，正確的習語是“sold down the river”。當你sell someone down the river，解作你出賣（betray）或對某人做出有違道德的事。Betray即是背叛或對某人不忠。你可以向敵國洩露資訊以叛國（betray your country或sell your country down the river）。梁家傑指控特首沒有準確地向中央解釋香港人對真民主的渴求，是出賣香港人（selling Hong Kong people down the river或betraying Hong Kong people）。

        梁家傑用這個習語時，說錯成drain而非river。他將這個習語與另一個習語go down the drain混淆了。Drain就是用來排污水的水管。浴缸的排水口也是drain。當你說，某事已經gone down the drain，即是說它已被浪費了。例如，許多人認為政府興建從香港到廣州的昂貴高鐵，是浪費公帑。他們相信，數以十億的公帑已付諸流水（going down the drain），尤其是當這個項目已經延誤，造價已遠遠超出原本的預算。

        mickchug@gmail.com

        中譯:七刻

        Michael Chugani 褚簡寧

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Source: http://news.stheadline.com/dailynews/headline_news_detail_columnist.asp?id=302660§ion_name=wtt&kw=126