South Korea's so-called fashion police, who patrolled the streets in the 1970s carrying rulers and measuring the length of women's skirts, will soon officially be taken out of the country's laws.
Showing too much skin in public places will no longer be classed as indecent exposure and will be deleted from the Minor Offenses Act, the National Police Agency has said.
The law has not been enforced for many years, and a police agency spokesman who was quoted by the Korea Times said it was one of several out-of-date rules which would be removed. During the 1970s women could be arrested or fined if their skirts were too short.
PHOTOS: AFP
The miniskirt rule dates back to the military dictatorship of the 1970s. During the same period the fashion police could also stop men on the street if they considered their hair to be too long. The fashion police could perform a haircut on the spot, or fine or even jail offenders.
South Korea became a democracy in 1987 and most of the authoritarian restrictions under the Minor Offenses Act have been scrapped since then.
New offenses are still added to the Minor Offenses Act. However these reflect current issues in South Korean society. The majority of the newly listed offenses under the act this year covered smoking in places where smoking is not allowed. (AFP)
南韓法律中所謂的「流行警察」很快就會走入歷史。流行警察是在一九七○年代巡邏街頭、拿著尺丈量女性裙長的警察。
南韓國家警察廳表示，在公共場合露出太多肌膚不再被歸為不雅暴露，將會從「輕微違法」法條中刪除。
這個法規已多年未被執行，《韓國時報》引述警察廳一位發言人的話指出，這是應該廢除的好幾條不何時宜的法規之一。一九七○年代，女性穿著的裙子過短會遭逮捕，或被處以罰緩。
迷你裙條款可以追溯到一九七○年代的軍事獨裁。同一段時期，流行警察也可以在路上攔下頭髮過長的男子。流行警察可以當場剪髮，或讓違法者罰款或坐牢。
南韓在一九八七年成為民主國家，「輕微違法法案」大多數的獨裁限制都被廢除。
「輕微違法法案」仍有新增違法條款。不過這些新法都反映南韓社會現今的議題。今年新增的違法條款中，還包括在禁止吸菸場所吸菸的條款。 （法新社/翻譯：賴美君）
Street lights are often taken for granted until a power outage plunges the world into darkness. When that happens, the value of these lighting installations becomes evident as the world turns into a more dangerous place for pedestrians and motorists alike. The Chinese could claim to be the first to have constructed a crude type of street light. Around 500 BC, residents of Beijing employed a type of street lamp that used hollow bamboo pipes and natural gas vents to create burning torches. Later, ancient Romans adopted lamps fueled by vegetable oil, which relied on slaves to light and
A: Who else is on Billboard’s list: “The 25 greatest pop stars of the 21st Century?” B: No. 15 to 6 are: Miley Cyrus, Justin Timberlake, Nicki Minaj, Eminem, Usher, Adele, Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Kanye West and Britney Spears. A: I can’t believe that Adele’s only at No. 10. B: No. 5 to 1 are: Lady Gaga, Drake, Rihanna, Taylor Swift and Beyonce. A: Well, they surely deserve the honor. A: 《告示牌》雜誌的「21世紀最偉大的25位流行歌手」，還有誰上榜啊？ B: 第15至6名是：麥莉希拉、大賈斯汀、妮姬米娜、阿姆、亞瑟小子、愛黛兒、亞莉安娜、小賈斯汀、肯伊威斯特、小甜甜布蘭妮。 A: 真不敢相信愛黛兒只排第10名。 B: 第5至1名是：女神卡卡、德瑞克、蕾哈娜、泰勒絲、碧昂絲。 A: 這幾位真是實至名歸！ （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張聖恩）
A: The 21st Century is now entering its 25th year. B: So Billboard has released a list: “The 25 greatest pop stars of the 21st Century.” A: Who are the greatest pop singers? B: No. 25 to 16 are: Katy Perry, Ed Sheeran, Bad Bunny, One Direction, Lil Wayne, Bruno Mars, BTS, The Weeknd, Shakira and Jay-Z. A: Wow, my favorite K-pop supergroup BTS has made it to the list. A: 21世紀正在邁入第25個年頭了。 B: 《告示牌》雜誌特別公布：「21世紀最偉大的25位流行歌手」。 A: 最偉大的歌手有哪些？ B: 第25至16名是：凱蒂佩芮、紅髮艾德、壞痞兔、1世代、小韋恩、火星人布魯諾、防彈少年團（BTS）、威肯、夏奇拉、Jay-Z。 A: 哇，我最愛的韓流天團BTS也上榜了！ （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張聖恩）
Spoiler alert and shift blame 破梗&甩鍋 在新冠疫情期間，無論是因為封城 (lockdown) 還是居家隔離 (self-isolation at home)，人們關在家中使用網路的時間大增。這也讓一些原本只存在於網路論壇的用語廣為普及。我們來談一下破梗 (spoiler alert) 與甩鍋 (shift blame) 這兩個用語。 有位古典文學教授 Joel Christensen 針對領導統御與疫情控制寫了一篇以古喻今、相當深入的文章：“Plagues follow bad leadership in ancient Greek tales”，文中出現一些講法，可用來翻譯上述的流行語： In the 5th century B.C., the playwright Sophocles begins Oedipus Tyrannos with the title character struggling to identify the cause of a plague striking his city, Thebes. (Spoiler alert: It’s his own bad leadership.) (Joel Christensen, “Plagues follow bad leadership in ancient Greek tales,” The Conversation, March 12, 2020) 作者提到 Oedipus（伊底帕斯）想找出瘟疫何以降臨他的城邦的緣由，加了一句：Spoiler alert: It’s his own bad leadership.（破梗：領導無方）。Spoiler alert 就是「破梗」，如果用在有人洩漏電影劇情的情境中，也可以翻作「小心爆雷」或「劇透警告」。疫情之下，在家看影集、電影成了很多人的娛樂，但要小心劇透 (spoilers)，很多 YouTube 上的影評在開頭也都會說 Spoiler alert!，警告還沒看過電影的觀眾小心爆雷、劇透。 至於「甩鍋」，源自大陸網民用語，通常意指某人犯了錯之後想推卸責任、轉移焦點、甚至讓別人背黑鍋的做法。疫情爆發後，相關網路資訊量爆增，許多中國網民也想找人為這場疫情負責，紛紛呼籲地方政府首長、地方黨書記不要「甩鍋」。 其實，在古代文學《奧德賽》中，就有「將自己的責任怪罪眾神」的說法，試用時下流行的「甩鍋」來重新翻譯： Humans are always blaming the gods for their suffering, but they experience
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