The car license plate I LOVE U sold for US$180,000 (NT$5.9 million) earlier this month in the first auction of novelty personalized plates in Hong Kong.
Buyers crowded into a government auction of unusual license plates which included the chance to have the words HANDSOME, BABYFACE and MR DVD on the fronts and backs of their cars.
Around US$770,000 (NT$25 million) was raised in one morning alone, with the highest price paid for I LOVE U, a plate which attracted fierce bidding.
PHOTO: AP
The personalized plates are among the first batch to be auctioned off by the territory’s government in a new plan to raise money by releasing unusual combinations of letters and numbers for car plates.
Plates that read NEPTUNE, MASTER, and HEHEHAHA were also sold at the mid-September auction.
The Personalized Vehicle Registration Marks Scheme is expected to generate nearly US$9 million (NT$290 million) a year for the Hong Kong government. The money will be spent on projects for the poor.
Despite its wealth, densely-populated Hong Kong has one of the developed world’s lowest car ownership rates with less than 40 percent of adults owning cars.
Because of the small size of the city of 6.8 million and the high cost of running and parking a car, most people choose to get around using public transport or taxis.(DPA)
本月初在香港首場新穎自訂車牌拍賣會上，「我愛你」車牌以十八萬美元（新台幣五百九十萬元）賣出。
買家湧入政府舉辦的獨特車牌拍賣會，有機會讓自己車子的前後車牌寫上「帥氣」、「娃娃臉」與「DVD先生」等字。
光是當天早上就募得約七十七萬美元（新台幣兩千五百萬元），其中競標激烈的「我愛你」車牌以最高價成交。
這些自訂車牌是港府釋出結合文字與號碼的獨特車牌來募款的新計畫中，首批拿來拍賣的一部分。
「海王星」、「大師」與「嘻嘻哈哈」車牌也於九月中旬的拍賣會中賣出。
「自訂車牌號碼計劃」預計將為香港政府帶來約九百萬美元（新台幣二億九千萬元）收益，所得將做為扶貧計畫之用。
雖然生活富裕，但人口稠密的香港卻是全球已開發地區汽車擁有率最低的地方之一，不到四成的成年人擁有車輛。
由於人口六百八十萬的香港面積窄小，開車與停車花費高，多數人都選擇搭乘大眾運輸或計程車趴趴走。
（德通社/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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