A: Apart from Taiwanese-language pop diva Jody Chiang’s comeback, South Korean girl group (G)I-dle is also performing in Taiwan this weekend.
B: I know. They have concerts at the Taipei Arena on Saturday and Sunday.
A: Actually, to meet their fans’ high demand, they’ve added one more show on Friday.
Photo: Liberty Times 照片:自由時報
B: They’re even adding a show? That shows how popular they are.
A: My favorite group member is Taiwan’s Susan Yeh, known by her stage name “Shuhua.” Let’s go cheer her on.
A: 本週末除了江蕙復出,南韓熱門女團(G)I-dle也將開唱唷。
B: 我知道,他們本週六、日將在小巨蛋開唱。
A: 應粉絲的要求,他們本週五還會加場。
B: 還加場?不愧是韓流人氣女團。
A: 我最喜歡台灣團員葉舒華!我們快去幫她加油吧。
(By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
Undersea cables are conductors wrapped in insulating materials and laid on the seabed. Their main functions are telecommunications or power transmission. The core of the undersea cables used for Internet signals is optical fiber, using light to transmit Internet signals. Taiwan’s communications are currently handled by 10 domestic undersea cables and 14 international undersea cables. About 99 percent of Taiwan’s Internet bandwidth relies on undersea cables, making them Taiwan’s “digital lifeline.” The demands on the cables’ bandwidth are only set to increase with the development of artificial intelligence (AI), which relies on the data fed into it. Today, data is
Recent events in Taiwan have highlighted the contentious nature of “priority seating” on public transportation. Incidents, such as passengers experiencing emotional distress after being compelled to give up their seats and elderly individuals attacking others after being refused a seat, have prompted a national reassessment of this policy. Some voices in Taiwan now advocate for abolishing priority seats to prevent such conflicts. This issue is not unique to Taiwan. In South Korea, where respect for the elderly is deeply ingrained, priority seating has led to similar confrontations. Younger passengers often face accusations of disrespect if they do not yield seats. In
A: Astrologer Ai Fei-er has just released his horoscope reading for this year. B: What do the stars tell us? A: Aries may be reborn through challenges, Tauruses should keep learning and Geminis will have double the good luck. B: Wow, so lucky. A: Cancers may see the light in the dark, Leos should conceal their ability and bide their time and Virgos will brave the wind and waves. A: 艾菲爾老師的2025年星座大預測出爐啦。 B: 今年各星座運勢如何? A: 「牡羊座」挑戰重生、「金牛座」學無止境、「雙子座」幸運倍增。 B: 真幸運! A: 「巨蟹座」柳暗花明、「獅子座」韜光養晦、「處女座」乘風破浪。 (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