Wednesday, June 24, 2020

A Little Latin Flavor

The meaning behind the words we use 
源起拉丁 一些尋常字詞背後的含意

Latin is a dead language because no one speaks it much anymore. But many of its words and phrases are still frequently used in English. Let's take a look at a couple of them.

Et cetera
Have you ever seen "etc." at the end of a partial list? This is the shortened form of the phrase et cetera. Et translates to "and" and cetera means "the rest." You use it for things (not people) to mean "and so on." You use it when you begin a list that you don't complete. It shows that there can be other items on your list in addition to the ones you've mentioned.

Vice versa
"Vice versa" conveys the idea that the reverse of what was said is also true. "Vice versa" comes from the two Latin words vicis and versus. When put together, the translation of the phrase means "a position turned" or "the other way around." For example, humans can get diseases from animals and vice versa. That means humans can get diseases from animals, and animals can get diseases from humans.


Info Cloud
Latin 拉丁語跟Latin-America 拉丁美洲之間有什麼樣的關係

Welcome to Info Cloud. Today we are going to talk about Latin and how much influence it has.

I love Latin-influenced food, music, culture. Of course, I could go on and on about the food, but I love Latin-influenced rhythms like Latin jazz.

Actually, Rex, I was thinking about Latin, the language. It was spoken by the ancient Romans. It also heavily influenced many European languages.

Those languages are referred to as Romance languages. And that is why I was confused because I thought we were talking about Latin-American culture.

Latin America is a group of countries in Central and South America. They are mainly Spanish-speaking countries, but also French and Portuguese.

Those are all Romance languages, which come from Latin. And that's where the word Latin-America came from.

Rex is right. Latin America has rich cultural traditions. And those traditions do influence a lot of things, from food to music to art.

We don't have enough time to get into all of the great Latin influences, but want to mention salsa. It's a sauce, a dance and a type of music.

That's right. Latin-American culture has had a big influence. And don't confuse it with Latin, an ancient language spoken by the Romans.

不曉得朋友們知不知道 Latin 拉丁語跟Latin-America 拉丁美洲之間有什麼樣的關係,Latin 是古羅馬帝國所使用的語言,雖然現在已經沒有人在使用了,但是從拉丁語發展而來的羅曼語系,像是西班牙語、法語和葡萄牙語,都是中南美洲人所使用的語言,因此,中南美洲才會被稱為Latin-America 拉丁美洲。

雖然Latin-America的文化相當有魅力,很多人有對它相當著迷,但是我們要知道拉丁美洲人並不會講 Latin,那是以前的羅馬人才會說的語言。


Language Lab
frequently adv. 頻繁地、經常地
happening often
- My neighbor’s kids are frequently seen at the park.
我經常在公園看到鄰居的小孩。
- Amy flies to Chicago frequently.
Amy 經常飛到芝加哥。
frequent adj. 常常發生的、經常發生的
- If you’re taking a test, making frequent trips to the bathroom would make you look suspicious.
考試中,如果一直跑廁所,會讓你看起來很可疑。
- Brent’s frequent visits to his grandmother’s house was the best part of his summer.
能夠經常探訪祖母對Brent而言是他暑期最棒的事。

partial adj. 部分的
 /ˈpɑɚʃəl/
not complete or total
- Cynthia wasn’t very willing to talk, but she did at least give us a partial explanation of what had happened.
Cynthia 不願意多說,但是他至少有為發生的事解釋了一部分。
- The sales team’s partial success in their job performance this season has given its team members a bit of hope for the next season.
業務團隊因為這一季的部份成功表現,讓隊裡的成員對下一季感到有希望。
partial adj. 偏袒、偏向
tending to treat one person, group, or thing better than another
- I’m guessing Sara will pick the purple dress because she is partial to the color purple.
我猜Sara會挑選紫色的洋裝,因為她偏愛紫色。
- The referee claims he was being fair, but we all think he was partial to the other team.
裁判自稱他很公平,但是我們認為他偏袒另外一隊。

convey v. 表達
to make (something) known to someone
- It might be easier for you to convey your ideas if you use simpler vocabulary words.
你用簡單一點的生字,也許會讓你比較容易表達你的想法。
- I can tell Donna is feeling very emotional, but I have no clue what she is trying to convey.
我看得出Donna現在很情緒化,但是我對他想要表達的完全無頭緒。
convey v. 運送、傳送
to take or carry (someone or something) from one place to another : transport
- In the movie, a team of spies sneak into an enemy fortress to rescue a man before he gets conveyed to another location.
在影片裡,有一群特務潛進敵方的堡壘,要在某人被運送到另外一個地點之前,將他救出。
- The queen had her maid convey a message to her sister.
皇后命令她的女僕傳口信給她的皇妹。

translation n. 翻譯 (文字、書面)
words that have been changed from one language into a different language : words that have been translated
- I got a copy of that book in Spanish, but I think the translation is not as good as the English original.
那本書我有一本西班牙語版本,但是我認為那個翻譯不如英文的版本。
- We need someone who is not only bilingual but who can also do translation work quickly.
我們不但需要一位雙語人才,而且是一個很快就可以完成翻譯工作的人。
- It’s important to translate everything word for word.
把所有內容都逐字地翻譯出來是很重要的。
translate v.
to change words from one language into another language
- Greg doesn’t like to translate from English to Chinese.
Greg 不喜歡把英文翻譯成中文。
- Mr. Emmerson asked his secretary to translate the letter from English to French.
Emmerson 先生請他的秘書,幫他把信件從英文翻成法文。


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