又中又英——Night after night
Michael Chugani 褚簡寧
2021-11-02 04:17 HKT
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One of the main topics on American TV news night after night recently was about movie star Alec Baldwin. About two weeks ago he accidentally shot dead a cinematographer with a prop gun and wounded a director. Police said the prop gun had real bullets. They are investigating who put the bullets in the prop gun. The expression "night after night" means every night. A cinematographer is a director of photography who operates the camera and is also in charge of lighting during a movie shoot. A prop gun can mean a real gun or a fake one that looks very real for use in movie-making. Real or fake prop guns for movies don't have real bullets but fake ones that look real when fired.
It is unclear what went wrong when Baldwin pulled the trigger in the prop gun during rehearsals before the movie shoot. The word "shoot" used this way does not mean shooting someone with a gun. It means to film a scene in a movie. The literal meaning of "pull the trigger" means to fire a gun by pressing the trigger. It has a very different meaning when used as an idiom. The expression means to make a final decision or commit to doing something. If you have looked at many apartments and finally decided to buy the most expensive one, you have pulled the trigger.
I had thought hard about taking a long break in the US and finally pulled the trigger three months ago, which means I finally decided to do it. If I had decided not to do it, then I would have pulled the plug on my plan to return to the US. If you pull the plug on something, it means to suddenly end something or to prevent something from continuing, especially by withdrawing financial support. During the worst of the pandemic last year many bars in Lan Kwai Fong pulled the plug, which means the owners decided not to continue their businesses.
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最近，美國電視新聞每晚（night after night）都跟進的主要話題之一，就是關於電影明星艾力寶雲的事情。約兩星期前，他以一把道具（prop）槍，意外槍殺一名攝影師（cinematographer），及導致一名導演受傷。警方指，道具（prop）槍裝的是實彈，他們正在調查是誰將實彈放進道具（prop）槍中。習語 "night after night" 即每一個晚上、一夜復一夜的。A cinematographer就是電影攝影師，在電影拍攝（shoot）期間，負責操作攝影機，也負責燈光。A prop gun可以是指用來拍電影的真槍又或看來很像真槍的假槍。電影用的真槍又或假的道具（prop）槍，不會裝上實彈，而是裝上假子彈，射擊時看來跟真的一樣。
現時仍未確定，在正式拍攝（shoot）電影前的綵排期間，當寶雲扣動道具（prop）槍扳機（pulled the trigger）的時候，到底是哪裏出了錯。Shoot在這裏可不是指用槍去射擊某人，它是指去拍攝一齣電影的一幕。Pull the trigger的字面意思，就是扣下手槍的扳機去射擊；但作成語用時，它卻有截然不同的意思——這個習語是指去做最終決定，或許諾去做某事。若你看過了許多單位，最終「扑槌」決定買最貴的那一間，那你就已pulled the trigger。
我之前認真考慮要在美國放一個長假，最終在三個月前「扑槌」（pulled the trigger），意即我最終決定要這樣做。若我決定不這樣做，那我就得煞停（pulled the plug）我回到美國的計劃。若你pull the plug on something，意即你突然停止某事，又或制止某事繼續下去，尤指透過抽起對某事的財政資助。上年疫情最嚴峻的時候，蘭桂坊許多酒吧都pulled the plug，意即酒吧東主都決定不再繼續經營下去。
中譯：七刻
[email protected]
Michael Chugani 褚簡寧
It is unclear what went wrong when Baldwin pulled the trigger in the prop gun during rehearsals before the movie shoot. The word "shoot" used this way does not mean shooting someone with a gun. It means to film a scene in a movie. The literal meaning of "pull the trigger" means to fire a gun by pressing the trigger. It has a very different meaning when used as an idiom. The expression means to make a final decision or commit to doing something. If you have looked at many apartments and finally decided to buy the most expensive one, you have pulled the trigger.
I had thought hard about taking a long break in the US and finally pulled the trigger three months ago, which means I finally decided to do it. If I had decided not to do it, then I would have pulled the plug on my plan to return to the US. If you pull the plug on something, it means to suddenly end something or to prevent something from continuing, especially by withdrawing financial support. During the worst of the pandemic last year many bars in Lan Kwai Fong pulled the plug, which means the owners decided not to continue their businesses.
＊＊＊＊＊
最近，美國電視新聞每晚（night after night）都跟進的主要話題之一，就是關於電影明星艾力寶雲的事情。約兩星期前，他以一把道具（prop）槍，意外槍殺一名攝影師（cinematographer），及導致一名導演受傷。警方指，道具（prop）槍裝的是實彈，他們正在調查是誰將實彈放進道具（prop）槍中。習語 "night after night" 即每一個晚上、一夜復一夜的。A cinematographer就是電影攝影師，在電影拍攝（shoot）期間，負責操作攝影機，也負責燈光。A prop gun可以是指用來拍電影的真槍又或看來很像真槍的假槍。電影用的真槍又或假的道具（prop）槍，不會裝上實彈，而是裝上假子彈，射擊時看來跟真的一樣。
現時仍未確定，在正式拍攝（shoot）電影前的綵排期間，當寶雲扣動道具（prop）槍扳機（pulled the trigger）的時候，到底是哪裏出了錯。Shoot在這裏可不是指用槍去射擊某人，它是指去拍攝一齣電影的一幕。Pull the trigger的字面意思，就是扣下手槍的扳機去射擊；但作成語用時，它卻有截然不同的意思——這個習語是指去做最終決定，或許諾去做某事。若你看過了許多單位，最終「扑槌」決定買最貴的那一間，那你就已pulled the trigger。
我之前認真考慮要在美國放一個長假，最終在三個月前「扑槌」（pulled the trigger），意即我最終決定要這樣做。若我決定不這樣做，那我就得煞停（pulled the plug）我回到美國的計劃。若你pull the plug on something，意即你突然停止某事，又或制止某事繼續下去，尤指透過抽起對某事的財政資助。上年疫情最嚴峻的時候，蘭桂坊許多酒吧都pulled the plug，意即酒吧東主都決定不再繼續經營下去。
中譯：七刻
[email protected]
Michael Chugani 褚簡寧
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