#EZTALK #你不知道的美國大小事 #ratVSmouse
🇺🇸 Idioms 美國生活用語：老鼠 rat╱mouse 🐁

說到美國老鼠，你會想到可愛的米老鼠，還是《料理鼠王》裡頭的老鼠？趁鼠年第一天，來介紹老美眼中的老鼠！

💪順便搞懂 rat 跟 mouse 的不同之處吧！

1⃣ rat
2⃣ rat out/on
3⃣ smell a rat
4⃣ the rat race
5⃣ quiet at a mouse
6⃣ poor as a church mouse
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As we enter the Year of the Rat, it’s a good time to think about rodents and their cultural significance. The first animal in the Chinese Zodiac, rats are associated with intelligence, diligence and ambition. And people born in the Year of the Rat can look forward to being wealthy and successful.

鼠年即將到來，正好來介紹一下鼠類跟其文化意涵。身為十二生肖排名第一，老鼠通常會讓我們想到聰明、勤勞且有野心。鼠年出生的人可望成功富有。

In America, however, rats don’t have such a positive image. They are seen as dirty pests that steal food and spread disease. It’s therefore no accident the rat-related idioms are all negative. 1⃣ First, the term “rat” itself. In colloquial American English, a rat is a deceptive, disloyal person or an informant. Ex: Don’t trust Tommy—he’s a rat!

不過在美國，老鼠可就沒有這麼正面的形象。牠們被視為髒東西，愛偷食物並且散播疾病，所以沒有意外地，跟老鼠有關的美國用語都是負面的。首先來看看 rat 這個字，在美式口語英文中，講某人是 rat，就是說他是「騙子、不忠實」，或是「告密者」。如：Don’t trust Tommy—he’s a rat!（別相信湯米，他是個騙子！）

2⃣ “Rat” can also be used in the verb phrase “rat out/on,” which means “to inform on sb.” Ex: The thief ratted out his accomplices to avoid jail time. 3⃣Another phrase is “smell a rat,” which means “to suspect an instance of wrongdoing, deception or betrayal.” Ex: The witness smelled a rat when he saw the suspect leaving the scene of the crime. 4⃣Finally, “the rat race” describes the intense competition and long hours of the urban work environment. Ex: Eric dreamed of leaving the rat race and buying a small farm.

因此 rat 也可延伸作為動詞：rat out/on，指「出賣某人」，如：The thief ratted out his accomplices to avoid jail time.（那個小偷出賣他的同夥逃避坐牢。）另一個片語則是 smell a rat，指「發覺有可疑之處」，如：The witness smelled a rat when he saw the suspect leaving the scene of the crime.（目擊者看到嫌犯離開案發現場時覺得行為可疑。）最後是 the rat race，用來形容職場競爭激烈且工時長的現象。如：Eric dreamed of leaving the rat race and buying a small farm.（艾瑞克夢想著離開這競爭激烈的工作環境，去鄉下種田。）

While the Chinese “shu” is usually translated as “rat,” it can also refer to mice. And mice have a slightly better reputation in English than rats. Mice are small, quiet and shy, so 5⃣ “quiet at a mouse” refers to someone who is shy and timid. Ex: The new student in our class is quiet as a mouse. 6⃣And if someone is “poor as a church mouse,” they’re really poor. This is because churches usually don’t usually store food, so mice who lived in them would have nothing to eat. Ex: My parents were poor as a church mouse when I was born.

雖然中文字「鼠」常常翻作 rat「大老鼠」，不過也可以指 mouse（複數形 mice）「小老鼠」。在英文中，小老鼠的形象比大老鼠稍微好些。小老鼠體型較小，安靜又害羞，所以 quiet as a mouse 可以用來形容某人「害羞膽怯的」，如：The new student in our class is quiet as a mouse.（我們班新來的學生很害羞。）要是說某人 poor as a church mouse，就是說他們「非常窮」。由來是因為教堂通常不會儲藏食物，所以住在教堂裡的老鼠根本沒東西可吃。如：My parents were poor as a church mouse when I was born.（我父母在我出生時候非常窮。）

【✍重點單字】
1. rodent「嚙齒類動物」
2. Chinese Zodiac「十二生肖」：zodiac指西洋占星的十二星座。
3. diligence「勤奮」：當名詞，形容詞 diligent。
4. it’s no accident that…「沒有意外，……」
5. colloquial「口語的」：相對於書寫文字而言，較不正式的說法。
6. deceptive「愛騙人、說謊的」：當形容詞，名詞 deception。
7. informant「告密者」
8. urban「都市的」：相反詞為 rural「鄉下的」。
9. reputation「名聲」

#鼠年行大運 #鼠錢鼠不完
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[詞彙區別] people, individual, persons, human, man, mankind, humankind 的區別:

在寫作的時候，有些同學為了避免重複使用相同的詞彙，卻選用了意義上不盡相同的單字，而無法精確地表達出自己所想傳達的想法。這問題很可能來自於考生平時在語言學習上過於依賴中英翻譯，因此考生在不夠了解某些一字多義的詞彙的情況下，很容易造成讀者的誤解。舉例來說，spend vs. cost vs. take (花費)，borrow vs. lend vs. loan (借)，這些字的中譯都很非常類似，以中文為母語的考生在使用上，只要稍微一不注意，就容易錯誤使用。甚至有些考生會以offspring (子孫; 後代) 來代替 children (小孩)，我們若是查字典了解其義，就會知道 offspring 比較常出現在正式的科學用法上，泛指動物的後代及植物的幼苗。

為了幫助同學增加詞彙量並且精確地在口說和寫作上使用這些字。我會用使用一個新的同義字系列清楚地區分這些類似的字並幫助同學們在文章中正確地使用它們。同學們也應該在使用這些字之前先查查字典，以了解這些字的使用方式。

People 的同義字

★★★human (human being) ★★★

我們使用human being這個字來強調我們和動物的不同。 We used human being to stress our difference from animals or aliens (in science fiction).

1. Dogs can hear much better than humans.
2. That is no way to treat another human being.

★★★man★★★

我們用man這個字來指男性、全部的人類、或指特定某一時代的人類。 We used man to talk about adult male human or humans as a group (or humans from a particular period of history).

1. The relationships between men and women are often complex and puzzling.
2. This is one of the worst diseases known to man.
3. Man had caused considerable damage to the environment.
4. Being a modern man today is no different than it was a century ago. It’s all about adhering to principle.

★★★mankind★★★

我們用mankind這個字來強調全部人類這個概念。 We used mankind when we talk about all humans as one large group.

1. Pollution is something that harms mankind across the globe, and disasters like war and famine have affected mankind all through our history.

*Man和mankind傳統上一直是用來指所有的男性和女性。很多人現在偏好使用humanity這個字和humankind來避掉性別歧視的問題。

Man and mankind have traditionally been used to mean “all men and women.” Many people now prefer to use humanity, the human race, human beings or people to avoid being sexist. Humankind is used as a gender neutral alternative to “mankind.”

★★★person★★★

person這個字是指人的單數。A person in the singular to refer to any human being.

1. He was a very nice person, always pleasant and friendly.

Persons 是 person的複數，是一個在文件或法律條文中使用的單字。
Persons (plural) is a very formal word. We only use it in rather legalistic contexts:

1. Any person or persons found in possession of illegal substances will be prosecuted.
2. The police are looking for three separate persons who were in this area.

People 也是person的複數，可指所有的人類或特定狀況中的一群人。它也可以指所有的國民。

People can refer to all human beings, or to a group of persons in a particular situation. It can also mean "all the citizens," as in a political leader who understands the needs of the people.

1. There were at least a thousand people in the audience.
2. The people are tired of hearing political rhetoric! They want action, not talk.

★★★individual★★★

我們用individual來強調個人以和團體做區隔。We used individual to stress that a person considered separately rather than as part of a group.

1. Every individual has rights which must never be taken away.
2. Three separate individuals walked into my store.

除了以上的用法，同學也可以用代名詞 (e.g. everyone, they) 來替換”人們” 這個單字，也可以用形容詞來更明確的指出某一群人(e.g. most, some, a few, all)。

Summary:
✎ 通常會用"people"這個詞彙來指稱一般的社會大眾；另一方面，如果想要去強調一個團體當中的每個人，則會使用"individuals"。

✎ 想要將所有人類當成一個大族群去做論述的時候，通常只會用"mankind/humankind"或是"the human race/human beings"等詞彙。

✎ 想要去強調一個人的人性面時，通常會用"human being"。

E.g. How could you do this to another human being? He has rights!

✎撰寫科學性質的相關文章時，才會運用到"Homo sapiens"。

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=443676912389120

Sources:
http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/
http://www.ldoceonline.com/
http://www.merriam-webster.com/
http://www.vocabulary.com/