又中又英——濫用「熱廚房」 高官英文差

2012-07-31

It has suddenly become a fad for our top officials who are embroiled in controversies to describe the government as a "hot kitchen". Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying used the expression when I asked him about his illegal structures recently on my TV show. He also said︰ "The kitchen is getting hotter." Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor used the expression when she defended Mak Chai-kwong， who resigned as development secretary when the ICAC arrested him on the suspicion that he abused the government"s rent allowance in the 1980s. She said Mak had returned to the "hot kitchen" after retiring from the government because he wanted to serve the people.

        Those of you who speak Cantonese will know top officials now often equate the government to a "yeet chui fong"， which means "hot kitchen". They do this to mean that top government officials are always under great pressure nowadays. But "yeet chui fong" is not an original Cantonese expression. It's a translation of an English expression. But "hot kitchen" is not the common English expression for such situations！ The common expression is︰ If you can't stand the heat， get out of the kitchen. It means if you can't handle a difficult situation you should leave and not put yourself in a position of having to deal with it.

        For example， if your secretary always complains that she is overworked， you can tell her︰ "If you can't stand the heat， get out of the kitchen." By saying that， you are telling her to resign if she can't handle the work. But the expression somehow got lost in translation and became "yeet chui fong". This was in turn translated back into English as "hot kitchen". And that is what officials now use when they speak in English！ It has become a fad for officials embroiled in controversies to use it when they want to say they face great pressure. A fad is something that suddenly becomes fashionable but usually for a short time. To be embroiled means to be deeply involved or stuck in a difficult situation or argument.

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        一眾捲入（embroiled）紛爭的高官們，近日忽然盛行（fad）說「熱廚房」（hot kitchen）去形容政府官員的處境。不久之前上過我電視節目的特首梁振英，被我問及他家中僭建物時，他也道：「廚房變得愈來愈熱了。」（"The kitchen is getting hotter."）麥齊光涉嫌於八十年代騙領房屋津貼，被廉署拘捕，辭任發展局局長，政務司司長林鄭月娥為他護航時同樣用到這個說法。她說麥從政府退休後要再走入這個「熱廚房」（"hot kitchen"），是因為他想服務市民。

        如果你懂廣東話，都知道現在的高官們常常將政府等同「熱廚房」（粵音yeet chui fong），他們用這個詞語，無非是想解釋高官要承受多大的壓力。但「熱廚房」本身不是廣東話的說法，而是從英文習語翻譯過來的。可是，英文習語根本不是來自hot kitchen！最常見的說法，應是：「如果你不能忍受那種熱度，就滾出廚房去」（If you can't stand the heat， get out of the kitchen．）換言之，要是你不能應付一個困難狀況，就該離開，不應呆在那兒。

        例如，若你的秘書常常抱怨她工作太多，你可以告訴她：「要是你受不了熱，就滾出廚房吧。」這等如對她說，她若做不來，大可辭職去也。但這習語現在翻譯成「熱廚房」後詞義有點變了，再由中繹英成為"hot kitchen"，變成官員慣用的英語！這詞變得相當流行（fad），每當官員們被捲入（embroiled）糾紛，就會這樣去說辯解自己所面對的巨大壓力。Fad是一時的風尚。To be embroiled就是被牽涉或纏進困境或糾紛之中。mickchug@gmail.com

        中譯:七刻

        Michael Chugani 褚簡寧