drive(provide power), basket case, on the ropes

drive (PROVIDE POWER)
verb [T] drove, driven
1 to provide the power to keep a machine working, or to make something happen:
The engine drives the wheels.
Water drives the turbines which produce electricity.

2 If you drive a ball, you hit it hard so that it travels a long way:
Slater drove the ball down the fairway.

-----新聞例：
Only 31% of Americans surveyed said they wanted a device with multiple capabilities, and that dropped to 27% in Japan. Demand was highest in Mexico, where 79% said they would like one converged device, with 72% in Malaysia and Brazil, 70% in India and 65% in the Philippines, although the mobile markets in these countries are driven by very cheap or free handsets.
…"The simple truth: convergence is a compromise driven by financial limitations, not aspiration. In the markets where multiple devices are affordable, the vast majority would prefer that to one device fits all," Mr Smith added.

'iPhone set to struggle'
Jemima Kiss
Friday June 29, 2007
MediaGuardian.co.uk


紐約時報社論

Editorial: Public Funding on the Ropes
總統候選人Obama 拒絕申請公款補助
私募款可無上限



Fiat to the rescue for European car industry?

It has been described in the past as an Italian “Basket case”, but now
Fiat is on the verge of becoming the world’s 2nd largest car
manufacturer.

The DW-WORLD Article
http://newsletter.dw-world.de/re?l=ew0tetI44va89pI1




basket case
(Informal) a person or thing regarded as useless or unable to cope.
Etymology: early 20th cent.: originally slang denoting a soldier who had lost all four limbs, thus unable to move independently.

Idioms: on the ropes

On the verge of defeat or collapse, helpless, as in They acknowledged that their campaign was on the ropes, and they could not possibly win the election.

This expression, alluding to a boxer forced back to the ropes of the ring and leaning against them for support, has been used figuratively since the mid-1900s.


******
driven adjective
describes someone who is so determined to achieve something or be successful that all their behaviour is directed towards this aim:
Like most of the lawyers that I know, Rachel is driven.

-driven
suffix
The new ships, propelled by gas turbines, require less maintenance than older, steam-driven ones.


The fact remains that there are some public services that cannot be entirely market-driven (= controlled by economic forces).
Market-driven 由市場供需決定的；市場是主導力（driving force）

Market-driven Quality --1990年代IBM的品質活動

電子計算機例：

menu-driven
adjective SPECIALIZED選項單驅動
A computer that is menu-driven is operated by making choices from different menus rather than by giving separate instructions on a keyboard.

(from Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
menu driven program /system 選單驅動程式/系統
----
data driven 資料驅動
data driven analysis/ attack/ machine /DSS 資料驅動 分析/攻擊/機/決策支援系統
data-driven process/processing 資料驅動處理/ 處理
---

message driven program/ processing 訊息驅動程式/處理
model-driven inference/method 模型驅動的推理/方法

force, microblog

force ━━ n. 力; 勢い; 風力; 腕力; 暴力; 圧力; 武力; 軍隊; 総勢; （the ～） 警官隊; 集団; 気力; たくましさ; 支配［影響］力; 勢力; 説得力; 【法】効力; （ことばの）真意.

讀蔣彝（Chiang Yee）《湖區畫記》台北:西游記出版社，2007 才知道force另一義。這是一般字典不收的：force 可為瀑布（waterfall）-- {Shorter O. E. D.} 說，這是從古北歐字 fors來的，現在丹麥用fos；瑞典用 fors。它還收入電影Star Wars中用”Force”。


microblog

Web Is Now So Filled With Idle Chat, It's Almost Like Phoning
By Lee Gomes
Word Count: 855

Finally, technology has come to the rescue of sons too busy to call their mothers. Rather than going through all the trouble of picking up the phone, they can now just tap out a few lines of a microblog.

Microblogs are short text messages -- a phrase or two -- that you send to a chosen circle of friends and relatives, usually describing what you're up to at that very moment. It's a new kind of communication, with different social protocols than either email or instant messages. Recipients aren't expected to reply to them, just appreciate the update.

FREE PREVIEW (WSJ)

ladybird：【英】瓢蟲

德國之聲的錯誤翻譯：「……其中的一些人已经成功地推销了自己，通过互联网上名声大震，最少也能混个脸熟。比如女士鸟（Ladybird），这位19岁女孩的真名是多米尼克，在“电子/桑巴”的名下，人们可以听到4首由她演唱的歌。她因此得到了英国音乐家兼制作人亚当斯基的注意，并邀请她录制了一张CD。但现在唱片是否上市还不得而知。…….」
德国之声版权所有
http://newsletter.dw-world.de/re?l=evvl8yI44va89pI6
http://newsletter.dw-world.de/re?l=evvl8yI44va89pI7
*****

翻譯者可能沒聽過英文童歌 ladybird……這ladybird 改變英國的民俗…….

譯評：Jupiter Research

「木星研究公司（Jupiter Research）分析師賈騰柏格估計，蘋果花在iPhone的行銷費用約有1億美元，大概是微軟視窗95宣傳費的一半。」（【經濟日報╱編譯林聰毅／彭博資訊二十八日電】）--「木星研究公司（Jupiter Research）」這個翻譯很可能是會錯意，因為Jupiter 說不定是取羅馬神話中的”朱比特” （天上大帝）。所以日本做法比較保險。

Jupiter Research是市場調查、Web解析等相關的研究機関（公司）。查了幾頁日本網路，竟然大多直接用Jupiter Research 而不翻譯，只有極少數採用原文附音譯方式：Jupiter Research（ジュビター・リサーチ）。

譯評：”蘋果CEO解讀iPhone”一段

譯評：這段翻譯忠實。缺點是末一點，原文說鍵盤系統是iPhone的一項寶貴資產和競爭優勢，並不是譯文所稱的「最」---最，可能是文後提的它的. I will say that the iPhone is the most sophisticated software platform ever created for a mobile device（蘋果為iPhone打造了迄今為止所有手機中最為複雜的軟件平台﹐）。「賣點」翻譯「advantage」可能不恰當。



「答﹕iPhone擁有所有移動通訊設備中最好、最先進的鍵盤系統。就象所有其他小鍵盤一樣﹐用戶只要花三到四天就能適應﹐而且很快就能學會信賴其智能自動糾錯功能。迄今所有使用過iPhone的人都很喜歡這款手機﹐並表示他們用iPhone的打字速度能與黑莓、Treo及其他智能手機媲美﹐甚至更快。通過iPhone的鍵盤系統﹐用戶能使用更高級的軟件來提高拼寫準確性﹐並能夠根據功能需要設置快捷鍵﹐當然也可以在不用時讓鍵盤消失﹐從而騰出iPhone的大屏幕來閱讀郵件、瀏覽網頁、查閱地圖、看照片或是電影﹐或是使用一些目前尚未發掘的新功能。公司認為﹐iPhone的鍵盤系統是這台設備最寶貴的財富、也是最具競爭力的一個賣點。

Jobs: The iPhone has the best, most advanced keyboard in any mobile device. Like all small keyboards, it takes three or four days to get used to. IPhone users will quickly learn to trust its intelligence to correct their mistakes automatically. So far, everyone who has used it loves it, and reports that they are typing as fast or faster than they did on their Treo or BlackBerry or other smart phone. The iPhone's keyboard lets us use far more sophisticated software to improve accuracy, customize the keyboard for specific applications, and of course remove the keyboard when it's not needed, freeing iPhone's entire large screen for reading email, browsing the Web, looking at maps, enjoying photos and movies, and doing things we haven't yet invented. We think the iPhone's keyboard is one of its greatest assets and competitive advantages. 」 (WSJ)

in spades, sink in

SPADE 有一義是帶種族歧視的說，指黑人。我懷疑下兩北美的俗語idiom:
都與它相關：call a spade a spade 直言不諱；
本文說，in spades 指「相當、極為」(To a considerable degree, extremely):


例：
They had financial trouble in spades.
--


With this “autobiography” of his family, Alexander Waugh demonstrates that he’s inherited the literary gene in spades, as well as a gift for very funny, coruscating prose.
---
And, voilà, a mock revolution was born. Nationwide, more than a million protesters last week filled the streets of cities such as Paris, Marseille, and Bordeaux. They're not calling for political freedom, which the French enjoy in spades, both in the street and at the ballot box. The current protests lack even the altruism of France's anti-war movement, which at least suggested a certain engagement with the outside world.

----
Since then, the people he has met have been returning the favor in spades. Where Elijah tells some rather odd and extremely colorful Bible stories, Cyrano's new friend shows him people and phenomena of both ancient and modern times in an entirely new light.
法國被發現的，這就是西拉諾•德•貝熱拉克（ Cyrano de Bergerac ）。

206.6.30

談 sink In

在翻譯：威廉Scherkenbach 和Mitchell White 博士合撰的論文

「收集數據的唯一目的是採取行動! 」The Only Reason to Collect Data is to Take Action! --A paper by William Scherkenbach and Dr. Mitchell White, PhD

我初次了解 sink 還有一義為：

To make an impression; become felt or understood: The meaning finally sank in.

• sink in
• (of words or facts) be fully understood or realized.
  ‘Peter read the letter twice before its meaning sank in’

xenia 和 xenial

一般辭書在 xenia一字 ，或只有「 種子直感、異粉性」義 。(The direct effect on a hybrid plant produced by the transfer of pollen from one strain to the endosperm of a different strain.)。而在” xenial”一字， 只有類似的簡單辭源說明（無中文）： [New Latin, from Greek xeniā , hospitality, from xenos, guest, stranger. See xeno–.]

其實，它是指「主客之間的友情，或”我們與他國之間的情誼”」（參考 Shorter O.E.D.）

Eugenio Montale 在1970年有詩集名為 Xenia。呂先生翻譯一首，並有註：「贈辭一語（ Xenia）源於希臘語，意為饋贈、禮物、祭品。……… 」

基本上，這是來自不同社會的人，透過交換禮物或服務，來強化彼此之間的團結心。” Xenia”是將重要的陌生人轉為朋友之過程。


例一：在舊約 Hosea Chapter 10, Verse 6 的 "present" 即 xenia

It shall be also carried unto Assyria for a present to king Jareb: Ephraim shall receive shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel.
{思高版聖經}的翻譯為：

“5 撒馬黎雅的居民必為貝特文的牛犢焦慮，他的人民必為牠舉哀，他的僧侶也要為牠我去的榮華而哀號，因為牠被人奪去。 6連牠也被帶到亞述去，作為大王的頁物。厄弗辣因得到旳只是恥辱，以色列必要因自己的偶像而蒙羞。”

「頁物」 看度懂。


例二： A decade later, the ties of xenia established between Nicias and the Spartan king ... At about the same time, xenia between Alcibiades amid leading Argives ...

古人多認為，友誼與愛情一樣重要。探討西方古代此種哲理的文羨相當多。不只是西方，其實我們讀『戰國策』等書，都有與「友直友諒友多聞」的具體感人事蹟。

英文非母語，只好苦學！一輩子！

漢語人行道：演變風貌 的回扣說：「如果你採用gmail上頭的search，可以發現這字眼在中國是熱門話題。」其中幾則是大陸著名網路「阿里巴巴」的規矩。我記得約2年前看CNN專訪其創始人，他沒出國讀書，不過英語流利，說過去在西湖「苦」「讀」英語六年……

-----
約10年前，我踴躍參加Deming Electronic Network(DEN)和 Learning Organization(LO)的（英文）討論，當時亞洲的人極少。它們都停辦了。不過，還要記得利用它們，因為它們都是寶貴的資料庫呢！
我幾年之前我利用DEN一次，慚愧得很，竟然發現我寫出許多錯字。
最近，我發現英文表達力可能退步許多，所以苦思要不要弄一英文BLOG練習。我很怕怕，因為我是粗枝大葉型的人，恐怕錯誤連篇（不過，我有把握，我們的許多見解一定不輸許多洋人的…..）

---
王老師的英文程度，可能是品質學會（CSQ）會員中之最。不過，他偶爾會忘記他近50年前學的英文規則：下述的sth要用動名詞（乖乖 這對嗎？）：


look forward to sth phrasal verb

1 to feel pleased and excited about something that is going to happen:I'm really looking forward to my holiday.[+ ing form of verb]

She was looking forward to seeing the grandchildren again.I'm not looking forward to Christmas this year.
2 [+ ing form of verb] FORMAL used at the end of a formal letter to say you hope to hear from or see someone soon, or that you expect something from them:

I look forward to hearing from you.
In the circumstances, I look forward to receiving your client's cheque for the sum of £570 within the next seven days.

(from Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)