[俚語] full bore？ small bore? 有夠煩？有點煩？(別亂譯啊！）

今天有個「笑話新聞」，就是機場的「適用多卡通」 的英譯竟成了"more cartoons" (多+卡通)
（別想湊熱鬧跑去看，因為新聞報導最後可看到機場人員已經在清除該標示的文字了）；

總之，這種「字面解」而導致的誤譯，令我想到這幾天新學的一個俚語：

to do something full bore 

坦白說，乍看此詞，一時間我只想得到 bore 一字的兩個意思：
n. 厭煩、無聊 或  v. pt. 承受；帶有；
但也不至於呆呆認為就是這意思。（譯者不見得什麼字都會，但最起碼要能分辨某字詞是否有其他涵義）

那就只好查下去囉！學習新詞總是件愉快的事。




原來，full bore (adv.) 也就是 at full speed 的意思

但這中間還有曲折離奇的變化過程：

重點就在 bore 一詞作何解釋？

1. 牛津進階學習字典說：這是指管狀物的「口徑」（也就是美式英語的guage）
 the hollow inside of a tube, such as a pipe or a gun; the width of the hole
～ a tube with a wide/narrow bore
～ a twelve-bore shotgun

2. Wisegeek網站問答說：
In its reference to firearms, bore is a synonym for caliber 口徑;
thus, a full-bore weapon is either larger, or loaded to its full capacity with gun powder and ammunition.

3. 已故美國知名作家兼評論員William Safire (紐約時報的Op-Ed及On-Language等專欄名筆，我個人很佩服他！）在一篇紐時文章 Full Bore, Small Bore寫道：

這個詞其實是個「外來語」--- 來自英國但漸為美國廣用。美國字典還比英國字典早收錄咧：

Full-bore, hyphenated when used to modify a noun, is a Britishism that Americans are adopting (like not to worry and sendup). Curiously, it is defined in an American dictionary, the Random House unabridged, but not yet in the Oxford English Dictionary (註：文章寫於1997年，但OED現已收錄該詞條).''Moving or operating at the greatest speed or with maximum power'' is the Random House definition of the adjective. That ''fullest extent'' sense is expressed in The Times's ''the economy is now operating at full bore.''

Safire跑去問牛津字典的意見：

Where is it from? ''We are working on an entry on full bore,'' says John Simpson of the O.E.D., playing catch-up (an Americanism), ''and our evidence shows that it derives from the bore meaning 'cylinder.' Full bore is the widest capacity of a cylinder.'' Some lexicographers think the bore first measured an engine cylinder (and have a 1927 citation), while others think that the origin is from the measurement of the inside of the barrel of a gun. ''A .45-caliber gun can take a .44-caliber load,'' John Snyder of the gun lobby tells me, ''so full bore would be the maximum-size load. In another sense, it means 'maximum capable powder load.' ''

到底full bore的語源是來自「汽缸」還是「槍管」呢？總之就是「口徑、管狀物大小」的意思啦！

不過，既然牛津收錄慢人一步，又怎知這個詞是"Britishnism invading Americanism"呢？
原來，二戰時英國皇家空軍曾用過咧！

Whether from gun or engine, bore has an extended use attributed to the Royal Air Force in World War II: ''I went after him full bore,'' recounted the ace C. H. Ward-Jackson in 1943. There was a need for a new full, since full sail, full blast and full steam were obsolete.

有趣的是，跟bore有關的俚語，還有一個 small bore；它是full bore的反義詞，但也不是full bore的反義詞－－
糊塗了嗎？Safire解釋給你聽：

Now what about those small-bore reforms? ''Though small-bore and full-bore connect with each other technically as firearms terms,'' says Fred Mish at Merriam-Webster, ''they are not opposites on the extended level. One means 'all-out,' the other 'trifling.' ''

也就是說：單純指 大口徑、小口徑，則 full bore ←→ small bore；
但要是說到引申義，這兩個詞就各有各的天空囉：

full-bore ：全速的、全力的

small-bore  ： 瑣碎的、微不足道的 (美語比較常用此義)


自己亂造句：
You might think this blog contains small-bore posts,
but I've devoted myself to this at full bore   (亦可省略at, 直接當副詞用).


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題外話：

「適用多卡通」，並不是那麼好翻，

其意思可能是 "multi-pass applicable" 或是 "multi-purpose (smart) cards applicable"

（說我中文爛好了，我其實連這五個字的意思都不太確定

－－ 這裡講的是「『旅客服務中心』提供的服務包括『適用多卡通』」，從中文來看，怎麼好像是「旅客可來這裡開通多卡通」或是「旅客如果要在機場使用不同通行卡，請洽旅客服務中心辦理」的意思。）

 又，multi-pass 除了「可用於不同公共運輸及公共場所的票券或通行證」外，

更常見的意思其實是「可多次或無限次搭乘公共運輸的票券或通行證」(eg. a monthly pass for metrobus 公車月票; a multi-pass valid for 4 rides of cable car service 纜車4回乘車券)