Michael Chugani 褚簡寧 - Didn’t know one iota.|又中又英


When I was a young reporter with TVB I was assigned to interview the winner of the station’s Miss Hong Kong Pageant the morning after the contest. I had to quickly think of questions because I didn’t know one iota about beauty pageants. They don’t interest me at all. I have not sat through even one beauty pageant. But last week TVB’s Miss Hong Kong contest piqued my interest. I was not interested in the contest itself but in the squabble between TVB and Helen Yu Lai Ching-ping, a member of the Independent Police Complaints Council. She criticized TVB for making the contestants wear tiny bikinis while answering questions and accused the pageant host Eric Tsang Chi-wai of staring at the bikini-clad contestants. TVB has threatened to take legal action.
If you don’t know one iota about something it means you know very little about it. To sit through something means to watch or stay until the end. If something piques your interest it means you are interested or curious about it. A squabble is an argument about something unimportant. Even though beauty pageants don’t interest me, they interest many other people. To each his own, which means other people are free to like different things that you don’t like. TVB’s Miss Hong Kong Pageant has a long history. This year’s contest marked its 50th anniversary.

Yu Lai Ching-ping’s criticism of TVB piqued my interest because many countries have beauty pageants. Contests such as the Miss World Pageant have a global audience. If she considers such pageants as immoral she should not have only criticized TVB.
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當我還年輕在無線電視當記者的時候,被指派在電視台香港小姐競選的翌日早上,去採訪比賽的冠軍。我必須迅速想好問題,因為我當時對於選美比賽一竅不通(didn’t know one iota)。我對選美比賽從來不感興趣,也從未試過完整地看過(sat through)任何一個選美比賽的節目。但上星期無線電視的香港小姐競選卻激起了我的興趣(piqued my interest)。我感興趣的並非比賽本身,而是無線跟監警會委員余黎青萍之間的爭吵(squabble)。她批評無線要參賽佳麗在問答環節中穿很少布的比堅尼泳衣,又指控比賽司儀曾志偉瞪眼盯着穿比堅尼的參賽者。無線已威脅要採取法律行動。

若你don’t know one iota about something,意即你對某事物所知皮毛,或一點兒也不知道。 To sit through something是指觀看整個節目或留到節目結束。若某事piques your interest,意即你對它很感興趣或它激發了你的好奇心。A squabble即就某件不重要的事情爭吵、口角。即使我對選美比賽不感興趣,它們仍能吸引很多人的興趣。正所謂to each his own,意思就是人各有所好,人有自由去喜歡你所不喜歡的物事。無線的香港小姐競選有悠久的歷史,今年的競選就迎來了它的五十周年。
  余黎青萍對無線的批評引起了我的興趣(piqued my interest),因為許多國家也有選美比賽。諸如世界小姐的選美比賽就吸引全球各地的觀眾收看。若她認為這樣的選美比賽是不道德的,那她不應該單單批評無線啊。中譯:七刻
Michael Chugani 褚簡寧
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