Gap

香港貧富懸殊的問題嚴重。不少貧困家庭在疫情下失業，生活更加艱難。

「貧富懸殊」，英文可以怎樣說？最簡單就是the gap between rich and poor，直譯指「有錢人和窮人的差距」。例如，The gap between rich and poor is widening globally.（全球的貧富懸殊正在擴大。）The gap between rich and poor is very large in the US.（美國的貧富差距很大。）

除了用the gap between rich and poor指「貧富懸殊」，可以用the disparity between rich and poor，disparity解「不平等、不公平的差異」。例如，The growing disparity between rich and poor is forcing more families onto the street.（貧富懸殊愈來愈嚴重，迫使更多家庭流落街頭。）

想簡短些，可以用the wealth gap或者the rich-poor gulf。例句︰The wealth gap widens as the pandemic deepens economic inequality.（隨着疫情加深經濟的不平等，貧富懸殊便擴大。）

Gulf本身解「鴻溝」，所以the rich-poor gulf已經是指「貧富差距巨大」。例句︰We need to put greater effort to narrow the rich-poor gulf.（我們需要加大力度縮小貧富差距。）

（本欄逢周三、五刊登）