Tomorrow is the day！

明天就是美國總統選舉！（Tomorrow is the day of US presidential election！）特朗普不可能勝出？有誰可以說得準？

"Tomorrow is the day"指「明天就是大日子、明天就是重要的日子」，毋須用上big或者important等形容詞，簡單一個the字已經能夠點出明天是如何重要。其實，加了big或者important，變成"Tomorrow is the big day！" "Tomorrow is an important day！"並不見得比Tomorrow is the day的語氣更重、更到位。

再看兩句包含"the day"的常用句子：" That'll be the day！"和"Those were the days."一句說將來，一句說過去。

"That'll be the day！"是反話，諷刺意味相當濃烈。字面說「將會有這一天」，其實是指That'll be the day worth waiting for。--「若果將會有這麼一天，真值得等待」，即是說「這一天絕不可能來臨」。例句：You think he'll quit smoking？That'll be the day！（你認為他會戒煙嗎？絕不可能！）

"Those were the days."則懷緬過去美好的日子，暗示過去比現在好。例句：Those were the days in Afghanistan when women were once free.（昔日婦女在阿富汗曾經享有自由。）

（本欄逢周一、三、五刊登）