Ally

More haste, less speed

發佈時間: 2017/03/29

More haste, less speed

「最緊要快,但不要急!」同事說。看似矛盾,卻是今時今日急速節奏下工作的常規。哪有「欲速則不達」﹖要快靚正!

「欲速則不達」,英文可以說more haste, less speed或者haste makes waste,前者英式,後者美式。More haste, less speed的意思是「做事太急,容易出錯,反而令進度更慢」。例如,We're all eager to get this done as soon as possible, but remember : more haste, less speed. We don't want to receive any complaints.(我們都渴望盡快完成這項工作,但請記住:欲速則不達。我們不想收到任何投訴。)

名詞haste解「匆忙、倉卒」,帶貶義,常用in haste和in somebody's haste to do something。例句:Obviously the report was prepared in haste. There are many typos.(這份報告有很多錯字,很明顯是匆忙準備的)I left my handbag in my haste to catch the train.(我匆忙趕火車,忘記拿手袋。)

留意,平日說話多數用hurry一字,少用haste。例句:Sorry, I was in a big hurry at that time.(對不起,那時候我很匆忙。)

(本欄逢周一、三、五刊登)

撰文: Ally 最漂亮英文專業老師
欄名: WordDiscovery