Meticulous

平日太忙，大多馬馬虎虎打掃了事。不過，年廿八洗邋遢，就得一絲不苟（meticulous），來個大掃除！

形容詞meticulous解「嚴謹、周密、一絲不苟、非常注意細節的」，即是非常細心，注意每個細節，務求一切都正確地完成；因此可用attentive to details代替meticulous。例如，My dad was so meticulous that he would count out exactly 50 coffee beans for making a cup of coffee.（父親非常一絲不苟，他會準確算出50粒咖啡豆來煮一杯咖啡。）We appreciate that you have prepared the report with meticulous care.（感謝你精心準備報告。）

想點出對於甚麼事情非常嚴謹細緻，可以在meticulous後接介詞about帶出。例句︰He is very meticulous about picking the right songs for his breakfast every morning.（他每天早上非常一絲不苟地為自己的早餐挑選合適的歌曲。）I was meticulous about every detail of the wedding while my fiancé was very calm and patient with me.（我對婚禮的每一個細節都一絲不苟，而我的未婚夫則很鎮定，而且很耐心待我。）

（本欄逢周一、三、五刊登）