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George Bush gets pipped to "Foot in Mouth" award
Former England soccer manager Steve McClaren fought off toughcompetition from US President George W. Bush to win a dreaded "Foot inMouth" award on Tuesday from the Plain English campaign.
Hewas hailed for a supreme example of in talking about star player WayneRooney: "He is inexperienced but he’s experienced in terms of what he’sbeen through."
George W. Bush came second for "All I can tell you is that when the governor calls, I answer his phone."
Plain English Campaign spokesman Ben Beer said: "We thought it was abit obvious to honor Bush as he comes up with them every day."
Every year, the pressure group hands out a raft of awards mockingincomprehensible jargon in a battle to clear the linguistic fog that sooften envelops the English language.
Past winners include model Naomi Campbell, actor Richard Gere and former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
There is never a shortage of entrants sent in by people baffled by bureaucratic language and befuddled legalese.
"We get 40 to 50 examples a week, mostly from British documents. Themedia, including advertising and marketing, is riddled with insiderjargon," Beer said.
Offering the best way to obliteratemeaningless verbosity, Beer said: "Thinking before you write is themain thing and then re-reading what you have written."
That message clearly fell on deaf ears at Coleraine railway station in Northern Ireland.
The station sign read: "Every autumn a combination of leaves on theline, atmospheric conditions and prevailing damp conditions lead to alow adhesion between the rail head and the wheel which causes servicesto be delayed or even cancelled."
London’s Gatwick Airportgot 10 out of 10 for brevity but came bottom of the class for clarityfor one of its signs: "Passenger shoe repatriation area only."
The campaign was founded in 1979 by Chrissie Maher who only learned to read and write at the age of 14.
本周二,“简明英语运动组织”年度“不知所云”大奖揭晓,前英格兰国家足球队主教练史蒂夫•麦克拉伦力挫美国总统布什,赢得这一“殊荣”。
麦克拉伦对球星韦恩•鲁尼的评价是最为经典的例子,令人“赞叹”。他说:“鲁尼经验不足,不过他对自己做过的事情还是很有经验的。”
布什总统“屈居”亚军。他的“获奖名言”是:“我想告诉你们,如果州长打来电话,我一定会接。”(译者注:布什访问发生火灾的南加州,在回答有关应急救援的问题时说了这句话。)
“简明英语运动组织”的发言人本•比尔说:“我们原以为布什总统夺冠的可能性比较大,因为他说错话可是家常便饭。”
为了消灭英语中经常出现的“云山雾罩”的语言,该“施压组织”每年都颁发一系列奖项,嘲讽各种让人摸不着头脑的晦涩言论。
历届“不知所云奖”得主包括名模纳欧米•坎贝尔、影星理查德•基尔和美国前国防部长唐纳德•拉姆斯菲尔德。
该组织经常收到人们“举报”的一些令人费解的“官话”和法律用语。
比尔说:“我们每周能收集到四、五十个这样的例子,其中大多数来自英国的官方文件。此外,广告、营销等传媒中也充斥着大量的行业术语。”
针对这个问题,比尔提出,最好的解决办法就是“提笔前慎重思考,写完后再三通读”。
而北爱尔兰的科勒雷恩火车站显然没有做到这一点。
该火车站的一个告示牌上写道:“每到秋天,铁道上的落叶、大气状况和潮湿的天气使火车头和车轮间的粘附力减小,导致火车延误或取消。”
而伦敦加特维克机场是做到了百分百的“简要,但是在“清楚”方面却是最差的了。该机场的一个告示牌是这样写的:“乘客鞋遣送专用区”。
“简明英语运动”组织成立于1979年,其创始人克里西•马赫在他14岁时才开始识字。
《音乐之声》当选“史上最伟大音乐剧”
‘The Sound of Music’ named the ‘Greatest Musical of All Time’
1960’s classic The Sound of Music has been named the ‘Greatest Musical of All Time’ in a new poll.
The 1965 film, starring Julie Andrews, got 15 per cent of the vote in the Twentieth Century Fox poll.
In the film, Andrews plays nun Maria who leaves an Austrian convent totake up a job of a governess to a Navy captain and his seven kids.
Speaking at the launch of the Sound Of Music DVD at London’sPalladium, Charmian Carr, who played Liesl von Trapp said: "It’s such agood feeling to be a part of something that changed so many lives forthe better.
"To love each other and to stay together is sucha wonderful message and I think probably nowadays more than ever peopleneed to hear that message again."
Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta starred, 1978 musical Grease, bagged the second place, reports The Sun.
Musical comedy The Rocky Horror Show landed the third, while MaryPoppins, a Disney musical starring Julie Andrews stood fourth.
Nicole Kidman starred Moulin Rouge came fifth, while Phantom of theOpera and The Wizard of Oz stood sixth and seventh respectively.
Oliver, West Side Story and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang rounded off the top ten ‘Greatest Musicals of All Time.’
The top ten ‘Greatest Musicals of All Time’ are:
1.The Sound of Music
2.Grease
3.The Rocky Horror Show
4.Mary Poppins
5.Moulin Rouge
6.Phantom of the Opera
7.The Wizard of Oz
8.Oliver
9.West Side Story
10.Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
上世纪60年代名噪一时的经典音乐剧《音乐之声》在近妈养我一项调查中被评为“历史上最伟大的音乐剧”。
在“20世纪福克斯”电影公司开展的调查中,《音乐之声》以15%的得票率名列榜首。这部音乐剧于1965年上映、由茱丽叶•安德鲁斯主演。
安德鲁斯在剧中饰演修女玛莉娅,她离开了奥地利的修道院,到一位海军上校家给他的七个孩子当家庭教师。
在伦敦帕里蒂亚剧院举行的《音乐之声》原声大碟发布仪式上,在剧中饰演(大女儿) 丽莎•冯•崔普的查尔米恩•卡尔说:“这部音乐剧让很多人的生活变得更加美好。能够参演这部伟大的作品,我感到非常自豪。”
“互相关爱、相依相伴是人世间最美好的东西,我想如今的人们可能比以往更需要它。”
据《太阳报》报道,由奥立瓦•牛顿-约翰和约翰•特拉沃尔塔主演的音乐剧《油脂》位居第二。该剧于1978年上映。
音乐喜剧《洛基恐怖秀》名列第三,茱丽叶•安德鲁斯主演的另一部迪斯尼音乐剧《玛丽•波平斯阿姨》排在第四。
妮可•基德曼主演的歌舞剧《红磨坊》名列第五;《歌剧魅影》和《绿野仙踪》分别位列第六和第七。
《奥立弗》、《西区故事》和《飞天万能车》也跻身“史上最伟大的十大音乐剧”排行榜。
“史上最伟大的十大音乐剧”如下:
1、《音乐之声》
2、《油脂》
3、《洛基恐怖秀》
4、《玛丽•波平斯阿姨》
5、《红磨坊》
6、《歌剧魅影》
7、《绿野仙踪》
8、《奥立弗》
9、《西区故事》
10、《飞天万能车》 |
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