香港作家陶傑在《亮點》一文中這麼寫：
寫作最忌用詞的重復。英文報紙都有一套規矩：同一段新聞稿，多處提到『美國政府』，如果頭一段說The US Administration，第二段就必須改稱為The White House，第三段就要講Washington。其實三個名詞，指的是同一個權利中樞。為甚麼要變來變去？不是外國記者閑著沒事玩游戲，而是要在枯燥的文字裏追求靈活和彈性。
避免重復用詞的道理，我在中四時就知道，是英文老師教我們的。所以，如果我寫新加坡，第一段用Singapore，第二段就改為the Lion City，第三段又改稱the island republic。同樣的，Land of Smile可以取代Thailand，the Middle Kingdom取代China，及the Land of the Rising Sun取代Japan。總而言之，減少重復使用相同的字眼。
不過，記憶中我的眾多華文老師都沒有提及重復用詞的禁忌。或許華文有異於英文，在一段文字中重復寫『中國』十次八次不是一個問題。這是否意味著，中國人/華人缺乏創意？
This is interesting. It's like you are reminding us how to write. :P Don't worry, we'll try not to repeat the phrases.
ReplyDeleteSingapore has a new name - the new Middle Kingdom, we can use it the next time we write about the Lion City...haha No repeat right?
ReplyDelete重復使用也没什么不好就没那么容易混淆啊...
ReplyDelete那 City of Angels 呢?
tekkaus
ReplyDeleteHa... this is life long learning, huh?
Grass
I just went to Singapore recently. Lots of Chinese Mainlanders in Changi's Budget Terminal.
迷迭香
看情形啦。。。技术性的档案要写得清楚，可以重复用相同的词。我们平时写blog就最好避免。
City of Angels是曼谷。她的另一个外号是the Big Mango。
Thanks for the tip. Why you didn't use your hometown as example...
ReplyDeletebut when i went for pro-writing training, it says that we should constantly use the same word to avoid confusion!
ReplyDeleteneo
ReplyDeleteMy hometown is not famous.
xin
It depends on what you write. For highly technical writings, your trainer might be right. For novels, news articles and blogs, repetitive use of the same word can be boring.
Style of writing depends on what we are writing for. SEO plays a part too.
ReplyDelete现在连写国语作文也是要如此！
ReplyDeletethen what to substitute 中国 ar?
ReplyDelete中国人的国家？ 华人的地方？
Happysurfer
ReplyDeleteWhat is SEO?
christine
好像只有华语不需如此。
annant
Maybe 神州, but that's very complacent.
SEO = Search Engine Optimization as in using keywords to drive traffic to one's site thus increasing site visibility. This is important for commercial sites.
ReplyDeleteHappysurfer
ReplyDeleteOK, thanks.
寫得甚好
ReplyDelete我沒有聽過這樣用法
怪我英文太差 ><
學到一樣東西了
龍貓
ReplyDelete現在學也不遲 ^^