【又中又英】Style Over Substance

作者：Alice的学习笔记

原文

A sports commentator used an interesting expression to describe a football team last week. The expression he used was style over substance. He said the football team had "too much style, not enough substance". The word "style" has many meanings. It can mean someone's hairstyle, different styles of fashion, or a particular way of writing or painting. It can also mean a high quality in appearance or behavior. For example, you can say very expensive cars have got style. This is the meaning of the word "style" in the expression "style over substance". The word "substance" also has many meanings. It can mean a solid, powder, liquid, or gas with its own compositions.

It can mean something based on fact or logic. If you say something has** no substance**, it means it is not true. The word"substance" can also mean the most important part of an idea. Or it can mean the quality of being important, significant, or serious. This is the meaning of "substance" in the expression "style over substance". When the sports commentator said the football team had"too much style, not enough substance", he meant the team appeared to play in a high quality or impressive way to please fans instead of playing in a serious or significant way. The team considered looks as more important than content.

This expression can be used in different ways. For example, a speech can sound very good but doesn't contain good points. You can then say the speech had style over substance. Another expression is "quality over quantity". The word "quality" describes how good or bad something is. The word "quantity" means the amount or number of something. Some people prefer quality over quantity. This means they prefer to have less but what they have is of quality. Others prefer quantity over quality, which means they prefer to have more things even though they are of low quality.

单词、短语

• style over substance
  言过其实，绣花枕头（空有好看的外表，但是却没有内涵）。
      The president's speech was style over substance. He didn't make very good points, but it sounded good.
      总统的演讲有点言过其实了。他没有什么好观点，只是听起来不错。

• no substance
  毫无根据。
      There is no substance to the rumors (=they are untrue).
      这些传说毫无根据。

翻译

上星期，一位体育评述员用了一个有趣的习语去形容一队足球队。他用的习语是style over substance。他说那队足球队had“too much style, not enough substance”。“Style”一字有许多意思，它可以指某人的发型（hairstyle）、时装的不同款式（styles），又或是写作的文体或绘画的特定画风；它也可以指形象上的风格或行为上的作风。譬如你可以说，非常昂贵的车都有style，这就是习语“style over substance”里的“style”的意思。“Substance”也有许多意思，它可指物质，即有着独特成份的固体、粉末或气体。

它也可以指事实根据或逻辑。若你说某事没有substance，那即是指它缺乏依据，不是真的。“Substance”也可以指一个想法中最重要的部份；亦可以指成为重要、有意义或需要认真考虑的那个本质——这就是“style over substance”里的“substance”之意。当那位体育评述员说，那队足球队had“too much style, not enough substance”，他的意思是，那队球队作赛时看似很高水平，或很能取悦球迷，用上令人印象深刻的技法，却非认真或有意义的踢法。该球队认为外观比内涵重要。

这个习语亦可以在其他不同的地方用得上。譬如，一场演说听来很棒，却不含甚么好的见解，你便可以说，那场演说had style over substance、言过其实。另一个习语是“quality over quantity”。“Quality”是指某物的质量、品质；“quantity”则指某物的数量。当某些人宁愿要quality over quantity，意即他们重质不重量，宁要少一点，但要好的质量；另一些人则宁愿quantity over quality，那即是他们重量多于质，宁要多一点，即使那些东西的质素（quality）较低。

原文作者：Michael Chugani 褚簡寧
中文翻译：七刻

以上就是今天的内容。