broad
A term originated in the 1930's meaning woman; derived from the fact that the most defining characteristic of all females are their hips, which are proportionally wider than the hips of their male counterparts.
Pre WW II slang for an independent, assertive/aggressive woman. Usually in show business, a broad is a singer, dancer, actor or business-woman who sings loud, parties hard and is often abrasive, sarcastic and in-your-face. A variation is the "classy broad" which implies she has either been born rich, snagged herself a sugar-daddy, or has succeeded on her own.
Broads are generally moderately attractive or better, are never seen without their best dresses and perfect makeup, and know how to compete and win in a man's world. In some pre-war Hollywood films, broads are portrayed as gangsters' girlfriends or even their accomplices or gun molls but that was rarely the case in real life. Also in Hollywood films of the era, broads chewed gum incessantly and spoke with a thick, sarcastic New York accent.
Often men who felt threatened by strong-willed, successful women would call them broads in a derogatory sense.
Broads are generally moderately attractive or better, are never seen without their best dresses and perfect makeup, and know how to compete and win in a man's world. In some pre-war Hollywood films, broads are portrayed as gangsters' girlfriends or even their accomplices or gun molls but that was rarely the case in real life. Also in Hollywood films of the era, broads chewed gum incessantly and spoke with a thick, sarcastic New York accent.
Often men who felt threatened by strong-willed, successful women would call them broads in a derogatory sense.
Bette Midler on her persona: "People always love a broad -- someone with a sense of humor, someone with a fairly wicked tongue, someone who can belt out a song, someone who takes no guff. "
Hey Manny! Lookit dat broad... She's built like a brick shithouse! - Construction worker to a friend.
Hey Manny! Lookit dat broad... She's built like a brick shithouse! - Construction worker to a friend.
英國人對 "the" 的特殊用法
第一次注意到英國人對 "the" 有特殊用法是在2016年在Guildford往卡洛爾的墳場路上，在小坡進口看到一面小牌寫著 "The Mount" (如圖)，我知道這是 Mount Cemetery的縮寫。
後來注意到牛津人特別喜歡用the來代替某些熟悉的事物，如卡洛爾在基督教堂學院住處的大門就叫the Oak,因為是橡木做的，基督教堂學院被學生稱為the House (大寫)，卡洛爾自稱他有10個房間的住處是the house (小寫)。
牛津有兩條著名的街，一條叫High Street, 另一條叫 Broad Street, 當地人分別簡稱為the High, the Broad. 愛麗絲的父親George Liddell是基督教堂學院的院長，有一首詩用這兩條街來打趣Liddell 夫婦：
She is the Broad; I am the High
這首詩外地人看不出來的戲謔的地方是the High很長，東西向貫穿牛津市，而the Broad又寬又短(也是東西向)，暗示他們夫婦的身高不成比例(其實不然)。
注釋版愛麗絲(the Annotated Alice)引用過這句詩，想不到造成譯者的困難。陳榮彬教授把它翻譯成:
她身材寬闊；我長的高挑 (p.444)
把言下之意都翻了出來，其實很不禮貌，因為在西方(不只維多利亞時代)，拿別人的外貌開玩笑是很不得體的，何況是批評自己的太座，所以應該照當地的習慣，譯成
她是寬街，我是高街
才比較婉轉。
顯然受到這個不為人知的小習慣所害。
翻譯難，可見一斑。
注釋版愛麗絲(the Annotated Alice)引用過這句詩，想不到造成譯者的困難。陳榮彬教授把它翻譯成:
她身材寬闊；我長的高挑 (p.444)
把言下之意都翻了出來，其實很不禮貌，因為在西方(不只維多利亞時代)，拿別人的外貌開玩笑是很不得體的，何況是批評自己的太座，所以應該照當地的習慣，譯成
她是寬街，我是高街
才比較婉轉。
顯然受到這個不為人知的小習慣所害。
翻譯難，可見一斑。
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