English is Fun

另類思考英語 : If olive oil comes from olives, where does baby oil come from?

 

If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?
假如 con 和 pro 是意思相反的兩個字首，那 progress （進步）這個字的相反詞不就是 congress （沒錯！全天下的國會都是文明退化的象徵）

Why you have to click on "Start" to stop Windows 2000?
明明你要關閉（ STOP ）微軟視窗軟體，為何它卻要你先從左下角的「開始」（ START ）鍵進入呢？

A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a trainstops. On my desk, I have a work station...GO FIGURE!
汽車站（ Bus station ）是汽車停靠休息的地方，火車站（ Train station ）是火車停靠的休息地方，那放在辦公桌前的「工作站」（ Work Station ）豈不是上班族玩電玩休息的地方？

If fire fighters fight fire, and crime fighters fight crime, what do freedom fighters fight?
假如 fire fighter 是消滅火災的戰士， crime fighter 是消滅犯罪的戰士，那 freedom fighter 難道是 …?

Why is the time of day with the slowest traffic called rush hour?
為何車輛移動最慢的時候，偏偏叫做「匆忙時刻」？

If Fed Ex and UPS were to merge, would they call it Fed UP? DHL means Delivered Half Lost
假如美國的「聯邦快遞」公司（ Fed Ex ）和另一家美國的快遞公司「優彼速」（ UPS ）合併的話，新公司的名字可否叫做 Fed Up ( 受夠了 ) 。那另外一家快遞公司 DHL 就變成了「貨送到漏一半」公司（ Delivered Half Lost ）。

I believe five out of four people have trouble with fractions.
假如你唸完這句話，不覺得有何異狀的話，就表示你分數計算能力太差。

If quitters never win, and winners never quit, what fool came up with, "Quit while you're ahead?"
假如半途而廢者永遠不會成為贏家，而贏家也絕不會半途而廢，那為什麼又有「見好就收」這句成語呢？

Why the sun lightens our hair, but darkens our skin?
為什麼同樣的陽光「照亮」了我們的頭髮卻「曬黑」了我們的皮膚？

Do Lipton employees take coffee breaks?
在「利頓紅茶」公司上班的人，也會在休息時喝咖啡嗎？

What hair color do they put on the driver's licenses of bald men?
你曾注意到禿頭的駕駛人在駕駛執照上「髮色」一欄如何填寫？

I thought about how mothers feed their babies with little tiny spoons andforks, so I wonder what Chinese mothers use. Perhaps toothpicks?
美國的母親們會用小湯匙和小叉子餵嬰兒，那麼中國的媽媽們，不就要用兩根牙籤來餵寶寶了？

Why do they put pictures of criminals up in the Post Office? What are we supposed to do... write to these men? Why don't they just put their pictures on the postage stamps so the mailmen could look for them while they delivered the mail?
為什麼美國警察老把通緝犯照片貼在郵局告示欄上，何不把他們的照片印在郵票上，郵差就可以在投遞信件時，找到躲藏的犯人了？

Never agree to plastic surgery if the doctor's office is full of portraits by Picasso.
建議不要在診所裡懸掛畢卡索抽象畫的地方進行美容手術。

How much deeper would oceans be if sponges didn't live there?
假如海洋中沒有海綿的話，海平面會升高嗎？

Why not modern Latin: VENI, VEDI, VISA - I came, I saw, I shopped. 凱薩大帝的拉丁語名言「我來、我見、我征服」（ VENI, VEDI, VICI – I came, I saw, I conquered ）   被信用卡公司 VISA 改成最新廣告口號 VENI, VEDI, VISA - I came, I saw, I shopped 。

STRESSED spelled backwards is DESSERTS.
「受到壓力」（ Stressed ）倒過來拼剛好是甜點（ Desserts ），所以心情不好就多吃些甜點吧。

As I said before, I never repeat myself!
就像我說過的，我不會重複我說過的話。

If a person with multiple personalities threatens suicide, is that considered a hostage situation?
假如一個多重人格的精神病患聲稱要自殺，這是否構成威脅殺害人質？

If olive oil comes from olives, where does baby oil come from?
假如橄欖油是橄欖做的，那嬰兒油呢？

Why do they sterilize needles for lethal injections?
為何執行死刑的毒針還要消毒？
 
Is it true that cannibals don't eat clowns because they taste funny? 食人族不吃小丑，因為味道嘗起來有點「好笑」。（雙關語： funny 有「好笑的」和「怪怪的」雙重意思。）

Isn't Disney World a people trap operated by a mouse?
迪斯奈樂園其實是有一群老鼠操控的「捕人夾」。

How come abbreviated is such a long word?
縮寫（ abbreviation ）這個字為什麼不以身作則縮得短一點？

Shouldn't there be a shorter word for "monosyllabic"?
為什麼 monosyllabic （單音節）這個字名不符實，竟有五個音節之多？

Is there another word for a synonym?
英文「相似詞」（ synonym ）這個字的本身有相似詞嗎？

Did you know that "verb" is a noun?
相信你一定已經知道「動詞」（ verb ）這個字實際上是個「名詞」（ noun ）。

Who tastes dog food when it has a "new & improved" flavor?
憑什麼狗食廣告經常宣稱自己的商品是「全新改良過的口味」？誰告訴他們的？

Why the man who invests all your money is called a broker?
為什麼明明應該幫客戶投資獲利的人，自己稱呼自己為「破產者」。 Broker 一詞原意為證券經紀人，拼法上與「破產的」（ Broke ）一詞幾乎一致，在此被強解為「破產者」。

If it's zero degrees outside today and it's supposed to be twice as cold tomorrow, how cold is it going to be?
假如今天溫度是零度，比昨天冷了一倍，那如何計算昨天的溫度？

Why is it that when you transport something by car it's called a shipment, but when you transport something by ship it's called cargo?
為什麼用汽車運的貨物叫 Shipment? 而用船運送的貨物又叫 Cargo 呢？

Why the color of the little indestructible black box on the plane is actually orange instead of black?
為何飛機上的「黑盒子」的顏色橘色而非黑色呢？

Why are they called apartments when they're all stuck together?
Apartment 是 Apart （分開）的名詞，為什麼解釋成「公寓」時，又表示許多「黏在一起」的房子呢？

What do you call a sleeping bull? A bull-dozer.
你怎麼稱呼睡著的公牛？推土機。（ Bulldozer 是推土機，把這個字分成兩個字就變成打瞌睡的公牛了）