又中又英｜On a wing and a prayer

A newspaper commentary I read recently reminded me of an interesting expression. The expression is “on a wing and a prayer”. Most readers will know the meaning of the word “wing”. It can mean a bird’s wing or the wing of a plane. The word “prayer” comes from the word “pray”. People pray in churches, temples, and mosques. But the expression “on a wing and a prayer” has a different meaning. It means doing something in the hope you will succeed but with very little chance of success. You can say you tried running the marathon on a wing and a prayer.

This means you took part in the marathon even though you knew you would not succeed in completing it. I remembered that expression when I read a commentary in which the writer tweaked the expression. To tweak something means to change it slightly. The writer said “on a whinge and a prayer”. To whinge means to complain repeatedly about something in an annoying way. The writer made up this expression by tweaking the expression “on a wing and a prayer”. He used the word “whinge” to describe a long list of complaints by a politician. He used the word “prayer” to mean that the politician hoped the people he was complaining to would listen to his complaints.

Tweaking idioms to produce a different meaning is not easy but can be fun. People who have spare time can try to do it. I will try on a wing and a prayer and will share it with you if I succeed.

最近读到一份报章的评论，令我想起一个有趣的习语。那个习语是“on a wing and a prayer”。大多读者也知道“wing”的意思，它可以指雀鸟的翅膀（wing）或是飞机的机翼（wing）。而“prayer”一字则来源自“pray”。人们会在教堂、庙宇和清真寺祷告祈求（pray）。然而，习语“on a wing and a prayer”却有不同的意思，它是指做某事时希望能成功，却只有一丝成功的可能。你可以说，you tried running the marathon on a wing and a prayer。

你这样说的意思是，你参加了马拉松比赛，即使你深知自己能成功跑完的机会渺茫。我读到那篇评论时想起了那个习语，但作者将习语稍为改了（tweaked）。To tweak something 是指轻微调整、改动某事物。该作者说“on a whinge and a prayer”。To whinge是指重重复复、絮絮叨叨地抱怨某事。作者将习语“on a wing and a prayer”稍稍扭（tweaking）了一下，改成这个习语。他用“whinge”一字去形容某位政客长篇大论的抱怨。他用“prayer”一字，是想表明那位政客祈望他抱怨的对象会听取他的怨言。

将成语稍为改动（tweaking），造成另一个意思，这并不容易，但可以很好玩。有馀暇的人可以试试这样做。我尽管试试，即使难以成功（on a wing and a prayer），若我真的做到，便会分享给你们看看。

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Michael Chugani褚简宁
中译：七刻