常春藤解析英语【102】Martian Sign Language火星文手

Martian Sign Language　火星文手语

Just like the hip¹ young people who use "Martian" (newly formed words) online, hearing-impaired² kids have slang of their own.

Chiu Man-ying, a teacher at the Taipei School for the Hearing Impaired, says that hearing-impaired students invent signs of their own. These function as a kind of shorthand and build bonds among communities of peers.

Take the sign they use for "embarrassed" for example. The original signs involved holding both hands clasped together beside the mouth while acting³ like you didn't know what to do with yourself, or using the fingers of both hands to suggest the gnashing of teeth. Then another sign emerged, drawn⁴ from the popular 1990s cartoon Chibi Maruko. In the cartoon, three lines would appear on Chibi Maruko's face every time she found herself in an awkward situation. It was cute, and hearing-impaired students adopted it, making three fingers their sign for "embarrassed."

Chiu discovered another sign for "embarrassed" five years ago while taking a group of hearing-impaired painters to Rhode Island for a Taiwan Day event. On the flight there, one of the painters arranged his thumb, index finger, and middle finger like the prongs of a plug and stabbed them forward like the beak⁵ of a crow, and made a "caw, caw, caw" sound. Watching him, Chiu realized that the younger generation of hearing-impaired had invented yet another way of expressing "embarrassed." The sign referred to the crow that flies across the screen during awkward moments in the TV version of Chibi Maruko.

本文节录自《台湾光华杂志》九十七年九月第三十三卷第九期

单字小铺

1. Martian a. 火星的 & n. 火星人
2. sign language　　手语
3. hip a. 新潮的
4. hearing-impaired a. 听力受损的
impaired a. 受损的
5. slang n. 俚语（集合名词，不可数）
6. shorthand n. 简略的表达方式
7. bond n. 联系；紧密关系
8. peer n. 同侪
peer pressure　　同侪压力
9. embarrassed a. 尴尬的
10. clasp vt. 握紧
11. gnashing n. 咬牙，磨牙
12. awkward a. 尴尬的，为难的
13. thumb n. 拇指
little finger　　小指
14. index finger n. 食指
15. middle finger n. 中指
ring finger n. 无名指
16. prong n. 叉状物，尖头
17. plug n. 插头
18. beak n. 鸟喙
19. crow n. 乌鸦

精解字词词组

1. of one's own　　（某人）自己的
on one's own　　靠某人一己之力
例: Tim saw John's motorcycle and wanted one of his own.
（提姆看见约翰的摩托车之后，自己也想要一辆。）
例: Mark can do a lot of things on his own, but his parents still treat him like a baby.
（虽然马克可以自己做很多事情，但他爸妈还是把他当作小娃儿般对待。）

2. function as...　　有……的功能；充当……用
= serve as...
例: This umbrella also functions as a cane⁶.
（这把伞也有拐杖的功能。）

3. Take...for example.　　以……为例。
= Take...for instance.
例: All his favorite sports are violent. Take football for example.
（他喜欢的运动全都是激烈型的。美式橄榄球就是一例。）

4. involve vt. 包含；牵涉
例: This project involves a lot of time and hard work.
（这项企划案需要付出许多时间和努力。）

5. emerge vi. 出现；浮现
emerge from...　　从……出现
例: The children emerged from their hiding place.
（那些小孩子从他们躲藏的地方出现。）

6. adopt vt. 采取，采用；领养
例: I was pleased when the boss decided⁷ to adopt my idea.
（老板决定采用我的点子时我很高兴。）
例: The little boy's sad story affected⁸ us, so we decided to adopt him.
（那小男孩的可怜身世使我们深受感动，因此我们决定收养他。）

7. arrange　vt. & vi. 安排
arrange for sb to V　　安排某人……
例: Leon arranged for his wife to be picked up at the airport.
（里昂为他太太安排接机事宜。）

8. stab vt. 刺，戳
stab sb in the + 身体部位　　刺某人的某身体部位
例: The thug stabbed Andy in the belly⁹ and stole his money.
（歹徒用刀刺进安迪的腹部，然后抢走他的钱。）

9. express vt. 表达
express oneself　　表达自己的意见∕思想∕感情等
例: You can express yourself freely in this meeting.
（你可以在会议中自由发表意见。）

10. refer to...　　指的是……；言及……
例: The word "Aussie" refers to a person from Australia.
（Aussie 一字指的就是澳洲人。）

中文翻译

就像时下年轻人流行在网络上使用『火星文』（一种新形成的文字），新新人类的听障生也有自己的『火星文手语』。

台北市立启聪学校邱满英老师指出，即使是听障生，也会发明一些只在他们之间流通的共同符号，一则可以很快理解，再者代表一种同侪间的感情和默契。

以『尴尬』为例，最早期的比法是双手抓在嘴边，作出手足无措状，或双手手指作出咬牙状。直到10多年前电视节目《樱桃小丸子》火红，小丸子每遇到尴尬时，脸上就挂起『3条线』，可爱模样让听障生有样学样，解释『尴尬』时就用3根手指（食指、中指及无名指）比出『3条线』。

5年前，邱满英带着听障画家前往美国罗得岛参加『台湾日』活动，在飞机上发现一名听障生用拇指、食指和中指，像三叉夹子般往前比出『电视版乌鸦ㄚㄚㄚ』手势，以此代表『尴尬』，她才发现，『尴尬』的手语在听障新人类中又有了新解。这个手势指的是电视版《樱桃小丸子》中，在尴尬的时刻乌鸦会飞过屏幕的样子。

1 hip   

n.臀部，髋；屋脊

参考例句：

• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line.新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

2 impaired   

adj.受损的；出毛病的；有（身体或智力）缺陷的v.损害，削弱( impair的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Much reading has impaired his vision. 大量读书损害了他的视力。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• His hearing is somewhat impaired. 他的听觉已受到一定程度的损害。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

4 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

5 beak   

n.鸟嘴，茶壶嘴，钩形鼻

参考例句：

• The bird had a worm in its beak.鸟儿嘴里叼着一条虫。
• This bird employs its beak as a weapon.这种鸟用嘴作武器。

6 cane   

n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的

参考例句：

• This sugar cane is quite a sweet and juicy.这甘蔗既甜又多汁。
• English schoolmasters used to cane the boys as a punishment.英国小学老师过去常用教鞭打男学生作为惩罚。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

9 belly   

n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛

参考例句：

• The boss has a large belly.老板大腹便便。
• His eyes are bigger than his belly.他眼馋肚饱。