梁特首夫人公開「強烈譴責」蔡子強先生「用涼薄、刻毒的說話作惡意批評」，指的是蔡先生早前撰文評論特首梁振英利用女兒「作虛假的政治公關show」；蔡先生對這樣嚴重的指控回應得體，首先提醒特首夫人「政治公關show」一說，是特首女兒「主動的說法」，接著指出公關show「在誘導媒體和公眾，那就已經不是純粹的家事」，而且他「只評論這部份」，在文章裏完全沒有談及特首女兒「個人、成長、與家人關係的種種」。這件事孰是孰非，只說一句「公道自在人心」便已足夠，蔡先生根本不需要任何人替他辯護。
倒是特首夫人發言時的一個手勢，值得談一談，可以幫助大家避免犯同樣的錯，免於貽笑大方。原來特首夫人本來不知道蔡先生乃香港中文大學的講師，提到這一事實時，她用了一個類似 air quotes 的手勢，舉起雙手，用左右食指做了一個引號的形狀，意思大概是「所謂大學講師」，意在貶低蔡先生。
Air
quotes 即是在空中做 quotation marks，諧音 scare quotes。 Scare quotes 是用引號來說明使用的字詞不是正常的意思，或是諷刺，或是反話，或是貶抑。雖然引號有單引號和雙引號之分，但無論是在美國還是英國（美國人較常用 air
quotes），air quotes 都是「雙引號」 --- 不會只用左右食指，而是同時用食指和中指。以下是已故諧星 Chris Farley 的惹笑示範：
差之毫釐，謬以千里，假如你在英美人士面前用 air
quotes，卻用了特首夫人的「獨特手法」，他們會覺得怪怪的，甚至覺得可笑（除非你是 Robert Downey Jr.）。
Dear Wong,
回覆刪除very interesting piece of information, i learn something new. thank you.
ms 689 is very sincere in her speech, though she should direct her anger toward the PR staff of 689 and even 689 himself.
dr Who
純玩笑，可能佢用緊括號
回覆刪除Maybe she was just pointing at herself gesturing "look at how scary and ugly I look, don't mess with me!" So, it really was a scare quote. Ha ha. --zpdrmn
回覆刪除看片比看照更像是模仿頭上有兩隻角寓意蔡子強是魔鬼！！！
回覆刪除千萬不要與多產學者及傳媒專欄作家爭論,就算他們屈你,你都無法。因為他明天、後天、大後天都可以攻擊你。
回覆刪除你看陶傑今天以高舉彭定康女兒去攻擊梁振英及其家人,大講英國優秀優良論
肯定蔡子強很快又以此事攻擊梁振英及其家人
不幸的我們這些沒有的公共平台的小市民又可如何呢?
Please note that the present case is a sooty pot calling a clean and shiny kettle black.
刪除梁小姐對劉進圖被斬,就不是冷言冷語,又唔見梁太話個女冷血?
回覆刪除經常叫人 "包容" 的家庭，自己唔識 "包容"他人，亦從不由其他醜聞，學懂 "危機處理"。還自作聰明... 真係有好學養的家庭呀 !
回覆刪除蔡講師評論特首梁振英利用女兒「作虛假的政治公關show」，雖然是事實，但不夠厚道。
回覆刪除特首女兒自殘，作為家長非常擔心，作為公眾人物又要交代。
雖然是公關show，其實不想大眾給女兒加添壓力，其可理解。
如特首所說，給他家人一些空間。
（雖然我認為食得咸魚抵得渴，但有可能搞出人命。）
I was manipulated to go to Hyde Park and play happy family as a lame PR stunt by my father ~~~ quote and unquote.
刪除玩吓 psychoanalysis 吖：
L 小姐經 FB［劉進圖］之戰一役後點蠢都明政治之 full of sound and fury 啦係嘛？She gotta know she's on everybody's radar (in the crosshairs actually)，so why did what she did？又 post 相又接受訪問仲句句利刄字字穿心。。。為了報復父母，so she lashes out the only way she knows how. 報復什麼？Some kind of rejection. 又恨又愛心結如此深，耍解，其實也不難。。。
自殺前的求救信號都成為炒作新聞。尤如批評跳樓死者穿錯低褲。
刪除如果連一個陌生人都認為這是自［自殺前求救信號]，那梁太（1）不陪伴身邊協助心理輔導（2）高調再炒熱話題，犧牲女兒保丈夫政治形象，那任何後果，梁太難辭其咎。任何[為女好]正當危機處理都會是保持緘默，公眾熱度，只有三分，一隻手掌在拍，有多響？現今兩手掌拍到。。。唉。
刪除梁小姐已成年，要全世界呵護你一成年公主？ She chose to air her laundry in public, she did not expect consequences? Gimme a break!
老實講，一個人想自殺不會打橫，更很少會特地影低post上Facebook咁無聊。
刪除Hi Horai,
刪除Thank you for your reply at another blog entry. As you said, "網遇隨緣定", but it is not propaganda if you put a link of your own blog in your Blogspot profile. Anyway, hope you'll change your mind. :)
The term _air quotes_ has been recorded in print since the late eightieth,
回覆刪除but the gesture itself, used as an accompaniment to speech, is likely to be
much older. The gesture is formed by holding the fingers up in the air,
notionally around the word or phrase being simultaneously expressed. The
fingers are curled in the shape of quotation marks: use of middle finger
with the forefinger perhaps represents double quotation marks, while use of
the forefinger alone may represent single quotation marks.
From _The Oxford Dictionary of New Words_ (1998)
Thank you for the information. Please notice the words "perhaps" and "may" in the explanation. This is a theoretical explanation; in reality people used air "double quotation marks" only.
刪除I have just done a google search for the dictionary entry you quoted and found the following discussion:
http://www.englishforums.com/English/FingerQuoting/jvrqn/post.htm
Someone in the discussion asked: "I have never seen anyone signal the single quotes. Has anyone?" I would ask the same question.
"I have never seen anyone signal the single quotes. Has anyone?"
刪除I haven't neither.
Typo: "in reality people used" should be "in reality people use".
刪除http://stupidcupidblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/air-quote-rdj.gif
刪除Welcome to reality.
No one does these "quote signaling" in formal speeches, but by saying "I quote", "unquote", etc.
刪除Don't you find your picture of single quote signaling unnatural?
Don't you know that one uses double quotes first, then if needed, single quotes within the double quotes, as if in writing, IF you really want to nest these kind of quotes and doing stupid quote signaling?
So... Did Mrs 689 signal a pair of double quotes prior to her single quotes?
In British and Australian English, one typically uses single quotation marks. If writing in North America, double quotation marks are typically used.
刪除If you use single quotations marks, then you should use double quotation marks for a quote within a quote. If you use double quotation marks, then you should use single quotation marks for a quote within a quote.
//http://stupidcupidblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/air-quote-rdj.gif
刪除Welcome to reality.//
- Interesting, but I am not sure this can be referred to as reality. Keep in mind that Robert Downey, Jr. plays Sherlock Holmes as a neurotic person with a lot of idiosyncrasies.
If you prefer British English, do you think that a well-educated British would do any "air quoting"? Ha !
刪除Please read :
刪除https://ca.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100101104545AA7LJGO
on "How do the British do air quotes?"
This too: "Air quotes are made by raising both hands to eye level and flexing the index and middle fingers of both hands while speaking. Their meaning is similar to that of scare quotes in writing." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand_gestures)
刪除"所謂"之餘再air quote會唔會redundant?
回覆刪除原來她真的有用「所謂」，那麼，air quotes 便是多餘的。
刪除Oliver Twist asked for more food. He was reminded that he was an orphan, that an orphan has no father or mother.
回覆刪除That is cruel and mean because it is so unnecessary. I disdain people who earn money over other's pain/suffer.
This is Robert Downey in a talk show, not in a movie:
回覆刪除http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l5730myC6O1qablpd.gif
Ok, I would accept this as a counterexample, but this does not show that my claim about air quotes is false. People would consider his way of doing air quotes strange. Of course, he is Robert Downey Jr. and looks cool no matter how he does it.
刪除Check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkVBCIH6vZU
刪除Here are two of the comments:
"Only RDJ can actually use one-finger air quotes and get away with it hahaha"
"omg his air quotes are just one fingers!! so adorbs"
Double air quotes are certainly more common. But I have seen people who use single air quotes, some even swear by it.
刪除eg. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Single-Quotes-Because-thats-the-way-british-people-do-it/145350775492719
Sirius
英國居民
Sirius,
刪除Thank you. I have British friends too and they agree with me that even the British do double air quotes rather than single air quotes.
I think the facebook page you referred to shows precisely that most British people use single air quotes, for otherwise such advocacy would not make sense. And please notice that the page was set up in 2010 and so far there are only 91 likes.
Of course, you can again insist that the woman in the video is not real:
回覆刪除http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Xih0b8vWk0
Oh please, she's not doing air quotes; she's using hand gestures to explain the difference between double quotation marks and single quotation marks.
刪除「海德公園合照」真係「此地無銀三百兩」，自作自受。
回覆刪除