「大陸詞匯」vs「正宗港詞」

剛在高登看到關於春節一詞的爭論，Google一下才知有網民反對香港中文用詞強國化，有議員提出

「本土語言清洗論」（按：即香港原本常用詞語被取代，需撥亂反正），他們稱「適當」不能寫成「適切」、「推出政策」不能寫成「政策出台」、「最重要」不能寫成「重中之重」、「改善」不能寫成「優化」，「質素」不能說「素質」、「趨勢」不能說「勢頭」、「新年」不應說成「春節」、「功夫」不能說成「武術」

對我來說，從小已習慣農曆新年及春節互通，不過可能因為家人多和台灣及星馬人溝通，讀的又是右派報紙，所以我的經驗對判定春節是否外來語，實在作不得準。

至於功夫及武術，兩者實無抵觸。我認為功夫是武術的subset，專指傳統中國武術例如太極詠春少林等等，外國的武術如日本空手道或巴西柔術，甚至中國本身的摔跤及散打，稱之為功夫都不恰當。

除了以上兩項，我十分贊成必須堅持香港原有的寫法。

2014 Class of MLB Hall of Fame

I'm so happy that one of my favorite baseball player of all-time, Frank Thomas, was just voted into the Hall of Fame on the first year he was eligible. He totally deserved it. His bat could really hurt the opposing team, whether he swung it or not! He's called the "Big Hurt" for a good reason. He was part of the reason I became a fan of Chicago White Sox. And I was glad that he spent a season with the local Oakland A's late in his career too. You always learn something new everyday: I just learned why he was so motivated from the linked article. Too bad Craig Biggio was a few vote short of getting in. I'm looking forward to seeing him (and Bonds, Piazza, Kent) in some day.

對德國學前教育認識之謬誤

早一陣子看過網上廣傳一文指出德國法例明文禁止兒童六歲前接受學前教育，即香港大行其道的各種「不要輸在起跑線」課程在德國均屬非法。本人雖然不支持虎爸虎媽行徑，倒也無法想像德國會這樣，要知道德國出了不少傑出音樂家，很難相信他們全在六歲後才開始學音樂（翻查音樂家生平也否定這一點）

再看看維基百科介紹德國教育及相關法律條文，意思也不像是禁絕學前教育。果然，找到一篇深入分析德國教育的文章，指出原本網文之錯處。其實，該條文針對的是德國史上一種「貴族」先修班，並非泛指學前教育。

Sports highlights: college football and supercross

It was the first weekend of NFL playoff. I watched a bit of those 4 games without high hope (the only team I rooted for was the Packers and didn't expect them to advance) However, the bowl games were better for me. I enjoyed watching Oklahoma defeated Alabama (not that I was a fan) The 2 bowl games on Friday night were also highly entertaining (Ohio State lost to Clemson and Oklahoma State lost to Missouri)

And the biggest highlight was the 1st race of the 2014 Supercross season. The races were really competitive. Too bad both the rookie Eli Tomac and veteran James Stewart crashed out. The former champ crashed while challenging for the lead! Ironically, the 450 race was won by another rookie: Ken Roczen. I saw a few of his 250 motorcross (outdoor) races when he first came over from Germany after winning the MX2 World Championship but still adjusting to the environments in the States. I guess it doesn't take long to learn for those with great talent.

Finally, I came across an article about 10 years of Endurocross competition in the States. I'm surprised that it's doing relatively OK during the economic downturn because of its ability to promote the sponsors inside a stadium setting compared to the outdoor version. I hope I could watch it live in Vegas some day!