名人教英文：源自莎剧的用语
引经据典，并非中国人的专利。在英语世界，用典亦是常见的写作手法。除了古希腊、罗马文学，莎士比亚的著作也是西方典故的宝藏。
早前，我在英文报章专栏讨论香港政治文化的转变，谈到殖民地年代的政治状况时，有这样的一句：actors in the elite-led, bureaucratic polity observed degree, priority and place.
degree, priority and place源自莎士比亚的troilus and cressida。此剧以特洛伊战争为背景。在第一幕第三场，ulysses（即荷马史诗中的odysseus）以宇宙星辰循轨迹而行作比喻，说明纪律和秩序对希腊联军的重要性：
"the heavens themselves, the planets and this centre
observe degree, priority and place,
insisture, course, proportion, season, form,
office and custom, in all line of order"
简单而言，observe degree, priority and place的意思就是「循规蹈矩、各守本分」。
此外，许多出自莎剧的语句已融入日常英语当中，以下有几个例子：
come full circle（源自king lear）的意思是返回原初状态。例如：mr chan's life has come full circle after he moved back to his hometown.
如果要承认一个你不喜欢的人确实有一些优点，可以说give the devil his due（源自henry iv）。例如：jones is difficult to work with sometimes, but to give the devil his due, he is really hard-working.
good riddance（源自troilus and cressida）用来表示因为能够摆脱一些不好的事情或因为看见不受欢迎的人离去而高兴。例如：xxx has resigned as the ceo of abc company after making a series of poor decision. good riddance to him!
salad days（源自antony and cleopatra）即年少无知的日子。原句是：my salad days, when i was green in judgement, cold in blood 。现在也用以指最美好的日子，例如：with the increasing popularity of mobile devices, the salad days for the personal computer industry are over.
英语单词词汇学习：
actor……参与者
bureaucratic polity……官僚政体
due……应得的东西
elite……精英