20160322-Michael Chugani 褚簡寧：又中又英——"the lunatics have taken over the asylum"
Michael Chugani 褚簡寧：又中又英——"the lunatics have taken over the asylum"
0:04 23/3/2016
Readers often send me emails to suggest that I explain words and expressions they have seen but don’t fully understand. I welcome suggestions and will try my best to explain words and expressions that are interesting. I received an email from a reader who asked me to explain the meaning of an expression he read in a book. The book used the expression “the lunatic had got hold of the asylum”. This is slightly different from the original expression but has the same meaning. The original expression "the lunatics have taken over the asylum" was said by Richard A. Rowland in 1919. He was a movie producer and head of Metro Pictures.
To explain the meaning of the expression, I must first explain the meaning of the words “lunatic” and “asylum”. A “lunatic” is a mentally ill person but the word is now politically incorrect. Most people now say “mentally ill” instead of lunatic but the word is still used as a slang word to mean a fool or an idiot. The word “asylum” is used nowadays to mean the protection a country gives to political refugees. The people who seek such protection are called asylum-seekers. Many asylum-seekers have come to Hong Kong recently for political asylum(protection). An asylum also means a hospital for mentally ill people but this word is now also politically incorrect. A hospital for mentally ill people used to be called a lunatic asylum but it is now politically incorrect to use this term.
The expression "the lunatics have taken over the asylum" means a situation in which incapable people are put in charge of responsibilities they are unqualified to handle. In simple terms it means idiots or fools have been put in charge of doing important or complicated things. Richard A. Rowland first used this expression in 1919 when famous movie stars Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, and Mary Pickford opened the movie company United Artists to protect their work and control their careers. Some Hong Kong people feel the Legislative Council no longer works well because the lunatics have taken over the asylum.
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讀者不時傳電郵給我，提議我去解釋一些他們遇見但不完全明白的字詞和習語。我歡迎這些提議，並會盡力解釋其中一些有趣的字詞和習語。我收到一個讀者電郵，希望我可以解釋一個他在書裏讀到的習語。那本書用到一個習語“the lunatic had got hold of the asylum”，它跟原本的習語有點分別，但意思是一樣的。原本的習語"the lunatics have taken over the asylum"最先見於一九一九年，出自李察．A．羅蘭德之口，他是位電影監製，以及米特羅電影公司的總管。
要解釋這個習語的意思，我得首先解釋lunatic和asylum這兩個字。Lunatic是指瘋子，但這個字現在這樣說已屬政治不正確。大部份人現在會說“mentally ill”（精神病患）而非lunatic；但它現在仍作俚語用，指笨蛋或白癡。Asylum在今天則是指一個國家所提供的政治庇護，而尋求這種庇護的人則被稱為asylum-seekers。最近，許多尋求政治庇護的人（asylum-seekers）都到香港來尋求政治庇護（political asylum）。Asylum也指精神病院，但這字現在這樣說也屬政治不正確。從前精神病院被叫作lunatic asylum，現在亦已不合時宜。
習語"the lunatics have taken over the asylum"意思就是由無能者肩負起那些他們不能勝任的職責。簡單而言，就是由蠢材或笨蛋去負責做一些重要或複雜的工作。李察．A．羅蘭德於一九一九年先用上這個習語，當時著名電影明星差利卓別靈、道格拉斯．范朋克和瑪麗．碧克馥開了一間電影公司名「聯美」，以保障他們的工作、掌控自己的事業。有些香港人也感到立法會未能好好運作，因為精神病院已被瘋子接管了（the lunatics have taken over the asylum）。
中譯:七刻
Michael Chugani 褚簡寧
0:04 23/3/2016
Readers often send me emails to suggest that I explain words and expressions they have seen but don’t fully understand. I welcome suggestions and will try my best to explain words and expressions that are interesting. I received an email from a reader who asked me to explain the meaning of an expression he read in a book. The book used the expression “the lunatic had got hold of the asylum”. This is slightly different from the original expression but has the same meaning. The original expression "the lunatics have taken over the asylum" was said by Richard A. Rowland in 1919. He was a movie producer and head of Metro Pictures.
To explain the meaning of the expression, I must first explain the meaning of the words “lunatic” and “asylum”. A “lunatic” is a mentally ill person but the word is now politically incorrect. Most people now say “mentally ill” instead of lunatic but the word is still used as a slang word to mean a fool or an idiot. The word “asylum” is used nowadays to mean the protection a country gives to political refugees. The people who seek such protection are called asylum-seekers. Many asylum-seekers have come to Hong Kong recently for political asylum(protection). An asylum also means a hospital for mentally ill people but this word is now also politically incorrect. A hospital for mentally ill people used to be called a lunatic asylum but it is now politically incorrect to use this term.
The expression "the lunatics have taken over the asylum" means a situation in which incapable people are put in charge of responsibilities they are unqualified to handle. In simple terms it means idiots or fools have been put in charge of doing important or complicated things. Richard A. Rowland first used this expression in 1919 when famous movie stars Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, and Mary Pickford opened the movie company United Artists to protect their work and control their careers. Some Hong Kong people feel the Legislative Council no longer works well because the lunatics have taken over the asylum.
＊＊＊
讀者不時傳電郵給我，提議我去解釋一些他們遇見但不完全明白的字詞和習語。我歡迎這些提議，並會盡力解釋其中一些有趣的字詞和習語。我收到一個讀者電郵，希望我可以解釋一個他在書裏讀到的習語。那本書用到一個習語“the lunatic had got hold of the asylum”，它跟原本的習語有點分別，但意思是一樣的。原本的習語"the lunatics have taken over the asylum"最先見於一九一九年，出自李察．A．羅蘭德之口，他是位電影監製，以及米特羅電影公司的總管。
要解釋這個習語的意思，我得首先解釋lunatic和asylum這兩個字。Lunatic是指瘋子，但這個字現在這樣說已屬政治不正確。大部份人現在會說“mentally ill”（精神病患）而非lunatic；但它現在仍作俚語用，指笨蛋或白癡。Asylum在今天則是指一個國家所提供的政治庇護，而尋求這種庇護的人則被稱為asylum-seekers。最近，許多尋求政治庇護的人（asylum-seekers）都到香港來尋求政治庇護（political asylum）。Asylum也指精神病院，但這字現在這樣說也屬政治不正確。從前精神病院被叫作lunatic asylum，現在亦已不合時宜。
習語"the lunatics have taken over the asylum"意思就是由無能者肩負起那些他們不能勝任的職責。簡單而言，就是由蠢材或笨蛋去負責做一些重要或複雜的工作。李察．A．羅蘭德於一九一九年先用上這個習語，當時著名電影明星差利卓別靈、道格拉斯．范朋克和瑪麗．碧克馥開了一間電影公司名「聯美」，以保障他們的工作、掌控自己的事業。有些香港人也感到立法會未能好好運作，因為精神病院已被瘋子接管了（the lunatics have taken over the asylum）。
中譯:七刻
Michael Chugani 褚簡寧
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