Preaching to the Choir

多此一舉

英文裡有Practice what you preach的說法,是指不要光說不做之意,等於說要身體力行。Preach是傳教,牧師即是preacher。如果一位牧師為了傳道,說得天花亂墜,而行為與神的意旨背道而馳,那就不是Practice what you preach了。假如一個人總是向人宣揚少吃多動的好處(可以減肥),可是自己卻是好吃懶做,此時你即可略帶諷刺的對他說:Practice what you preach.

另有一和preach有關的成語是preaching to the choir,這是說對唱詩班傳教。想想看,唱詩班 (choir)的團員都已是虔誠的教徒,那向他們傳教有何意義可言?所以preaching to the choir轉化為「毫無必要」或「多此一舉」之意,這個成語也隱含有「江邊賣水」(現代社會這一說法已站不住腳)或「聖人門前賣字」之意。現在讓我們看兩個preaching to the choir的例句:

For the general to give veteran military reporters pointers about how to cover stories on the battlefield is like preaching to the choir.(由將軍出面告訴老練的軍事記者們採訪戰場新聞的訣竅,實在是多此一舉。)I am in full agreement with you when it comes to the "1992 consensus"; you are really preaching to the choir.(在「九二共識」上,我和你看法一致,對我解說毫無必要。)

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