sacred and profane神聖與褻瀆

用 sacred 與 profane 一組對立詞，把私情升格成信仰，既深情又專斷。

X is sacred, the others were profane.

強調某段關係獨一無二時用，當眾說會顯得誇張，私下再說。

Our love is sacred; everything else was a mistake. ／ This is holy, the rest was nothing.

literary

sacred 重讀，profane 降調，兩個詞形成對峙。

This promise is sacred; the others were just talk. 這個承諾是神聖的，別的都只是嘴上說說。

把「我信不信神」翻過來問，一句話就把信仰的主動權交了出去。

The question is, does X ...?

把話題從表面翻到更深處時用，適合嚴肅對談，玩笑場合別說。

The real question is, does anyone believe in me? ／ It is not about my faith; it is about being trusted.

中性

question 重讀，逗號後停頓，句尾升調。

The question is, does anyone believe in me at all? 問題在於，到底有沒有人相信我。

把撇清的套話直接引出來反駁，一句就戳穿所有事後裝無辜的人。

That's what they all say, "..."

拆穿某人常用藉口時用，熟人之間可以，正式場合別拿來頂人。

That's the excuse they always give. ／ Everyone says that afterward.

口語

all 重讀，引語壓低聲音，句尾收乾淨。

That's what they all say, "I forgot the deadline." 他們都說這套：「我忘了截止時間。」

把身體的反應比成一根麵條，俗得可愛，情話裡帶一點自嘲的幽默。

You just ... and I go as limp as a noodle.

跟親密的人開玩笑、撒嬌時能用；公開場合或對不熟的人說，會讓人尷尬。

One touch and I turn to jelly. ／ You only have to look at me and I melt.

口語

just touch me 連讀，重音落在 limp，noodle 拖長收尾。

One step outside and I go as limp as a noodle in this heat. 這種天氣我一齣門就軟得像根麵條。

拿一個荒誕的身份假設來表忠心，誇張到好笑，卻把「我只要你的信仰」推到檯面。

I wouldn't care if ... turned out to be ...

想強調自己不在意對方出身或過去時能用；語氣偏戲劇化，寫正式文書時別用。

It wouldn't matter to me if that turned out to be true. ／ I couldn't care less who your family was.

中性

wouldn't care 連讀，重音在 Turk，if 從句加快帶過。

I wouldn't care if the whole plan turned out to be your idea. 就算整個計劃其實是你的主意，我也不在乎。