英國新版的5英鎊塑料鈔票因其環保耐用而廣受贊譽，然而，最近英國眼尖的群眾們發現鈔票上有一個重大的語法錯誤，這一錯誤還引發了英國學術界和文學界的唇舌之爭。

Britain is living in a “post-punctuation world”, academics have warned, with the Bank of England named as the latest major institution to ignore the correct use of the English language.
學術界近日告誡英國正處在“后標點時代”，指英格蘭銀行又是一個不顧英文正確使用規則的重要機構。

The Bank has been accused of “dumbing down” after choosing to remove punctuation from a quote by Sir Winston Churchill printed on its new ￡5 notes.
新5英鎊鈔票上印有一句丘吉爾的名言，英格蘭銀行去掉了其中的標點符號，這一做法被指責“膚淺”。

In its concept image for the new polymer ￡5 notes the Bank correctly included double quotation marks around the former prime minister’s famous saying: “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.”
新版5英鎊鈔票采用塑料材質。初期的設計稿上還嚴謹地以雙引號引用了丘吉爾的名言：“我沒有別的東西奉獻，唯有辛勞、淚水和血汗。”

However, it has emerged that it quietly dropped them from the final design, something it is understood has attracted complaints from keen-eyed members of the public.
然而，最終英格蘭銀行悄然去掉了雙引號，引起了眼尖群眾的不滿。

The National Literacy Trust has backed their cause advising that the quote is grammatically incorrect in its current state appearing without a full stop or quotation marks.
英國國家讀寫能力信托指責現在這句名言既沒有句號也沒有雙引號，是嚴重的語法錯誤。

It is likely to further fuel a national debate over whether proper use of grammar and punctuation is being devalued by society and follows a number of local councils sparking public outrage by banning apostrophes from road signs, after national guidelines warned punctuation could “confuse” emergency services.
這一事件或許會引起一輪全國范圍的新爭論，即如今的社會是否在輕視語法和標點符號的正確使用。之前，因國家規定，路標上有標點符號會誤導應急服務機構，一些地方政府換掉了使用了所有格符號（撇號）的路標，這種做法引起了公憤。

Some reversed the decision after members of the public resorted to using marker pens to fill in apostrophes missing from signs.
這種情況下，民眾用馬克筆把不見了的撇號補了回來，有些地方政府于是作罷。

Prof Alan Smithers, head of the centre for education and employment research at the University of Buckingham, said: "We are living in a post-punctuation world created by big institutions. Some people may dismiss omissions as pedantry, but they have lost sight of the fact that precision of expression reflects precision of thought."
伯明翰大學教育和就業研究中心的艾倫?史密瑟斯教授表示：“在大型機構的影響下，我們生活在一個‘后標點’時代。有些人或許會不以為然，認為這有賣弄學問之嫌，可是他們忽略了一個事實：表達反映了我們的思維，精確的表達代表了縝密的思維。”

The Bank had originally included double quotation marks in its concept image for the new polymer ￡5 notes but quietly dropped them from the final design.
英格蘭銀行在最初設計新的5英鎊鈔票之時使用了引號，最終又將其悄然去掉。

Critics suggested the note's designers had sacrificed "correct" punctuation for the sake of creating an aesthetically pleasing design. A spokesman at the Bank declined to comment.
批評者稱貨幣設計師為成就設計的美感而犧牲了“正確的”標點。英格蘭銀行發言人拒絕置評。

New polymer ￡5 notes were introduced in October last year and there are now around 400 million in circulation.
新版5英鎊去年十月發行，如今流通量已達四億。

Dr Tara Stubbs, an English lecturer at the University of Oxford, said such omissions were "condescending" and accused the Bank of trying to dumb down grammar.
牛津大學英文講師塔拉?斯塔布斯博士稱這種標點缺失“自降品格”，指責英格蘭銀行在試圖簡化英文語法。

She said: "It is a bit peculiar because it looks like it’s the Five Pounds that's speaking and not Winston Churchill. There should be quotation marks and full stop, definitely. It also doesn't have the Oxford comma after 'tears'. To take that stuff out is condescending and I find efforts to dumb down like this just irritating."
塔拉?斯塔布斯博士稱：“現在這樣看起來有些怪異，好像這句話是5英鎊說的，而不是丘吉爾的名言。雙引號和句號必不可缺，tears后也沒有牛津逗號。標點缺失自降了品格，我對這種試圖簡化語法的行為很火大。”

Prof Smithers also suggested the Bank's designers "had a poor grasp of grammar", adding that they were "more concerned about shapes and patterns".
史密瑟斯教授也指責銀行的設計人員“不懂語法”，說這些人“更關心形狀和圖案”。

But the Bank's scant use of punctuation divided academics and literary experts, with some choosing to defend its decision.
然而學術界和文學界在這一事件上產生了分歧，一些文學界人士選擇為銀行的決定辯護。

Lisa Appignanesi, chair of the Royal Society of Literature, suggested that the absence of quote marks and a full stop would not have bothered Winston Churchill, were he still alive.
英國皇家文學院主席麗莎?阿璧娜妮西稱丘吉爾若尚在，不會介意對其名言是否使用雙引號和句號。

She said: "The eminent Winston Churchill might have wondered why he was on a mere five pound note and not something a little weightier. I don’t know, orator that he was, whether he would have noticed the missing punctuation."
麗莎?阿璧娜妮稱：“偉大的丘吉爾或許只想知道為什么自己的頭像只是出現在區區5英鎊上，而不是出現在一些意義更重大的地方。我不知道，像他這樣激情澎湃的演說家，會不會注意到標點不見了。”

英文來源：每日電訊報
翻譯：郭郭（中國日報網愛新聞iNews譯者）
編審：丹妮