余功 虎年(Year of the Tiger)快要來臨了。各位會怎樣用英文解釋tiger一字呢?我們看一看牛津和劍橋兩本權威詞典如何說吧。《牛津高階詞典》這樣解說tiger一字:"A large wild animal of the cat family, that has yellowish fur with black lines(=stripes)and lives in parts of Asia."(一種大型野生貓科動物,有黃色毛皮和黑色線條(=條紋),在亞洲某些地區棲居)。《劍橋高階詞典》的解說幾乎一模一樣:"A large wild animal of the cat family with yellowish orange fur with black lines which lives in parts of Asia.(一種大型野生貓科動物,有橙黃色毛皮和黑色線條,在亞洲某些地區棲居)。緊記老虎並非在非洲(Africa)野外生活呢。