Diarmuid: And I’m Diarmuid.  

The Roman language had a profound effect on English

 
Feifei:  Let’s hear this week’s question which comes from Zhang Tong who is a Chinese person living in France.
 
Question
 
Could you please explain the meaning of "pros and cons" and how to use it? Is this an informal expression? I can not find it in dictionaries.  
 
Feifei:  原来 Zhang Tong想知道 pros and cons 这个短语的意思。我们能帮帮她吗 Diarmuid？
 
Diarmuid:  Of course. This is a very useful phrase which simply means the reasons in favour of and against a thing or course of action.
 
Feifei:  I see. Pros and cons 这个短语通常用来表示一件事情或一种行为带来的正面和负面影响。So is it similar in meaning to advantages and disadvantages? 优势和劣势。
 
Diarmuid:   Yes, the phrase pros and cons is very similar in meaning to advantages and disadvantages.  
 
Feifei:  So the pros are the advantages or arguments for something.
 
Diarmuid:  And the cons are the disadvantages or arguments against something.
 
Feifei:  所以 pros and cons正面和反面。那句个例子，can you show us how this works in practice?
 
Diarmuid:  No problem. Let’s consider a city like London.
 
Feifei: Ok.
 
Diarmuid:  So there a lots of ways to travel around London, such as using public transport or having a private car.
 
Feifei:  可能很多人都觉得自己开车是最方便的了。 
 
Diarmuid:  Maybe so… or maybe not. There are good reasons for having a car and also good reasons for not having a car. 
 
Feifei:  So what are the pros and cons of having a car in London?
 
Diarmuid:  I would say the pros are: you can go where you want, when you want…
 
Feifei:  You don’t have to wait for trains and buses…
 
Diarmuid:  You can carry lots of things, like shopping, with you.
 
Feifei:  Ok, so what about the cons 负面影响，劣势 of having a car in London?
 
Diarmuid:  I would say the main con is that it is more expensive to have a car than to use public transport…
 
Feifei:  And it can be very hard to find somewhere to park.
 
Diarmuid:  And in central London you have to pay the congestion charge.
 
Feifei: Congestion charge 车辆进城费。
 
Diarmuid:  So you can see there are many pros and cons to having a car.
 
Feifei:  How true. Let’s have some examples:
 
Examples
 
A: I’m thinking of getting a pet dog.
B: Well, consider the pros and cons first. Yes, a dog is good company, but it’s a lot of responsibility too.
 
(Chinese voices)
A: What are the pros and cons of studying at a British University?
B: It would be very good for your level of English but you might feel homesick for China.
 
Diarmuid:  Now there’s an interesting thing that you should know about the phrase pros and cons, Feifei.
 
Feifei: What’s that Diarmuid?
 
Diarmuid:  Pros and cons is a phrase from another language. It’s a language that has had an enormous impact on the English language. It’s name is Latin.
 
Feifei:  Ah, Latin. In Chinese that’s called 拉丁语。拉丁语这个已经灭亡的语言是古罗马时期人们使用的一种语言。I didn’t think anybody spoke that language any more.
 
Diarmuid:  True, it is officially a dead language in that it is not the native tongue of anyone any more. However, the Latin language has had a huge influence on English and lots of other languages.
 
Feifei:  So the phrase pros and cons is…    
 
Diarmuid:  …actually a Latin phrase. Exactly.
 
Feifei:  So what is the 字面意思literal meaning of pros and cons?
 
Diarmuid:  Very simply pro means for, and con, is short for contra, which means against.
 
Feifei:  原来 pros and cons 是一个拉丁语短语意思就是赞同还是反对
 
Diarmuid:  Yes, pros and cons – for and against.
 
Feifei:  But why is there a Latin phrase in modern English?
 
Diarmuid:  Well, the Romans occupied Britain for more than 400 years and their Empire spread over much of Western Europe.
 
Feifei:  罗马帝国也成为日耳曼帝国曾统治英国 400多年，而在其鼎盛时期几乎占据了整个欧洲。
 
Diarmuid:  Also for centuries, even after the Roman Empire collapsed, Latin was used as the language for scholars and many records were written in Latin.
 
Feifei:  在罗马帝国衰亡后的几百年间众多欧洲的学者仍然在使用拉丁语。
 
Diarmuid:  And until recently schoolchildren in the UK had to learn Latin at school.
 
Feifei:  So Latin has played a major part in the English language for a long, long time.
 
Diarmuid:  Exactly. That’s why many English words are based on Latin, but as well as that we also use Latin phrases in English today.
 
Feifei:  Really? Like what?
 
Diarmuid:  Do you know the word etcetera?
 
Feifei:  Yes, of course. Etcetera 等等。
 
Diarmuid:  That is a Latin phrase that means ‘and the rest’ or and so on.
 
Feifei:  Wow. I didn’t know that. Are there many more examples?
 
Diarmuid:  Yes, there are lots. Have you ever heard the phrase vice versa?
 
Feifei: Vice versa 反之亦然，就是反过来情况也一样。
 
Diarmuid:  That’s a Latin phrase meaning turn position or, as we understand it in English, the other way round.
 
Feifei:  This is great. I never knew I could speak Latin. Let’s do another one.
 
Diarmuid: Ok. What about status quo?
 
Feifei: Status quo 现状。
 
Diarmuid:  Yes, it’s another Latin phrase meaning existing state of affairs.
 
Feifei:  原来英语中有很多源于拉丁语的词汇和短语。
 
Diarmuid:  And not just Latin words. English takes many words from lots of languages. Let’s do a few more Latin/English words to finish.
 
Feifei: Why not?
 
Diarmuid:  Try this: post-mortem. In Latin it means after death.
 
Feifei: Post-mortem 验尸。 Another word for that is autopsy.
 
Diarmuid: Versus.
 
Feifei:  对抗，we hear that a lot in sport, don’t we?
 
Diarmuid:  That’s right. It’s a Latin word that means against. And here’s one we find a lot in answering emails: Re.
 
Feifei: Re. 回复。原意是关于。
 
Diarmuid:  Very good. Well, it’s nearly time to go now. Let’s just remind the listeners how to ask their own questions.
 
Feifei:  Send your emails to questions.chinaelt@bbc.co.uk. 或者可以通过网站给我们留言，网址是 www.bbcukchina.com. 
 
Diarmuid:  All that remains is to say goodbye everybody and thanks for listening.
 
Feifei:  See you next time.    

What did the ancient Romans ever do for students of English?

You may not know it, but the Romans occupied Britain for hundreds of years, and their language has left an important legacy on the English language.

Join Feifei and Diarmuid as they explain the meaning of the phrase pros and cons and explain some other commonly used Latin expressions in English.

So let’s find out if you know your status quo from your quid pro quo.

If you have a question about English, email our team at questions.chinaelt@bbc.co.uk. We may answer it on this programme.

古罗马人

Glossary

ancient Romans

occupied 占领了

legacy 遗产

Latin 拉丁文

status quo 现状

quid pro quo 公平交易