這幾天我跟學生分享了在雪山遊歷的驚險故事。身為一個土生土長的香港人，實在沒有很多滑雪的經驗，所以經常在雪山上跣倒。

　　學生問廣東話的「跣低、跣親」，英文應該怎麼說？究竟是fall down/off還是slide down/off？一般描述普通的落雪情景時，我們可以用fall，例如：

　　Although flurries of snow have fallen across some major parts of Switzerland, those expecting a thick blanketing of snow in Zürich could be disappointed.

　　但如果用"The snow is sliding down."這可能是雪崩（avalanches）的先兆。

　　在雪地上跣倒，一般可以用slip on 或slide down，視情況而定，舉例：

It is easy to slip on an icy road if we do not wear the right shoes.

It was such a joyful madness when I gloriously slided down the hill at Salève.

　　相類似的動詞還有"glide"，"skid"，"slither"。

　　Slide off 一般是指在傾斜的表面上滑動或滑出，例如：

The waiter has to make sure that the cup does not slide off the tray.

　　Fall off 一般是指從某些物件的頂部掉落或下降，或是一些東西變減少或降低，例如：

　　A button fell off my jacket during the presentation.

　　　　　　The quality of some smart phone have been falling off recently.

　　我們遇上這些容易混淆的詞彙時，最重要是練習並且翻查字典。I like to practise. With every new phrase or clause, we make mistakes and learn. It is important to get along and have another go.