Shrink

財政司司長預計未來五年盈餘將大幅縮水（shrink），派糖措施自然不如去年般手鬆。盈餘縮水是否與「明日大嶼」有關？政府又是否有足夠的財力實現「明日大嶼」﹖

動詞shrink原意指「縮小、變小」，例如，Your jeans will shrink if you wash them with hot water.（如果你用熱水洗牛仔褲，它會縮水。）Shrink一字亦可以指數量、數目減少。例句︰Financial Secretary warned that the city's surplus will shrink significantly in the coming five years.（財政司司長警告未來五年，香港的盈餘將大幅萎縮。）

The boss expected that the company's profits would shrink from two million to around a million next year.（老闆預計明年公司的利潤將從200萬減少到100萬左右。）

常用句式shrink from something解「迴避、逃避、躲避某事」，用於指逃避令人不快或困難的事情。例句︰How can the government shrink from its duty to protect its citizens abroad？（政府如何逃避其保護海外公民的義務？）He never shrank from any responsibility which his sense of justice impelled him to take.（只要是正義感迫使他承擔的責任，他就從不躲避。）

（本欄逢周一、三、五刊登）