西方英語世界，3字思維很普遍：時間： past, present ,future。日子：morning, afternoon, night。文章寫作黃金律：beginning , middle, end。 三一律：unity of time, place and plot, 要求情節、時間和地點一致的劇本寫作秘笈。
西方的科學、文學和故事中3字的流行說法， 不勝枚舉 ：3 is a favourite number among storytellers as well as in both science and arts。
THREE OF A KIND : three little pigs/three blind mice/the three musketeers/three witches in Macbeth/three wise men/three men in a boat/three coins in a fountain /the three amigos /the three tenors-Luciano Pavarotti, Placid Domingo, Jose Carreras。
3字的色彩、組合與配搭
無論西方宗教經典或古代神話，3字的色彩和組合，比比皆是：3 occurs repeatedly in scriptures and mythology : 基督教有聖父聖子聖神三位一體的說法 Christianity has the holy trinity of the father, the son and the holy spirit；伊斯蘭有三大聖地 Islam has three holy cities, Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem；中國道教有天地人 Heaven, earth and man in Chinese Taoism。
英文3字配搭出現倒不少：三件一套的西裝 three-piece suit；大型熱鬧的演出 three ring circus；三連霸獲勝 three-peat；三星上將 three-star general；三星級酒店 three-star hotel。
成語中的 three strikes against someone or something 表示不利成功的3個因素 ;
事不過三 three strikes and you are out : 某國家或組織的政策或法令，無論情節輕重，只要有人觸犯三次，就會受到嚴厲懲罰 three chances and you are finished. 例句：One more arrest for speeding and you lose your license. You know, three strikes and you’re out。
有趣的英文組合三胞胎 triplets : threesomes that often hang around together, like our three primary colours—red, blue and yellow 三原色。3個字連成一體的 trio , 信手拈來有 : ready, willing and able; eat, drink and merry; food, shelter and clothing; tall, dark and handsome; hop, skip and jump; lock, stock and barrel 全部所有; hook, line and sinker 毫無保留。
說三道四，英漢有異；四平八隱，中外皆然. The number of legs on a table, chair, pig or cow, four stands for symmetry and stability。
說三道四 英漢有異
FOUR OF A KIND : 4人一組foursome, 四柱大床four-poster bed, 交響樂的四大樂章four movements in a classical symphony, 四季 four seasons, 四瓣心房four chambers of the heart。
人類的四大災害是戰爭、飢荒、瘟疫和死亡 the four horsemen-of the apocalypse are war, famine, pestilence and death。
著名的四人組合 FAMOUS FOURS :
耶穌四大門徒 the four apostles-Matthew, Mark, Luke and John；流行樂壇披頭四 the four Beatles-John, Paul, George and Ringo ；文化大革命四人幫 the Gang of Four in the Chinese Cultural Revolution。
少於4分鐘完成的賽跑紀錄 In the sport of athletics, the four-minute mile is the act of completing the mile run in less than four minutes。
加、减、乘、除是數學的4個計算方法 the four mathematical rules-addition, subtraction, multiplication, division。
The Fourth Estate
國家權力的第4等級，指新聞界及其影響力, the press or journalism is the fourth estate, 其他三級是政治、司法和行政權, the other three are politics, the judiciary and the administration. 拿破崙曾經說過：三份報紙發出的反對威力，比一千把刺刀更令人驚懼：“Four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets.”
幾個4字的習用語：the four corners of the world 世界上所有不同的地方；
a four-letter word 原先指4個字母組成的粗俗下流單字，但今天在口語用法中不再局限於這個數字，a short word that is extremely rude or obscene；例句 : The basket ball player was suspended after using a variety of four-letter words in front of the umpire;
on all fours 手腳匍匐趴行 with both hands and both knees on the ground; 例句 : I dropped a contact lens and spent an hour on all fours looking for it;
make up a four 拼凑成4人打牌 join three others to play cards;
between you and me and these four walls 叮囑別人保守秘密 , this idiom signals that you are about to tell someone a secret。
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逢星期二、五刊登
