这些天网上流传着一份 Anglo-EU Translation Guide 用幽默的口吻,指点如何听英国人说话的“弦外之音”。其中有不少嘲笑英国人说话客气绕弯,但其实也是嘲笑欧洲人(想像对象是法国人)说话粗鲁傲慢。后来我在这个博客上看到分析这份对照表的由来,证实了我的猜测,英国人也写过文章教人理解法国人说话,比如“I will be clear”在英国人看来就是说“I will be rude”。
说话“低调”误事的一个有名的例子发生在朝鲜战争中,雪马里战斗中(英国把这一仗称为Battle of the Imjin River),受到志愿军猛烈进攻的英军第29步兵旅旅长 Tom Brodie 向上司汇报说“情况有点糟”(a bit sticky),在英军系统中,这就是“情况危急”了,但是他的上司美军第1军理解成了“情况还行”,结果既没有对29旅实行增援,也没有下令撤退。Tom Brodie 不愿意在美军面前示弱,只能下令死守,造成格罗斯特团1营被围歼。
另一个“低调”的例子是 editor 这个词的用法。Editor 是指“编辑”,这没有太大歧义,但是在英国报刊中,“主编”也是 editor,而很少有人用 editor in chief 或 chief editor。所以说用 editor 就要很小心了。《卫报》出的《卫报写作规范第三版》(Guardian Style: Third Edition)作者 Amelia Hodsdon这么教我们:
如果你是主编,editor 前要加定冠词 the,比如 Alan Rusbridger is the editor of the Guardian,因为主编只有一个;
如果你只是一个小小的编辑,editor 前要加不定冠词 an,比如 Amelia Hodsdon is an editor of the Guardian,因为你只是许多编辑中的一个。
英国工会领袖、工党活动家、记者 Jimmy Reid 最近去世,他留下的名言中有以下这段,形容现代资本主义社会把人变成奔命的老鼠:
A rat race is for rats. We’re not rats. We’re human beings. Reject the insidious pressures in society that would blunt your critical faculties to all that is happening around you, that would caution silence in the face of injustice lest you jeopardise your chances of promotion and self-advancement.
This is how it starts, and, before you know where you are, you’re a fully paid-up member of the rat pack. The price is too high.
Have you noticed how the coverage of urban foxes – including the ones who are thought to have horribly wounded two little girls in London – resembles what’s so often written about immigrants? They come over here, into our cities, they steal our food, they swagger down the street like hoodies, they know no fear, they ignore our way of life and the authorities seem powerless and unwilling to stop them. Do you think they might be a sort of stand-in?
Now that David Miliband is standing for Labour leader, and we learn that his brother Ed might stand against him, it’s time to reprise the great line from Linda McDougall, the wife of Austin Mitchell MP, and a family friend of Ralph Miliband. “I’m afraid I can’t take either of the Miliband brothers seriously. I changed both their nappies.”
大概正因为 Flotilla 这一称呼的微妙,善于公关的以色列官方不太愿意用这个词,外交部副部长 Danny Ayalon 的说法是“The armada of hate and violence”。Armada 特指的是海军舰队,以色列人显然是故意用这个词来暗示对方是有武装和带着敌意的,试图否定起“和平人道”的形象。