比自夸更可恶的他夸

 　　Last week Harris Wittels, the man who coined the phrase “humblebrag”, died at the unconscionable age of 30. In his memory I’ve been sifting² through some of the finest examples of this specious³ genre⁴ — the boast that pretends not to be one — and have come up with two favourites.

　　近日，“谦虚的自夸”(humblebrag)一词的创造者哈里斯?维特尔斯(Harris Wittels)英年早逝，年仅30岁。为了纪念他，我把一些最符合这种表面上看不出来的自夸方式——假装不是自夸的自夸——的例子筛选了一番，并挑选出两个我最喜欢的例子。

　　My second best is Stephen Fry’s tweet from 2013: “Oh dear. Don’t know what to do at the airport. Huge crowd, but I’ll miss my plane if I stop and do photos?.?.?.?oh dear don’t want to disappoint.”

　　我挑选出的次佳例子是斯蒂芬?弗莱(Stephen Fry)2013年发的一条推文：“噢天哪。我现在在在机场不知道该怎么办。粉丝太多了，但如果我停下来和他们合影的话，我会错过航班的……噢天啊，真不想让他们失望。”

　　But my runaway⁵ first choice is from Oprah Winfrey. “OMG! Just had a SURPRISE date with Jackie Jackson. My teen idol⁷ heartthrob. Tried not to talk too much or eat too much. Succeeded at neither!”

　　但我认为最佳例子毫无疑问来自奥普拉?温弗里(Oprah Winfrey)。“噢我的天啊！刚和杰基?杰克逊(Jackie Jackson)结束了一次意外约会。我年少时的梦中情人。我一直尽力让自己不要话太多或者暴露出吃货的一面。结果都没做到！”

　　比自夸更可恶的他夸

　　As Wittels put it: “Oprah, you don’t gotta brag¹. You’re Oprah.”

　　正如维特尔斯所说：“奥普拉，你用不着自夸。你可是奥普拉啊。”

　　However, there is another sort of boasting that needs exposing even more than the humblebrag as it is more widespread and more lethal⁸. For want of a snappier name, I’m calling it the thirdpartybrag: when you pass on favourable⁹ remarks made about you by someone else.

　　不过，还有另一种形式的自夸甚至应该比“谦虚的自夸”更需要被揭露，因为这种自夸更普遍且更具杀伤力。因为想不出更俏皮的名字，我就叫它“他夸”好了(thirdpartybrag)：即传播别人对你的赞扬。

　　The rampant¹⁰ popularity of this sort of bragging¹¹ is for three reasons: it involves minimal¹² queasiness¹³ as you don’t have to make the boast yourself; it sounds almost objective; and Twitter makes it a doddle. It is as easy as hitting the retweet button and, far from looking crass¹⁴, it has the further beauty of seeming almost good manners, as a retweet is a self-serving sort of thank you.

　　这种自夸方式之所以如此受欢迎，原因有三点：它所引起的反感度最小，因为你不需要自吹自擂；听起来差不多是客观的；Twitter使之实践起来易如反掌。这种自夸做起来十分简单，只要点击“转发”按钮，不仅看起来一点也不愚蠢，而且还几乎显得挺有礼貌，因为转发本身就是一种说“谢谢”的方式。

　　A particularly prolific¹⁵ thirdpartybragger is the British scientist Richard Dawkins, who engages in the practice several times a day. During the time I have been writing these paragraphs he has failed to resist the urge to retweet the following from @jamiesaboyname: “Such an amazing experience last night, to be in the presence of two of the worlds most beautiful minds @RichardDawkins @LKrauss1”.

　　英国科学家理查德?道金斯(Richard Dawkins)是一位格外高产的“他夸”践行者，他每天都要实践数次。就在我写到这里时，他没能抵抗住这样做的冲动，转发了@jamiesaboyname的如下评论：“昨晚面对面见到了世上最具才智之人中的二位——理查德?道金斯(@RichardDawkins)和@LKrauss1，真是令人难忘的经历”。

　　Channelling Wittels, I want to shout: Richard Dawkins, you don’t gotta brag. You’re Richard Dawkins.

　　借用维特尔斯的话，我想大喊道：理查德?道金斯，你用不着自夸。你可是理查德?道金斯啊。

　　I have become so allergic¹⁶ to thirdpartybragging that I am unfollowing everyone who engages in it. So it is farewell Dawkins. It’s also farewell Jack⁶ Welch, who one might have thought didn’t gotta brag either. He recently retweeted the following from @SPPresents “@jack_welch Just wanted to say THANK YOU for selecting me to narrate¹⁷ your new book Real Life MBA. It’s well written, funny, and engaging!”

　　我现在对“他夸”非常敏感，取关了所有这样自夸的人。所以，拜拜了道金斯，拜拜了杰克?韦尔奇(Jack Welch)。韦尔奇也是一个人们或许会觉得没必要自夸的人。他最近转发了@SPPresents的如下评论：“杰克?韦尔奇(@jack_welch)，只是想说‘谢谢你’选择让我来朗读你的新书《现实生活中的MBA》(Real Life MBA)。这本书写得很好，既有趣又引人入胜。”

　　Various colleagues have also been removed from my following list, though there are two who are getting a second chance. In one case, the thirdpartybragging was done by the man’s wife; the other retweeted comments about himself that were insulting rather than complimentary¹⁸. Even though this is merely a thirdpartybrag with a bit of humblebrag thrown in, I’m forgiving him as the insult — that his column was “ludicrous bilge” — was quite funny.

　　许多同事也被我从关注列表中移除了，不过我给了两个人第二次机会。其中一个人，他转的夸奖来自他的妻子；另一个人转发了的评论是批评，而非赞美自己的话。尽管这“批评”不过是掺杂着些许“谦虚自夸”意味的“他夸”，但我还是原谅了他，因为这条评论——把他的专栏称为“荒唐的废话”——很有意思。

　　The popularity of thirdpartybragging raises the question: why do people demean themselves in this way? Partly it is because such retweeting administers a stroke to the ego¹⁹.

　　“他夸”的普遍流行引发了一个问题：人们为什么要这样降低自己的格调？部分原因是这种转发满足了自尊心。

　　However, stroking egos²⁰ is not what the internet is there for: it is what mothers are for instead. When mine was alive I would ring her up every time anyone said anything nice about me and hold forth²¹ at some length. From the other end of the phone would invariably come pleased noises.

　　然而，要满足自尊心，我们不应找互联网，而应该找妈妈。我妈妈在世的时候，每次有人夸我时，我都会给她打电话详细转述。而电话那头的妈妈，必定会开心得大喊大叫。

　　To follow someone on Twitter is not at all like being their mother. When the historian Simon Sebag Montefiore retweets “@SimonMontefiore J’lem one of the best books I’ve read. Can’t wait for your next tome!” I don’t make pleased noises; I make vomit²² ones and hit unfollow.

　　在Twitter上关注某人，决不是要表现地像他们的妈妈一样。当历史学家西蒙?塞巴格?蒙蒂菲奥里(Simon Sebag Montefiore)转发“西蒙?蒙蒂菲奥里(@SimonMontefiore)，《耶路撒冷》(Jerusalem)是我读过最棒的著作之一。等不及要看你下一部大作！”时，我没有开心得大喊大叫，而是大喊恶心，随后点击取关。

　　A bigger reason for the thirdpartybrag is not to feed egos, but to flog books, talks and so on. But can something so blatant²³ really work?

　　“他夸”之所以流行，更主要的原因不在于满足自尊心，而是为了推销书籍、讲座等。但如此赤裸裸的推销真的能奏效吗？

　　The depressing answer is that it seems to. Seth Godin, a marketing²⁴ pundit²⁵, has just devoted²⁶ an entire blog post to reproducing gush²⁷ from a third party. I fear I am the only person who responded badly — 876 people liked the boast post so much they retweeted it.

　　令人沮丧的是，答案是似乎真的可以。营销大师塞思?戈丁(Seth Godin)不久前刚用一整篇博文记录来自别人的恭维之词。恐怕我是唯一感到反感的人——有876人非常喜欢这篇自夸贴，以至于转发了它。

　　Thirdpartybragging shows followers²⁸ as brainless and perpetrators shameless. In the case of Mr Godin, who is both in marketing and from America — where there is a more robust²⁹ attitude to boasting in general — it may make sense. But what about Mr Dawkins? Has thirdpartybragging damaged the scientist’s considerable brain?

　　“他夸”显示出粉丝无脑，这种行为的实施者也没有节操。戈丁来自营销界和美国——总体来说对自吹自擂之风态度更为包容的地方，他搞这一套或许还说得通。但道金斯呢？“他夸”难道也损坏了这位科学家聪明的大脑吗？

　　To find out last week I composed a tweet that went roughly: “Didn’t realise @richarddawkins invented the meme. He’s even more of a god than I thought he was.” I sat back and waited for him to retweet, but several days passed and nothing happened. I feel better about Mr Dawkins as a result. But now I am vaguely³⁰ offended. Didn’t he like my message, or something?

　　为了找出答案，不久前我发了一条推文，内容大致如下：“没想到是理查德?道金斯(@richarddawkins)发明了“摹因”(meme)一词。他甚至比我之前认为的更牛。”接着我就往椅背上一靠，等待他转发，但很多天过去了，什么都没发生。因此，我对道金斯的看法有所好转。但现在我有了一种模糊的被冒犯的感觉。他是不喜欢我的评论还是怎么着？

1 brag   

v./n.吹牛，自夸；adj.第一流的

参考例句：

• He made brag of his skill.他夸耀自己技术高明。
• His wealth is his brag.他夸张他的财富。

2 sifting   

n.筛，过滤v.筛( sift的现在分词 )；筛滤；细查；详审

参考例句：

• He lay on the beach, sifting the sand through his fingers. 他躺在沙滩上用手筛砂子玩。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I was sifting the cinders when she came in. 她进来时，我正在筛煤渣。 来自辞典例句

3 specious   

adj.似是而非的；adv.似是而非地

参考例句：

• Such talk is actually specious and groundless.这些话实际上毫无根据，似是而非的。
• It is unlikely that the Duke was convinced by such specious arguments.公爵不太可能相信这种似是而非的论点。

4 genre   

n.(文学、艺术等的)类型，体裁，风格

参考例句：

• My favorite music genre is blues.我最喜欢的音乐种类是布鲁斯音乐。
• Superficially,this Shakespeare's work seems to fit into the same genre.从表面上看， 莎士比亚的这个剧本似乎属于同一类型。

5 runaway   

n.逃走的人，逃亡，亡命者；adj.逃亡的，逃走的

参考例句：

• The police have not found the runaway to date.警察迄今没抓到逃犯。
• He was praised for bringing up the runaway horse.他勒住了脱缰之马受到了表扬。

6 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

7 idol   

n.偶像，红人，宠儿

参考例句：

• As an only child he was the idol of his parents.作为独子，他是父母的宠儿。
• Blind worship of this idol must be ended.对这个偶像的盲目崇拜应该结束了。

8 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

9 favourable   

adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的

参考例句：

• The company will lend you money on very favourable terms.这家公司将以非常优惠的条件借钱给你。
• We found that most people are favourable to the idea.我们发现大多数人同意这个意见。

10 rampant   

adj.(植物)蔓生的；狂暴的，无约束的

参考例句：

• Sickness was rampant in the area.该地区疾病蔓延。
• You cannot allow children to rampant through the museum.你不能任由小孩子在博物馆里乱跑。

11 bragging   

v.自夸，吹嘘( brag的现在分词 )；大话

参考例句：

• He's always bragging about his prowess as a cricketer. 他总是吹嘘自己板球水平高超。 来自辞典例句
• Now you're bragging, darling. You know you don't need to brag. 这就是夸口，亲爱的。你明知道你不必吹。 来自辞典例句

12 minimal   

adj.尽可能少的，最小的

参考例句：

• They referred to this kind of art as minimal art.他们把这种艺术叫微型艺术。
• I stayed with friends, so my expenses were minimal.我住在朋友家，所以我的花费很小。

13 queasiness   

n.恶心

参考例句：

• This medicine will counteract the queasiness caused by the antibiotics. 这种药会抑制抗生素引起的反胃。 来自辞典例句
• Perhaps his queasiness is just a sign's coming down with bird flu. 它确定不了，也许，感觉恶心只是得了禽流感的征兆。 来自互联网

14 crass   

adj.愚钝的，粗糙的；彻底的

参考例句：

• The government has behaved with crass insensitivity.该政府行事愚蠢而且麻木不仁。
• I didn't want any part of this silly reception,It was all so crass.我完全不想参加这个无聊的欢迎会，它实在太糟糕了。

15 prolific   

adj.丰富的，大量的；多产的，富有创造力的

参考例句：

• She is a prolific writer of novels and short stories.她是一位多产的作家，写了很多小说和短篇故事。
• The last few pages of the document are prolific of mistakes.这个文件的最后几页错误很多。

16 allergic   

adj.过敏的，变态的

参考例句：

• Alice is allergic to the fur of cats.艾丽斯对猫的皮毛过敏。
• Many people are allergic to airborne pollutants such as pollen.许多人对空气传播的污染物过敏，比如花粉。

17 narrate   

v.讲，叙述

参考例句：

• They each narrate their own tale but are all inextricably linked together.她们各自讲述自己的故事，却又不可避免地联系在一起。
• He once holds the tear to narrate a such story to mine.他曾经含着泪给我讲述了这样的一个故事。

18 complimentary   

adj.赠送的，免费的，赞美的，恭维的

参考例句：

• She made some highly complimentary remarks about their school.她对他们的学校给予高度的评价。
• The supermarket operates a complimentary shuttle service.这家超市提供免费购物班车。

19 ego   

n.自我，自己，自尊

参考例句：

• He is absolute ego in all thing.在所有的事情上他都绝对自我。
• She has been on an ego trip since she sang on television.她上电视台唱过歌之后就一直自吹自擂。

20 egos   

自我，自尊，自负( ego的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Their egos are so easily bruised. 他们的自尊心很容易受到伤害。
• The belief in it issues from the puerile egos of inferior men. 这种信仰是下等人幼稚的自私意识中产生的。

21 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

22 vomit   

v.呕吐，作呕；n.呕吐物，吐出物

参考例句：

• They gave her salty water to make her vomit.他们给她喝盐水好让她吐出来。
• She was stricken by pain and began to vomit.她感到一阵疼痛，开始呕吐起来。

23 blatant   

adj.厚颜无耻的；显眼的；炫耀的

参考例句：

• I cannot believe that so blatant a comedy can hoodwink anybody.我无法相信这么显眼的一出喜剧能够欺骗谁。
• His treatment of his secretary was a blatant example of managerial arrogance.他管理的傲慢作风在他对待秘书的态度上表露无遗。

24 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

25 pundit   

n.博学之人；权威

参考例句：

• Even the outstanding excellent graduate will learn constantly if he likes to be a pundit.即使最优秀的结业生，要想成为一个博学的人也要不断地研究。
• He is a well known political pundit.他是一个著名的政治专家。

26 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

27 gush   

v.喷，涌；滔滔不绝(说话)；n.喷，涌流；迸发

参考例句：

• There was a gush of blood from the wound.血从伤口流出。
• There was a gush of blood as the arrow was pulled out from the arm.当从手臂上拔出箭来时，一股鲜血涌了出来。

28 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

29 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

30 vaguely   

adv.含糊地，暖昧地

参考例句：

• He had talked vaguely of going to work abroad.他含糊其词地说了到国外工作的事。
• He looked vaguely before him with unseeing eyes.他迷迷糊糊的望着前面，对一切都视而不见。