2019年经济学人 约翰逊语言专栏--政治对语言的影响(1)

 

Books & arts

来源于《图书和艺术》版块

Johnson

约翰逊语言板块

Sticks and stones

棍棒和石头

The polarisation of politics is producing a new lexicon¹ of insults

政治的两极化正在产生一系列新的侮辱性词汇

Think of the most taboo² insult that is possible in English. Chances are you have one of just a few words in mind. Now consider the following anecdote³. In 2016 a defendant⁴ in an English courtroom told the judge, Patricia Lynch, that she was “a cunt”. To which the judge, on the record, thought fit to reply: “You’re a bit of a cunt yourself.”

想想英语中最忌讳的侮辱。很可能你脑子里只有几个词。现在考虑一下下面的轶事。2016年，英国法庭的一名被告告诉法官帕特里夏·林奇，她是一个混蛋。根据记录，法官认为可以这样回答：“你自己确实有些混蛋。”

Supposedly the 20-megaton nuke of swear words, still considered by some people unacceptable at any time, the C-word does not pack the blast it once did. Samantha Bee, an American comedian⁵, used it on her news show to refer to Ivanka Trump⁶, the president’s daughter, inciting⁷ only a short-lived controversy⁸. Numerous British television presenters⁹ have mistakenly substituted it, on air, for the surname of Jeremy Hunt, who was for a time culture secretary. (Anticipating the “c” in “culture” may have been responsible for early slips of this type, but they mysteriously continued after Mr Hunt became health secretary.) None of the presenters has been disciplined.

据说2000万吨级的脏话核武器，仍然被一些人认为在任何时候都是不可接受的，这个C字母打头的词已经不像从前那样有震撼力了。美国喜剧演员萨曼莎·比在她的新闻节目中用这个C字母打头的词来指代总统的女儿伊万卡·特朗普，这只引发了一场短暂的争议。许多英国电视节目主持人在直播时错误地用它代替了杰里米·亨特（Hunt）的姓氏，亨特曾是《时代》杂志的文化部长。(预料到“文化culture”中的“c”可能是造成早期这类口误的原因，但在亨特先生成为卫生部长后，这些口误神秘地继续着。)这样说的人都没有受过训练。

The words that shock have changed. An English law of 1606 forbade profane¹⁰ references on stage to God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost. Today such imprecations cause barely a batted eyelash (even if high-profile cases of perceived blasphemy¹¹ still rile the devout¹² in places such as Russia). Later, words related to sex and the body were the most likely to offend. The word “bloody” set off a gale¹³ of laughter at the London premiere of George Bernard Shaw’s “Pygmalion” in 1914. Now it is hardly worth remarking upon.

令人震惊的话已经改变了。1606年的英国法律禁止在舞台上亵渎上帝、耶稣基督和圣灵。如今，这样的咒骂几乎不会引起人们的注意(尽管在俄罗斯等地，一些大张旗鼓的亵渎事件仍然激怒了虔诚的信徒)。之后，与性和身体有关的词汇是最容易有冒犯的意思。1914年，在伦敦举行的萧伯纳的《卖花女》首映式上，“血腥的bloody”一词引发了一阵狂笑。现在它几乎不值得评论了。

1 lexicon   

n.字典，专门词汇

参考例句：

• Chocolate equals sin in most people's lexicon.巧克力在大多数人的字典里等同于罪恶。
• Silent earthquakes are only just beginning to enter the public lexicon.无声地震才刚开始要成为众所周知的语汇。

2 taboo   

n.禁忌，禁止接近，禁止使用；adj.禁忌的；v.禁忌，禁制，禁止

参考例句：

• The rude words are taboo in ordinary conversation.这些粗野的字眼在日常谈话中是禁忌的。
• Is there a taboo against sex before marriage in your society?在你们的社会里，婚前的性行为犯禁吗？

3 anecdote   

n.轶事，趣闻，短故事

参考例句：

• He departed from the text to tell an anecdote.他偏离课文讲起了一则轶事。
• It had never been more than a family anecdote.那不过是个家庭趣谈罢了。

4 defendant   

n.被告；adj.处于被告地位的

参考例句：

• The judge rejected a bribe from the defendant's family.法官拒收被告家属的贿赂。
• The defendant was borne down by the weight of evidence.有力的证据使被告认输了。

5 comedian   

n.喜剧演员；滑稽演员

参考例句：

• The comedian tickled the crowd with his jokes.喜剧演员的笑话把人们逗乐了。
• The comedian enjoyed great popularity during the 30's.那位喜剧演员在三十年代非常走红。

6 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

7 inciting   

刺激的，煽动的

参考例句：

• What are you up to inciting mutiny and insubordination? 你们干吗在这里煽动骚动的叛乱呀。
• He was charged with inciting people to rebel. 他被控煽动民众起来叛乱。

8 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

9 presenters   

n.节目主持人，演播员( presenter的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Each week presenters would put the case for their favourite candidate. 每个星期主持人推出他们最喜欢的候选人。 来自互联网
• Karaoke was set up to allowed presenters to sing on the stage. 宴会设有歌唱舞台，可让出席者大演唱功。 来自互联网

10 profane   

adj.亵神的，亵渎的；vt.亵渎，玷污

参考例句：

• He doesn't dare to profane the name of God.他不敢亵渎上帝之名。
• His profane language annoyed us.他亵渎的言语激怒了我们。

11 blasphemy   

n.亵渎，渎神

参考例句：

• His writings were branded as obscene and a blasphemy against God.他的著作被定为淫秽作品，是对上帝的亵渎。
• You have just heard his blasphemy!你刚刚听到他那番亵渎上帝的话了！

12 devout   

adj.虔诚的，虔敬的，衷心的 (n.devoutness)

参考例句：

• His devout Catholicism appeals to ordinary people.他对天主教的虔诚信仰感染了普通民众。
• The devout man prayed daily.那位虔诚的男士每天都祈祷。

13 gale   

n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等）

参考例句：

• We got our roof blown off in the gale last night.昨夜的大风把我们的房顶给掀掉了。
• According to the weather forecast,there will be a gale tomorrow.据气象台预报，明天有大风。