細(xì)說英語粗話:32. Idiot

32. Idiot

 idiot 白癡，蠢貨，笨蛋

 idiocy 白癡的行為，荒唐的舉動(dòng)

 you idiot！ 你這個(gè)白癡!

 idiotic 白癡的，愚蠢的，餿的，荒唐的

1. bet 是說話者主觀的判斷及信心，多為第一人稱用語，如I’ll bet that he’ll succeed（我相信他會(huì)成功）；用于第二人稱時(shí)，亦為強(qiáng)調(diào)說話者（第一人稱）的“保證”，如Are you coming tomorrow? (你明天來嗎?）回答是You bet!（當(dāng)然會(huì)來!）；you bet也作“應(yīng)該的”，“不謝”解。

1. Come clean 吐實(shí)情，來真的。可解釋為是動(dòng)詞+副詞，因clean可當(dāng)副詞，如Let’s play the game clean. （光明正大地比賽。）但也許有人會(huì)認(rèn)為come只表現(xiàn)為連系動(dòng)詞功能，所以clean是主語的補(bǔ)語，應(yīng)是形容詞。

1. idiot 白癡，蠢貨，笨蛋

A. Two idiots jumped off a pier. The first one dove in，apparently head first，and was injured…if the second one had jumped1 feet first，he probably wouldn’t have been injured at all. But he also went in head first.

(N.Y.Post，5/1/98)

兩個(gè)蠢材從碼頭上跳下水里，第一個(gè)明明是頭先著水，受了傷，第二個(gè)如果以腳先入水，大概就一點(diǎn)也不會(huì)受傷，可是他也是依樣畫葫蘆。

注：

1. If+had+P.P.配合would+have+P.P.是過去式的虛擬語氣 （Past subjunctive mood），與過去事實(shí)相反的假定。

A. Why is it that teachers always like to seat me near the complete idiots of the class? Do they think that somehow it will make them grow more brain cells?

(摘錄自網(wǎng)絡(luò))

為何老師總是愛叫我跟班上的純白癡坐在一起?他們是否認(rèn)為這么做，會(huì)使白癡多長腦細(xì)胞啊?

A. “I think the guys who made the rule for the design of these boats are idiots，” said Koch….“I think these boats are incredibly dangerous， very expensive and foolish，” he said. “I think someone is going to get hurt out here. I fear in a collision the deck could collapse.”

(Sports Illustrated,5/20/91)

卡哲說：“我認(rèn)為制定這些船只設(shè)計(jì)規(guī)則的人是白癡，這些船只極為危險(xiǎn)，又貴又不明智，將會(huì)有人受傷。我怕的是互撞時(shí)，甲板會(huì)崩塌。”

注：

1. crap 在文中是名詞，“爛東西”之意，當(dāng)使役動(dòng)詞leave的賓語。crap加了“-ing”成形容詞“大大的”，以加強(qiáng)語氣，與damned同義，如I asked him to help himself to the cookies，and he took a crapping handful. （我請(qǐng)他隨意拿餅干吃，他就他媽的抓了一大把。)

A. Anyone who judges people by what they own or do1 for a living is an idiot. Even children know this. So if you are working so hard to impress people who are idiots， then you are even dumber than they are.

(Good Housekeeping， 1/1/98)

以擁有的財(cái)產(chǎn)或糊口的方式評(píng)議他人者乃是白癡，連小孩子都知道這一點(diǎn)。因此，如果下功夫使白癡覺得你了不起，那么你比白癡還要笨。

A. Being around2 a real idiot is not easy，whether you are legally bound in marriage to one or merely a teammate of one，and the NFL3 has tried its best over the years to dissuade Cox4 from being a real idiot. He has been fined more than ＄130,000 for various behavioral flaws in his career, including obscene gestures，personal fouls5 and spitting.

(The Washington Times，8/5/98)

哪怕是合法嫁給他或僅是他的隊(duì)友，跟貨真價(jià)實(shí)的笨蛋為伍并不容易。全國橄欖球職業(yè)聯(lián)盟歷年來也努力勸導(dǎo)卡克斯別成為真的白癡。在其職業(yè)生涯中，他曾因各種行為上的瑕疵——包括猥褻動(dòng)作、個(gè)人違規(guī)及吐痰——而被罰13萬多美金。

注：

1. by what they own or do… 在介詞后面所加的核心詞匯限于：名詞、名詞短語、代名詞、代名詞短語、動(dòng)名詞、動(dòng)名詞短語、名詞從句及觀念性名詞類。不可加有名詞功能的infinitive。

2. being around（someone） 是“在……周圍”之意。注意此處being是動(dòng)名詞，并非現(xiàn)在分詞，現(xiàn)在分詞在功能上不是形容詞，就是副詞，不可能是名詞，請(qǐng)注意二者區(qū)別。又alien being（外星人）、 human being（人）、Supreme Being（上帝）的being是純名詞。

3. NFL 全國橄欖球職業(yè)聯(lián)盟（National Football League）。該聯(lián)盟在 1922年成立，今旗下有二組共30支球隊(duì)。詳情見拙作《運(yùn)動(dòng)英語》（Sports English）附錄（臺(tái)灣商務(wù)印書館出版）。

4. Cox 紐約噴射機(jī)職橄隊(duì)（New York Jets）隊(duì)員。

5. personal fouls 指無必要而故意撞擊對(duì)手。

2. idiocy 愚蠢的行為，荒唐的行為

A. A good way to combat idiocy1 is to turn up the volume2 and do nothing. Sometimes，it seems，people forget this. They let anger get in the way，and they combat idiocy with idiocy3， thereby clouding their cause in contradiction4.

(University Wire，11/24/98）

對(duì)抗愚蠢的行為有良方，是讓這種行為自暴其短。有時(shí)大家好像忘記了這一點(diǎn)。大家一怒，亂了陣腳，結(jié)果以愚蠢來對(duì)抗愚蠢，在自我矛盾中迷失方向。

注：

1. idiocy 此處隱喻美國某大學(xué)校園內(nèi)三K黨的荒唐示威活動(dòng)。

2. turn up the volume “把聲音放大”，隱喻“無須動(dòng)武，單憑言論自由（free speech）”，讓三K黨更大聲地暴露其充滿仇恨的偏激言論，以求公斷。

3. combat idiocy with idiocy 隱喻校方叫警局來取締，互相僵持，無異火上加油。

4. clouding their cause in contradiction 使得［消滅三K黨的］目的被自我矛盾所蒙蔽，得反效果。（目的是消弭三K黨，使天下太平，但因叫警方取締，乃迎合三K黨的暴力行為模式，反而助長惡人氣焰。）

A. “It seems to me this whole idea of a war on drugs is idiocy，” he says. “This idiocy of ‘just say no’2 …It’s all window dressing3 of the most idiotic kind.”

(Denver Rocky Mountain News，5/16/97)

他說：“我總覺得，對(duì)毒品宣戰(zhàn)的整個(gè)概念是荒唐的，這個(gè)‘只要說不’的荒唐調(diào)調(diào)都是極其不智的一種表面功夫。”

注：

1. 此節(jié)錄自名導(dǎo)演路默特（Sidney Lumet）對(duì)消滅毒品的看法。

2. just say no 是里根總統(tǒng)夫人針對(duì)美國年輕人所提倡的拒毒話，被視為治標(biāo)不治本。

3. window dressing 以“點(diǎn)綴櫥窗”喻“表面功夫”，即“治標(biāo)”之謂。

3. yon idiot! 你這個(gè)白癡!

A. That really hurts! I’m gonna have a lump there, you idiot! Who throws a shoe? Honestly! You fight like a woman!

(Austin Powers：International Man of Mystery（1997）影片白)

好痛呀!你這個(gè)白癡!這兒將會(huì)腫起來!哪種人是扔鞋子的呀?說真的，你打起架來活像個(gè)女人啊!

1. feel like 想要，喜愛，是及物動(dòng)詞短語，常以動(dòng)名詞（gerund）充其賓語。注意，并非所有動(dòng)詞都可用動(dòng)名詞當(dāng)賓語，要記住習(xí)慣用法，有的要用不定式（in finitives），或二者兼用。

1. idiot 白癡的

A. Lawyers should never marry other lawyers. This is called “inbreeding，” from which comes idiot children and more lawyers.

(Adam’s Rib（1949）影片中的對(duì)白)

律師永不該與律師結(jié)婚，這叫做“近親交配”，生出來的是白癡小孩和更多的律師。

注：

影片中的對(duì)白雖屬戲謔之言，但美國人討厭律師的程度由此可見。

2. idiotic 愚蠢的

A. As the boss，I know that some people always will agree with me because l am the boss，no matter how preposterous my notions…. So I often couch my suggestions with phrases that invite disagreement. If I say，“Maybe this is an idiotic idea，but…”，it somehow makes it easier for people to point out that it is idiotic.

(Minneapolis Star Tribune，12/9/97)

身為老板的我知道，哪怕我的主意多愚蠢，就因我是老板，有些人總是唯唯諾諾……為此，我常使用足以引來不同意的話語，如果我說：“這可能是個(gè)餿主意，不過……。”這么一來，可讓人家更容易振振有詞，證明餿主意的出處了。

A. Perhaps it’s time we accepted the fact that there always will be idiotic people who do detestably idiotic things like flag burning. Then perhaps we can get on1 with the more pressing issues in our society.

(L.A. Times，Orange County Edition，7/26/98)

總會(huì)有不智的人做出像燒毀國旗那般令人慪氣的愚行?；蛟S此刻我們得承認(rèn)這個(gè)事實(shí)。然而，我們也許應(yīng)該向前去顧及社會(huì)上更急迫的問題。

注：

1. get on 繼續(xù)。通常后隨介詞with…的短語，表示“繼續(xù)去處理……”。get on另有他意，請(qǐng)參見“Ass”及“bum me out”二例。