blame game
negative campaigning
美國(guó)選民每四年不僅要選舉一位總統(tǒng),而且還要選舉四百三十五名國(guó)會(huì)議員、至少三十三名參議員以及在州一級(jí)和基層的許多官員。在競(jìng)選的過程中,每個(gè)候選人為了當(dāng)選總是想方設(shè)法地抬高自己,貶低別人。他們用的策略之一就是:blame game。
Blame是責(zé)怪或指責(zé)的意思,game在這里是指策略或者是手法。Blame game是候選人把造成某些社會(huì)問題的責(zé)任推到競(jìng)選對(duì)手身上去的手法,那怕他明明知道這是他自己的責(zé)任。下面這位候選人對(duì)選民說的話就是一個(gè)例子:
例句-1: I'm not going to play the blame game and say who's at fault that so many people are out of work. But I have to tell you my opponent did vote against three bills to create new jobs.
這句話是說:"我不會(huì)把造成那么多人失業(yè)的責(zé)任推給別人,我不會(huì)使用那種推卸責(zé)任的把戲。但是,我得告訴你們,在國(guó)會(huì)就三項(xiàng)有關(guān)創(chuàng)造新就業(yè)機(jī)會(huì)的提案投票時(shí),我的對(duì)手投的是反對(duì)票。"
下面這個(gè)例子是對(duì)杜魯門總統(tǒng)的評(píng)論:
例句-2: Harry Truman, who was President from 1945 to 1952, was one man who did not play the blame game. He had a sign on his desk: The Buck Stops Here.
這是說:"杜魯門從1945到1952年擔(dān)任美國(guó)總統(tǒng)。他是一個(gè)不推卸責(zé)任的人,他在桌子上放了一塊牌子,上面寫著'我負(fù)責(zé)'這幾個(gè)字。"
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和blame game相似的一個(gè)俗語是:negative campaigning。Negative是反面的意思,campaigning就是競(jìng)選。那么,什么是negative campaigning呢?下面這句話就回答了這個(gè)問題:
例句-3: A listener just called in to ask what I mean by negative campaigning. Well, it means a candidate's main strategy is to tell voters how bad the other guy is instead of talking about how good he is himself.
他說:"一位聽眾剛才打電話來問什么是negative campaigning。Negative campaigning它的意思就是一個(gè)候選人采用的主要策略是告訴選民他的對(duì)手是如何的壞,以避免說自己是如何如何的好。"
下面是另一個(gè)例子:
例句-3: Some political observers say that negative campaigning isn't working this year - that voters want to hear positive ideas about how to create new jobs and give people better health care.
這句話是說:有些政治觀察家說,盡力貶低對(duì)方的反面競(jìng)選方式今年行不通了。選民們要聽積極的主意,像如何增加就業(yè)機(jī)會(huì)、為公眾提供更好的保健措施等。"