美國(guó)大選初期辯論是“歡樂(lè)時(shí)光”？

2016年美國(guó)大選兩黨內(nèi)部的候選人辯論自去年9月開(kāi)始，陸續(xù)爆出各種熱議話題，各位候選人有關(guān)移民、槍支管控，恐怖主義等話題的言論也多次在媒體引發(fā)討論。從學(xué)英語(yǔ)的角度來(lái)看，他們的辯論階段其實(shí)也產(chǎn)生了一些新的詞匯表達(dá)，我們今天選兩個(gè)來(lái)看一看。

The kids' table 兒童桌

The implication of the term kids' table or kiddie table is that the candidates in the early meeting have not yet grown up enough to be included among the adults in the primetime debate. Ironically, though, the level of discussion in the early debates has often been judged to be more thoughtful and substantive than that in the main event, perhaps due to the smaller number of voices and the less manic atmosphere.

“兒童桌”這個(gè)說(shuō)法的含義是：選舉初期參與辯論的候選人還不夠成熟老道，無(wú)法進(jìn)入后期的黃金時(shí)段辯論。諷刺的是，初期辯論中的話題探討水平往往被認(rèn)為比核心辯論階段有思想、有實(shí)質(zhì)內(nèi)容，或許是因?yàn)榘l(fā)言人數(shù)不多，氣氛也不太狂躁吧。

For example:

[Carly Fiorina's] dominant showing at the ‘kid's table' in the first GOP debate earned her a spot at the main event for the second.

卡莉·菲奧莉娜在共和黨第一場(chǎng)“兒童桌”辯論中的強(qiáng)勢(shì)表現(xiàn)為她贏得了第二場(chǎng)辯論中的席位。

——Atlantic Online, 17 November, 2015

The happy hour debate 歡樂(lè)時(shí)光辯論

Senator Lindsay Graham, who has yet to grace the main stage this year, is credited with coining the term ‘happy hour debate', alluding to the late afternoon starting time of the event. To judge from the shockingly high number of Google hits for ‘republican debate drinking game', many Americans are taking the notion of a happy hour debate literally.

共和黨參議員格雷厄姆尚未在辯論中有什么出彩的表現(xiàn)，不過(guò)，他還是有一個(gè)貢獻(xiàn)，那就是造出了“歡樂(lè)時(shí)光辯論”(happy hour debate)這個(gè)詞，借此暗指辯論在午后開(kāi)始的時(shí)間。從谷歌搜索中有關(guān)“共和黨辯論喝酒游戲”的大量驚人數(shù)據(jù)來(lái)看，很多美國(guó)人都把這個(gè)“歡樂(lè)時(shí)光”當(dāng)真了。

Happy hour指飯店、酒吧等場(chǎng)所在特定時(shí)段，一般是下班后5點(diǎn)到8點(diǎn)左右，提供優(yōu)惠價(jià)格飲食的營(yíng)銷(xiāo)方式。

For example:

Well, when I'm in the first debate, which is the happy hour debate, at five o'clock, start drinking. By nine o'clock, Donald may make sense to you if you drink enough.

嗯，我參加第一場(chǎng)辯論的時(shí)候，是五點(diǎn)開(kāi)始，那是一場(chǎng)歡樂(lè)時(shí)光辯論，你們就開(kāi)喝。到了九點(diǎn)，如果你喝的夠多的話，川普說(shuō)的話可能聽(tīng)著就有點(diǎn)道理了。

——Senator Lindsay Graham, 1 August 2015