2019年经济学人 约翰逊语言专栏--特朗普弹劾战中情绪化的用词(3)

 

“Bribery¹” looked the better bet. The constitution specifically mentions it as an impeachable² offence. In federal law, any official who demands or seeks “anything of value” in return for “being influenced in the performance of any official act” takes part in bribery. Mr Trump’s critics maintained that dangling³ a White House visit before Ukraine’s president, and suspending military aid, were official acts, and that the investigations⁴ he wanted in return were “of value”.

“贿赂”似乎是更好的选择。宪法特别提到它是可弹劾的罪行。在联邦法律中，任何要求或寻求“任何有价值的东西”以换取“在任何官方行为中受到影响”的官员都是在行贿。特朗普的批评者坚称，在乌克兰总统之前安排白宫访问，并暂停军事援助，都是官方行为，而他希望得到的调查是“有价值的”。

In the end, Democrats⁵ balked⁶, and chose a vaguer charge instead: “abuse of power”, plus “obstruction⁷ of Congress”. These, they say, meet the constitution’s standard of “high Crimes and Misdemeanours”. Impeachable deeds need not be statutory crimes of the kind tried in a court, scholars note. Noah Feldman, a law professor at Harvard, told the House Judiciary Committee that the adjective “high” refers not to the gravity of the offence, but to the status of the president’s office. Yet in rowing back on “bribery” and “extortion” Democrats may have betrayed a nervousness about levels of proof. In preferring “abuse of power”, which has no legal definition, they will seem to some voters to have plumped for a purely⁸ political case (if the underlying⁹ offence is vague, Republicans of all kinds will be willing to forgive obstruction of Congress). All of which means that, in the clash of rhetorical language and the technical kind, the rhetoric¹⁰ may turn out to be more important. And that is Mr Trump’s home turf.

最后，民主党人退缩了，选择了一个更模糊的指控:“滥用权力”，加上“阻碍国会”。他们说，这些符合宪法关于“重罪和轻罪”的标准。学者们指出，可弹劾的行为不一定是在法庭上审判的那种法定罪行。哈佛大学法学教授诺亚·费尔德曼告诉众议院司法委员会，形容词“高”不是指罪行的严重程度，而是指总统办公室的地位。然而，在“贿赂”和“勒索”问题上，民主党人可能暴露了他们对证据水平的担忧。然而，在“贿赂”和“勒索”问题上，民主党人可能暴露了他们对证据水平的担忧。在一些选民看来，他们更倾向于“滥用权力”，这是一种没有法律定义的行为（如果潜在的冒犯是含糊不清的，那么所有的共和党人都会愿意原谅对国会的阻挠）。所有这些都意味着，在修辞语言和技术语言的冲突中，修辞可能会变得更加重要。这是特朗普的老本行。

1 bribery   

n.贿络行为，行贿，受贿

参考例句：

• FBI found out that the senator committed bribery.美国联邦调查局查明这个参议员有受贿行为。
• He was charged with bribery.他被指控受贿。

2 impeachable   

adj.可控告的，可弹劾的

参考例句：

• Thus, Congress cannot remove an executive official except for impeachable offenses. 因此，除非有可弹劾的行为，否则国会不能罢免行政官员。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• The government officer committed an impeachable offence. 那位政府官员犯了可能招致弹劾的罪行。 来自辞典例句

3 dangling   

悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口

参考例句：

• The tooth hung dangling by the bedpost, now. 结果，那颗牙就晃来晃去吊在床柱上了。
• The children sat on the high wall,their legs dangling. 孩子们坐在一堵高墙上，摇晃着他们的双腿。

4 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

5 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 balked   

v.畏缩不前，犹豫( balk的过去式和过去分词 )；（指马）不肯跑

参考例句：

• He balked in his speech. 他忽然中断讲演。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• They balked the robber's plan. 他们使强盗的计划受到挫败。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

7 obstruction   

n.阻塞，堵塞；障碍物

参考例句：

• She was charged with obstruction of a police officer in the execution of his duty.她被指控妨碍警察执行任务。
• The road was cleared from obstruction.那条路已被清除了障碍。

8 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

9 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

10 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。