2020年经济学人 约翰逊语言专栏--政治用词的影响(2)

A lot of thought goes into the names of policies, which politicians naturally want to resonate in a positive way. Sometimes that means rebranding old ideas, or borrowing words from another domain¹. Democrats² who say the state should pay for every American’s health care are a case in point. “Universal health care”, one way of expressing that goal, has a whiff of socialism about it. “Government-run health care” is even more off-putting, after Reagan memorably³ decried⁴ government as the problem rather than the solution.

政策的名称中包含了大量的思想，政客们自然希望以一种积极的方式引起共鸣。有时，这意味着重新定义旧的思想，或者从另一个领域借用词汇。民主党人说国家应该为每个美国人的医疗保健买单就是一个很好的例子。“全民医保”是实现这一目标的一种方式，带有一点社会主义的味道。里根曾公开谴责政府是问题而非解决方案，在那之后，“政府经营的医疗保健”更是令人反感。

Hence “Medicare for All”, touted⁵ by Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. Medicare is the hugely popular health-care programme for retirees; Mr Sanders and Ms Warren have borrowed its sainted name to propose extending care to everyone. George Lakoff, a linguist⁶ at the University of California, Berkeley, and a leftwrite wing activist⁷, has been pushing Democrats to adopt more effective “frames” for their policies for years, arguing that Republicans consistently out-frame them. Mr Lakoff is a long-term advocate of “Medicare for All”. (Notably, proponents⁸ of the policy have avoided the name of Medicaid, the health-care scheme for lower-income Americans. “Medicaid” shares the taint⁹ of “welfare”; “Medicare” does not.)

因此，伯尼·桑德斯和伊丽莎白·沃伦鼓吹的“全民医疗保险”应运而生。（美国） 国家老年人医疗保险制度是非常受欢迎的退休人员医疗保健计划；桑德斯和沃伦借用了这个神圣的名字，提议将医保覆盖到所有人。加州大学伯克利分校的语言学家、左翼活动人士乔治·拉科夫多年来一直在推动民主党人采用更有效的政策“框架”，他认为，共和党人的框架总是比他们的框架更完善。拉科夫先生是“全民医保”的长期倡导者。（值得注意的是，该政策的支持者避免了医疗补助计划的名字，这是一项针对低收入美国人的医疗保健计划。“医疗补助计划”与“福利”一样臭名昭著；而“国家老年人医疗保险”制度则并非如此。）

But rebranding and renaming policies gets you only so far. Even upbeat words with positive associations can be tarnished¹⁰ and discredited¹¹. After all, “socialism” has the same root as the friendly concept of “society”. Even more starkly¹², “communism” is a relative of “community”, but no amount of etymology¹³ can make up for the ideology’s complicity in the deaths and immiseration of millions.

但是，重塑和重命名政策只能到此为止。即使是带有积极联想的乐观话语也会被玷污和抹黑。毕竟，“社会主义”与“社会”这个友好的概念有着相同的词源，但是，再多的词源也无法弥补这种意识形态对数百万人的死亡和贫困的共谋。

Even without such baggage, the enemy gets a vote too, as soldiers sometimes say. As soon as a shiny new idea is launched, opponents will try to associate it with everything evil under the sun. The “Green New Deal”, a set of leftish, climate- friendly proposals supported by some American Democrats, has been under relentless¹⁴ Republican attack since the concept was floated. Despite the bid to invoke¹⁵ the New Deal of the 1930s, for many voters it is now synonymous with a wild left-wing power grab.

即使没有这样的包袱，正如士兵们有时所说，敌人也有投票权。一旦有了一个闪亮的新想法，反对者就会试图把它与一切邪恶联系起来。“绿色新政”是由一些美国民主党人支持的一套左翼的、有利于气候变化的提案，自从这个概念被提出以来，它就一直受到共和党人的无情攻击。尽管有人试图援引上世纪30年代的新政，但对许多选民来说，它如今已成为疯狂的左翼夺权的同义词。

Tainting¹⁶ ideas is easier than decontaminating them. And though a new slogan might help remove the stigma¹⁷ that has accrued¹⁸, the cycle is liable to begin again, and before long yet another new label is needed. Political rebranding is sometimes necessary, but it is nowhere near sufficient. In other words, politicians can’t prevail by linguistic¹⁹ engineering alone. They still have to win the underlying²⁰ arguments.

污染思想比净化思想更容易。虽然一个新的口号可能有助于消除已经积累的污名，但这个周期可能会再次开始，不久就需要另一个新的标签。政治重塑有时是必要的，但远远不够。换句话说，单靠语言工程是无法战胜政客的。他们仍然需要赢得潜在的争论。

1 domain   

n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围

参考例句：

• This information should be in the public domain.这一消息应该为公众所知。
• This question comes into the domain of philosophy.这一问题属于哲学范畴。

2 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》

3 memorably   

难忘的

参考例句：

• The book includes some memorably seedy characters and scabrous description. 这本书包含了一些难忘下流的角色及有伤风化的描述。 来自互联网
• Horowitz could play Chopin memorably. 霍洛维茨可以把肖邦的作品演奏得出神入化。 来自互联网

4 decried   

v.公开反对，谴责( decry的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The measures were decried as useless. 这些措施受到指责，说是不起作用。
• The old poet decried the mediocrity of today's writing. 老诗人抨击了现代文体的平庸无奇。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 touted   

v.兜售( tout的过去式和过去分词 )；招揽；侦查；探听赛马情报

参考例句：

• She's being touted as the next leader of the party. 她被吹捧为该党的下一任领导人。
• People said that he touted for his mother and sister. 据说，他给母亲和姐姐拉生意。 来自辞典例句

6 linguist   

n.语言学家；精通数种外国语言者

参考例句：

• I used to be a linguist till I become a writer.过去我是个语言学家，后来成了作家。
• Professor Cui has a high reputation as a linguist.崔教授作为语言学家名声很高。

7 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

8 proponents   

n.（某事业、理论等的）支持者，拥护者( proponent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Reviewing courts were among the most active proponents of hybrid rulemaking procedures. 复审法院是最积极的混合型规则制定程序的建议者。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• Proponents of such opinions were arrested as 'traitors. ' 提倡这种主张的人马上作为“卖国贼”逮捕起来。 来自辞典例句

9 taint   

n.污点；感染；腐坏；v.使感染；污染

参考例句：

• Everything possible should be done to free them from the economic taint.应尽可能把他们从经济的腐蚀中解脱出来。
• Moral taint has spread among young people.道德的败坏在年轻人之间蔓延。

10 tarnished   

（通常指金属）（使）失去光泽，（使）变灰暗( tarnish的过去式和过去分词 )； 玷污，败坏

参考例句：

• The mirrors had tarnished with age. 这些镜子因年深日久而照影不清楚。
• His bad behaviour has tarnished the good name of the school. 他行为不轨，败坏了学校的声誉。

11 discredited   

不足信的，不名誉的

参考例句：

• The reactionary authorities are between two fires and have been discredited. 反动当局弄得进退维谷，不得人心。
• Her honour was discredited in the newspapers. 她的名声被报纸败坏了。

12 starkly   

adj. 变硬了的,完全的 adv. 完全,实在,简直

参考例句：

• The city of Befast remains starkly divided between Catholics and Protestants. 贝尔法斯特市完全被处在天主教徒和新教徒的纷争之中。
• The black rocks stood out starkly against the sky. 那些黑色的岩石在天空衬托下十分显眼。

13 etymology   

n.语源；字源学

参考例句：

• The hippies' etymology is contentious.关于嬉皮士的语源是有争议的。
• The origin of OK became the Holy Grail of etymology.OK的出典成了词源学梦寐以求的圣杯。

14 relentless   

adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的

参考例句：

• The traffic noise is relentless.交通车辆的噪音一刻也不停止。
• Their training has to be relentless.他们的训练必须是无情的。

15 invoke   

v.求助于(神、法律)；恳求，乞求

参考例句：

• Let us invoke the blessings of peace.让我们祈求和平之福。
• I hope I'll never have to invoke this clause and lodge a claim with you.我希望我永远不会使用这个条款向你们索赔。

16 tainting   

v.使变质( taint的现在分词 )；使污染；败坏；被污染，腐坏，败坏

参考例句：

17 stigma   

n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头

参考例句：

• Being an unmarried mother used to carry a social stigma.做未婚母亲在社会上曾是不光彩的事。
• The stigma of losing weighed heavily on the team.失败的耻辱让整个队伍压力沉重。

18 accrued   

adj.权责已发生的v.增加( accrue的过去式和过去分词 )；（通过自然增长）产生；获得；（使钱款、债务）积累

参考例句：

• The company had accrued debts of over 1000 yuan. 该公司已积欠了1000多万元的债务。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I have accrued a set of commemoration stamps. 我已收集一套纪念邮票。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 linguistic   

adj.语言的，语言学的

参考例句：

• She is pursuing her linguistic researches.她在从事语言学的研究。
• The ability to write is a supreme test of linguistic competence.写作能力是对语言能力的最高形式的测试。

20 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。