California Shows Possible Future for US
Recession
影集《白宮風雲》的一段對話:
Larry : | If the economy is heading into a recession... | 一旦經濟開始哀退... |
Josh : | No, no, no. We don't ever use that word around here. | 不!不!不!我們不用這個字 |
Ed : | What word? Recession? | 哪個字?經濟哀退嗎? |
Josh : | No! | 閉嘴 |
Will : | If we say it, we give it credence. | 非提不可時,我們都用代號。 |
Larry : | What should we call it then? | 那要怎麼說? |
Josh : | I don't care. Call it a boat show or a beer garden or a bagel. | 隨便。叫 "船展" 或者是 "啤酒花園" 或是 "貝果" 也可以。 |
Larry : | So if it is a bagel, the Fed thinks it's gonna be a mild bagel. | 那...如果是貝果的話,聯準會認為它是個溫和的貝果。 |
Put the brake & stoke
Falling home prices and Wall Street turmoil have put the brakes on consumer spending and stoked unemployment. | 持續下跌的房價及華爾街風暴抑制了消費者支出,並且增長了失業率。 |
這裡的brake和stoke有點對仗的意味。
Brake 原指煞車,作為動車有抑制或約束之意,例句:
How brake inflation? | 我們該如何抑制通貨膨脹? |
Stoke 則原指添加燃料增加火勢的動作,在這裡有雪上加霜的意思。
Deficit
Ongoing budget troubles resulted in a $15 billion deficit the year in California. | 持續的預算困難造成了加州今年150億的赤字。 |
Deficit 意指不足額或赤字,如外貿逆差在英語的用法為:a foregin trade deficit.
recession : a difficult time when there is less trade, business activity etc in a country than usual
mild : 溫和的;仁慈的;沈靜的
stoke : to add more coal or wood to a fire
turmoil : 騷擾;騷動;煽動
inflation : a continuing increase in prices, or the rate at which prices increase (通貨膨脹)
ongoing : continuing, or continuing to develop
budget : to carefully plan and control how much money you spend and what you will buy with it
deficit : the difference between the amount of something that you have and the higher amount that you need
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