Mark Forsyth: What's a snollygoster? A short lesson in political speak

Translator: Morton Bast Reviewer: Thu-Huong Ha

翻译人员: Bill Wang 校对人员: Yuguo Zhang

One of my favorite words in the whole of the Oxford English Dictionary

我很喜欢的词之一

在整个牛津英语词典里叫“snollygoster”。

is "snollygoster,"

just because it sounds so good.

不仅因为它听起来很不错。

而且它的意思是

And what snollygoster means is "a dishonest politician."

“一个诡诈的政客”。

Although there was a 19th-century newspaper editor

尽管这只是一个19世纪的

报纸编辑给出的一个很好的定义，他的原话：

who defined it rather better when he said,

"A snollygoster is a fellow who seeks office

“‘snollygoster’是一个这样的家伙，他会为了谋求高位

regardless of party, platform or principle,

而不在乎任何政党、任何舞台或任何原则，

他会用其三寸不烂之舌

and who, when he wins,

gets there by the sheer force of monumental talknophical assumnancy."

口若悬河而赢得高位。”

(笑声)

(Laughter)

(笑声)

Now, I have no idea what "talknophical" is.

我一点儿也不明白“talknophical”是什么意思。

Something to do with words, I assume.

大概是和言语词汇相关的词汇，我假设。

但是言语词汇对于政治中心之作用是非常重要的，

But it's very important that words are at the center of politics,

并且所有的政客都明白他们必须尝试着控制他们的话语言论。

and all politicians know they have to try and control language.

It wasn't until, for example, 1771

举例来说，一直到1771年，

that the British Parliament allowed newspapers to report

英国议会才允许新闻报纸报道

the exact words that were said in the debating chamber.

在辩论会上政客们说的真实话语。

And this was actually all down to the bravery

而且实际上这全是因为一个勇敢的人，

这个伟大的名字叫布艾斯·克若斯比 (Brass Crosby)，

of a guy with the extraordinary name of Brass Crosby,

who took on Parliament.

在议会上提议。

And he was thrown into the Tower of London

他被丢到了伦敦塔里

遭到囚禁，

and imprisoned,

但是他还是很勇敢

but he was brave enough,

拥有足够的勇气在议会上提议，

he was brave enough to take them on, and in the end,

并且到最后他在伦敦拥有众多的支持声音而赢得了胜利。

he had such popular support in London that he won.

而且仅仅几年后

And it was only a few years later

that we have the first recorded use of the phrase "as bold as brass."

我们有了第一次记录使用短语

“as bold as brass” （意译：敢作敢为）

很多人认为这个短语出自于金属什么的。

Most people think that's down to the metal.

不是的，它是出自于

It's not; it's down to a campaigner for the freedom of the press.

一个新闻自由卫士。

But to really show you how words and politics interact,

不过为了真实的表明

词汇和政治怎样互相影响，

我想带你回到过去的美国，

I want to take you back to the United States of America,

just after they'd achieved independence.

在它刚刚宣布独立的时候。

And they had to face the question

那时他们有一个问题要面对

就是怎样称号乔治·华盛顿, 他们的领袖。

of what to call George Washington, their leader.

They didn't know.

他们不知道，

What do you call the leader of a republican country?

应该尊称一个共和国的领袖为什么？

And this was debated in Congress for ages and ages.

就这个问题在国会上争论了很久很久。

And there were all sorts of suggestions on the table,

并且产生了很多建议，

这些建议貌似可行。

which might have made it.

I mean, some people wanted him to be called

我的意思是，一些人想叫他为

首席行政官华盛顿，

"Chief Magistrate Washington,"

and other people, "His Highness, George Washington,"

而另一些人称他为乔治·华盛顿殿下，

and other people,

还有人叫他美利坚联合政府自由解放的保卫者华盛顿。

"Protector of the Liberties

of the People of the United States of America Washington."

Not that catchy.

没有一个朗朗上口的名字。

Some people just wanted to call him king --

一些人只是想叫他国王。

他们认为是个称号是过去用过并经过考验的。

it was tried and tested.

They weren't even being monarchical,

他们甚至并没有延续君主制，

他们的主意是你可以是选举的国王

they had the idea that you could be elected king for a fixed term.

有一个固定的任期。

And, you know, it could have worked.

你知道的，这样大概会可行。

And everybody got insanely bored,

而且每一个人都感到神经错乱似地厌烦了，事实上，

because this debate went on for three weeks.

因为这场辩论持续了3个礼拜。

I read a diary of this poor senator who just keeps coming back,

我读过一个当时可怜议员的日记，

里面持续的记录着，“竟然又是这个议题。”

"Still on this subject."

而致使延期和厌倦的原因是

And the reason for the delay and the boredom

was that the House of Representatives were against the Senate.

众议院对战参议院。

众议院不想让华盛顿

The House of Representatives didn't want Washington to get drunk on power.

沉醉于权力。

They didn't want to call him "king," in case that gave him ideas,

他们不想称他为国王

以防万一他或他的继任者会产生什么想法。

or his successor ideas.

所以他们给他一个他们能够想到的，最低微的、最微不足道的、

So they wanted to give him the humblest, meagerest,

most pathetic title that they could think of.

最为可悲的头衔。

而这个头衔叫“President”。

And that title ...

was "President."

(Laughter)

"President." They didn't invent the title.

President （会议主持，总统）。他们没有创造这个头衔。我的意思是，这个头衔以前就有，

I mean, it existed before,

but it just meant somebody who presides over a meeting.

但是它是指一个会议的主持人。

It was like the foreman of the jury.

同陪审团主席的意思相似。

And it didn't have much more grandeur

并且它一点也不显得非常极其地位显赫

比起“foreman(陪审团主席)”和“overseer(监工)”来。

than the term "foreman" or "overseer."

There were occasional presidents of little colonial councils

虽然偶尔会有一些小型殖民地的会议主持人

and bits of government,

并有一丝政府管理的意思，但是它真的是个什么都不是的头衔。

but it was really a nothing title.

而且这也是为什么参议院反对这个头衔。

And that's why the Senate objected to it.

他们说这个真的很荒谬，你们不能叫他会议主持。

They said, "That's ridiculous! You can't call him 'President.'

这个人还得去签条约和接见外宾。

This guy has to go and sign treaties and meet foreign dignitaries.

Who's going to take him seriously if he's got a silly little title

谁还会认真对待他，

如果他只有一个这样愚蠢的小头衔

比如美利坚联邦政府主持（President of the United States of America）？

like 'President of the United States of America'?"

(Laughter)

And after three weeks of debate, in the end,

之后经过三周的辩论，

the Senate did not cave in.

最后参议院也没有屈服。

Instead, they agreed to use the title "President" for now.

作为替代，他们同意先用着头衔“President”，

但他们也要求绝对确定下来

But they also wanted it absolutely set down

他们不同意这个头衔

that they didn't agree with it,

是出于对文明国家的意见和做法的尊重，

from a decent respect for the opinions and practice of civilized nations,

whether under republican or monarchical forms of government,

无论是民主党还是共和党执政，

whose custom it is to annex,

他们会自定义它，

through the office of the Chief Magistrate,

通过首席行政官办公室，获得非常体面的头衔称号 -

titles of respectability --

而不是杯具的“President”-

not bloody "President."

还有在同外国交际时，

And that, in the intercourse with foreign nations,

美利坚人们的威严

the majesty of the people of the United States

may not be hazarded by an appearance of singularity --

可能不会有被这个奇特头衔损害的危险，

i.e., we don't want to look like bloody weirdos.

即我们不想被后人看成一群杯具的变态。

现在从这个故事里你能够了解到三件有趣的事情。

Now, you can learn three interesting things from this.

首先，也是我最喜欢的地方，

First of all -- and this is my favorite --

is that, so far as I've ever been able to find out,

到目前为止所有我能找到的资料里，

参议院从来没有正式的认可过“总统”这个头衔。

the Senate has never formally endorsed the title of President.

Barack Obama, President Obama, is there on borrowed time,

巴拉克·奥巴马，“总统奥巴马”的头衔，到现在还是暂借的，

just waiting for the Senate to spring into action.

只是在一直等待参议院的突然正式任命。

(Laughter)

The second thing you can learn

第二件事你可以了解到

当美国政府宣称这只是一项临时措施时 --

is that, when a government says that this is a temporary measure --

（笑声）--

(Laughter)

you can still be waiting 223 years later.

它会持续223年之久。

但第三件事你能了解到的，

But the third thing you can learn -- and this is the really important one,

而且也是非常重要的一件，

我很想让你们记住这个要点，

the point I want to leave you on --

就是这个头衔，美利坚联邦政府总统（President of the United States of America），

is that the title, "President of the United States of America,"

doesn't sound that humble at all these days, does it?

听起来从来也没有过地位低微的意思，不是吗？

Something to do with the slightly over 5,000

大概是有着超过5000多的

nuclear warheads he has at his disposal

核弹头被他支配控制着，

还有着全世界最大的经济体，

and the largest economy in the world

还有一大群战机及其他军事力量。

and a fleet of drones and all that sort of stuff.

Reality and history have endowed that title with grandeur.

现实和历史赋予了这个头衔高贵的含义。

And so the Senate won in the end.

所以最后参议院赢了。

They got their title of respectability.

他们得到了他们要的体面头衔。

And also, the Senate's other worry, the appearance of singularity --

而且，参议院担心的另一件事，这个头衔听起来很古怪 --

well, it was a singularity back then.

哦，它曾经在那段时光听起来古怪。

But now, do you know how many nations have a president?

但是现在，你知道现在有多少个国家有总统吗？

147个。

A hundred and forty-seven.

All because they want to sound like the guy

这都是因为他们想让自己的头衔听起来

who's got the 5,000 nuclear warheads, etc.

像那个拥有5000多个核弹头的家伙，等等。

所以到最后，参议院胜利了

And so, in the end, the Senate won

众议院输了，

and the House of Representatives lost ...

because nobody's going to feel that humble

因为没有人会感到不体面

当他们被告知他们现在是

when they're told that they are now

美利坚联邦政府总统。

the President of the United States of America.

And that's the important lesson I think you can take away,

而且这是很重要的一课我认为你们能够学到的，

也是我想留给你们的要点。

and the one I want to leave you with.

政客们小心翼翼地选择用词，并利用词汇塑造

Politicians try to pick and use words to shape and control reality,

和控制现实，但是事实上，

but in fact,

reality changes words far more than words can ever change reality.

现实改变词汇远远超过

词汇能改变的现实。

非常感谢。

Thank you very much.