金融时报:几个词读懂德国政坛

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2022年04月02日

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几个词读懂德国政坛

德语单词的构词规则简单粗暴，只需将两个词放到一起就可以捏出一个新词。想在9月24日的德国大选前了解德国政坛的情况，我们也可以从这些有趣的词汇入手。当一个德国人对你说：“我默克尔了。”他指的是什么？哪一群人被德国人民发了好人卡？“车站鼓掌家”又是在讽刺谁？

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：

cartel[kɑːr'tel] n.联合企业

blatantly['bleɪtəntli] adv. 公开地，悍然地

cosset['kɑːsɪt] v. 宠爱，溺爱

moderate['mɑːdərət] v.节制，使…稳定

insofar[ˌɪnsəʊ'fɑː] adv. 只要，在…范围内

scrap[skræp] vt.扔弃

pejorative[pɪ'dʒɔːrətɪv] adj. 贬低的，轻蔑的

clapper ['klæpə(r)] n.响板，鼓掌者

traitor['treɪtə(r)] n.叛徒，卖国贼

berate[bɪ'reɪt] vt.严责

connote[kə'nəʊt] vt.意思就是

acronym['ækrənɪm] n.缩写字

chagrin['ʃæɡrɪn] vt.使…懊恼

locomotive[ˌləʊkə'məʊtɪv] n.火车头

A guide to understanding the German election(676 words)

By Simon Kuper

In German you can create new words almost ad infinitum, usually by bolting existing words together. One way to understand Germany’s elections of September 24 is therefore to look at the country’s current political vocabulary, from Genderwahn to merkeln.

Autoland (literally, land of cars). On the upside, the car industry is Germany’s economic motor. On the downside, the Autolobby is also often Germany’s political motor, much as Wall Street is in the US or the City in the UK. Germany’s Autokartell (car cartel) has its own revolving door with politics. Most blatantly, Matthias Wissmann, president of the automobile industry’s trade body, is a former Christian Democratic transport minister. The German foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel (sometimes known as Siggi Pop) was a government representative on Volkswagen’s supervisory board and later worked for a communications firm that advised the company.

Cosseted by government, car companies felt free to lie for years about their diesel emissions, until Dieselgate (or der Abgasskandal) broke in 2015. The Autolobby also moderates the much-trumpeted German Energiewende, or shift away from fossil fuels. Germany will reduce emissions only insofar as that doesn’t upset carmakers, the small but potent Braunkohle-Lobby (coal lobby) or, indeed, green Fundis (fundamentalists) who insisted the country scrap its nuclear reactors.

Gutmensch (good person). The word is mostly used pejoratively, to describe supposedly naive leftie self-hating Muslim-hugging Germans. Bahnhofsklatscher (literally, station clappers) are the Gutmenschen who stood in train stations in September 2015 applauding arriving refugees. The Bahnhofsklatscher themselves thought they were expressing a new German Willkommenskultur (welcoming culture).

The rival tribe to the Gutmenschen are the Wutbürger (furious citizens). Gutmenschen and Wutbürger are roughly Germany’s equivalents of “Blue” and “Red” Americans, but with less risk of civil war. Older Wutbürger are sometimes known as Hassrentner (hate-pensioners), though Wutbürger prefer to call themselves besorgte Bürger (concerned citizens). They berate Gutmenschen for their Hypermoral (hypermorality) and Genderwahn (delusions about gender issues).

Lügenpresse (lying press) is one of several words favoured by the Nazis and now revived by Wutbürger. Another is Volksverräter (traitor to the people), which can be applied to any mainstream politician. Frauke Petry, leader of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland party, got into trouble for trying to revive völkisch, an adjective that historically connotes a racially defined German people, or Volk.

Mutti (Mummy), the nickname of current and future chancellor Angela Merkel. After 12 years as chancellor, Merkel is regarded by many Germans almost as a family member. Her tics are instantly recognisable. The Raute, or diamond, is the shape she makes with her hands when posing for photographs. (According to conspiracy theorists cited by the British Daily Express tabloid, the “secret hand sign” betrays her membership of the Illuminati secret society.) Postwar Germans prefer their chancellors familiar, Christian Democratic and dull: Konrad Adenauer served for 14 years and Helmut Kohl for 16.

Merkel even has her own verb, merkeln, which means to not make decisions, to kick the can down the road, as has been her general strategy during the Eurocrisis. (Popular usage: “Asked to attend his mother-in-law’s birthday, he merkelte.”)

Merkeln doesn’t necessarily stem from cowardice or indecisiveness. Rather, Merkel believes that if you don’t immediately try to solve a problem, the problem often either changes or goes away. Merkeln entails ignoring media who demand a solution this week, when governments ought to be thinking 20 years ahead.

Schwarze Null (literally, black zero) refers to the German government’s policy of aiming for a budget that’s either balanced (zero) or in the black. After 44 years of deficits, the state has scored three black zeros in a row since 2014. This is a source of pride in Germany and of chagrin in other European countries, which want Germany to be their economic locomotive. German scorn for foreign debtors is captured in the tabloid phrase Pleite-Griechen (literally, broke Greeks). Always remember that the German word Schuld means both debt and guilt.

Umvolkung (roughly, forced change in the population’s ethnic composition). The word captures the fears of Wutbürger that Merkel is replacing their Volk with Muslims and other Passdeutsche (passport Germans). A related word is Volkstod, or death of the people.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.What does the word Autoland mean according to the article?

A. Car companies in German were found cheated on their diesel emissions.

B. Germany’s car cartel has its own revolving door with politics.

C. Car industry is Germany’s economic motor as Wall Street is in the US.

D. Car industry has great influence on both economy and politics in Germany.

答案(1)

2.Which two words are roughly Germany’s equivalents of “Blue” and “Red” Americans?

A. Gutmenschen and Wutbürger.

B. Gutmenschen and Hassrentner.

C. Bahnhofsklatscher and Wutbürger.

D. Hypermoral and Wutbürger.