细说英语粗话:32. Idiot

32. Idiot

 idiot 白痴，蠢货，笨蛋

 idiocy 白痴的行为，荒唐的举动

 you idiot！ 你这个白痴!

 idiotic 白痴的，愚蠢的，馊的，荒唐的

1. bet 是说话者主观的判断及信心，多为第一人称用语，如I’ll bet that he’ll succeed（我相信他会成功）；用于第二人称时，亦为强调说话者（第一人称）的“保证”，如Are you coming tomorrow? (你明天来吗?）回答是You bet!（当然会来!）；you bet也作“应该的”，“不谢”解。

1. Come clean 吐实情，来真的。可解释为是动词+副词，因clean可当副词，如Let’s play the game clean. （光明正大地比赛。）但也许有人会认为come只表现为连系动词功能，所以clean是主语的补语，应是形容词。

1. idiot 白痴，蠢货，笨蛋

A. Two idiots jumped off a pier. The first one dove in，apparently head first，and was injured…if the second one had jumped1 feet first，he probably wouldn’t have been injured at all. But he also went in head first.

(N.Y.Post，5/1/98)

两个蠢材从码头上跳下水里，第一个明明是头先着水，受了伤，第二个如果以脚先入水，大概就一点也不会受伤，可是他也是依样画葫芦。

注：

1. If+had+P.P.配合would+have+P.P.是过去式的虚拟语气 （Past subjunctive mood），与过去事实相反的假定。

A. Why is it that teachers always like to seat me near the complete idiots of the class? Do they think that somehow it will make them grow more brain cells?

(摘录自网络)

为何老师总是爱叫我跟班上的纯白痴坐在一起?他们是否认为这么做，会使白痴多长脑细胞啊?

A. “I think the guys who made the rule for the design of these boats are idiots，” said Koch….“I think these boats are incredibly dangerous， very expensive and foolish，” he said. “I think someone is going to get hurt out here. I fear in a collision the deck could collapse.”

(Sports Illustrated,5/20/91)

卡哲说：“我认为制定这些船只设计规则的人是白痴，这些船只极为危险，又贵又不明智，将会有人受伤。我怕的是互撞时，甲板会崩塌。”

注：

1. crap 在文中是名词，“烂东西”之意，当使役动词leave的宾语。crap加了“-ing”成形容词“大大的”，以加强语气，与damned同义，如I asked him to help himself to the cookies，and he took a crapping handful. （我请他随意拿饼干吃，他就他妈的抓了一大把。)

A. Anyone who judges people by what they own or do1 for a living is an idiot. Even children know this. So if you are working so hard to impress people who are idiots， then you are even dumber than they are.

(Good Housekeeping， 1/1/98)

以拥有的财产或糊口的方式评议他人者乃是白痴，连小孩子都知道这一点。因此，如果下功夫使白痴觉得你了不起，那么你比白痴还要笨。

A. Being around2 a real idiot is not easy，whether you are legally bound in marriage to one or merely a teammate of one，and the NFL3 has tried its best over the years to dissuade Cox4 from being a real idiot. He has been fined more than ＄130,000 for various behavioral flaws in his career, including obscene gestures，personal fouls5 and spitting.

(The Washington Times，8/5/98)

哪怕是合法嫁给他或仅是他的队友，跟货真价实的笨蛋为伍并不容易。全国橄榄球职业联盟历年来也努力劝导卡克斯别成为真的白痴。在其职业生涯中，他曾因各种行为上的瑕疵——包括猥亵动作、个人违规及吐痰——而被罚13万多美金。

注：

1. by what they own or do… 在介词后面所加的核心词汇限于：名词、名词短语、代名词、代名词短语、动名词、动名词短语、名词从句及观念性名词类。不可加有名词功能的infinitive。

2. being around（someone） 是“在……周围”之意。注意此处being是动名词，并非现在分词，现在分词在功能上不是形容词，就是副词，不可能是名词，请注意二者区别。又alien being（外星人）、 human being（人）、Supreme Being（上帝）的being是纯名词。

3. NFL 全国橄榄球职业联盟（National Football League）。该联盟在 1922年成立，今旗下有二组共30支球队。详情见拙作《运动英语》（Sports English）附录（台湾商务印书馆出版）。

4. Cox 纽约喷射机职橄队（New York Jets）队员。

5. personal fouls 指无必要而故意撞击对手。

2. idiocy 愚蠢的行为，荒唐的行为

A. A good way to combat idiocy1 is to turn up the volume2 and do nothing. Sometimes，it seems，people forget this. They let anger get in the way，and they combat idiocy with idiocy3， thereby clouding their cause in contradiction4.

(University Wire，11/24/98）

对抗愚蠢的行为有良方，是让这种行为自暴其短。有时大家好像忘记了这一点。大家一怒，乱了阵脚，结果以愚蠢来对抗愚蠢，在自我矛盾中迷失方向。

注：

1. idiocy 此处隐喻美国某大学校园内三K党的荒唐示威活动。

2. turn up the volume “把声音放大”，隐喻“无须动武，单凭言论自由（free speech）”，让三K党更大声地暴露其充满仇恨的偏激言论，以求公断。

3. combat idiocy with idiocy 隐喻校方叫警局来取缔，互相僵持，无异火上加油。

4. clouding their cause in contradiction 使得［消灭三K党的］目的被自我矛盾所蒙蔽，得反效果。（目的是消弭三K党，使天下太平，但因叫警方取缔，乃迎合三K党的暴力行为模式，反而助长恶人气焰。）

A. “It seems to me this whole idea of a war on drugs is idiocy，” he says. “This idiocy of ‘just say no’2 …It’s all window dressing3 of the most idiotic kind.”

(Denver Rocky Mountain News，5/16/97)

他说：“我总觉得，对毒品宣战的整个概念是荒唐的，这个‘只要说不’的荒唐调调都是极其不智的一种表面功夫。”

注：

1. 此节录自名导演路默特（Sidney Lumet）对消灭毒品的看法。

2. just say no 是里根总统夫人针对美国年轻人所提倡的拒毒话，被视为治标不治本。

3. window dressing 以“点缀橱窗”喻“表面功夫”，即“治标”之谓。

3. yon idiot! 你这个白痴!

A. That really hurts! I’m gonna have a lump there, you idiot! Who throws a shoe? Honestly! You fight like a woman!

(Austin Powers：International Man of Mystery（1997）影片白)

好痛呀!你这个白痴!这儿将会肿起来!哪种人是扔鞋子的呀?说真的，你打起架来活像个女人啊!

1. feel like 想要，喜爱，是及物动词短语，常以动名词（gerund）充其宾语。注意，并非所有动词都可用动名词当宾语，要记住习惯用法，有的要用不定式（in finitives），或二者兼用。

1. idiot 白痴的

A. Lawyers should never marry other lawyers. This is called “inbreeding，” from which comes idiot children and more lawyers.

(Adam’s Rib（1949）影片中的对白)

律师永不该与律师结婚，这叫做“近亲交配”，生出来的是白痴小孩和更多的律师。

注：

影片中的对白虽属戏谑之言，但美国人讨厌律师的程度由此可见。

2. idiotic 愚蠢的

A. As the boss，I know that some people always will agree with me because l am the boss，no matter how preposterous my notions…. So I often couch my suggestions with phrases that invite disagreement. If I say，“Maybe this is an idiotic idea，but…”，it somehow makes it easier for people to point out that it is idiotic.

(Minneapolis Star Tribune，12/9/97)

身为老板的我知道，哪怕我的主意多愚蠢，就因我是老板，有些人总是唯唯诺诺……为此，我常使用足以引来不同意的话语，如果我说：“这可能是个馊主意，不过……。”这么一来，可让人家更容易振振有词，证明馊主意的出处了。

A. Perhaps it’s time we accepted the fact that there always will be idiotic people who do detestably idiotic things like flag burning. Then perhaps we can get on1 with the more pressing issues in our society.

(L.A. Times，Orange County Edition，7/26/98)

总会有不智的人做出像烧毁国旗那般令人怄气的愚行。或许此刻我们得承认这个事实。然而，我们也许应该向前去顾及社会上更急迫的问题。

注：

1. get on 继续。通常后随介词with…的短语，表示“继续去处理……”。get on另有他意，请参见“Ass”及“bum me out”二例。