时间:2019-02-03 作者:英语课 分类:美国习惯用语


英语课

on the fence


maverick 1


各种语言都有一套特殊的政治词汇,美国英语也不例外。美国国会议员在通过各项法案时经常要投票表示自己的立场。但是,有些议员在面临有争议的法案时往往感到难以作出决定。美国人把这种情况叫做:on the fence。Fence就是"篱笆"。On-the-fence的意思也就是骑在篱笆上,左右不定。下面就是一例:


例句-1: Sorry, friend: I can't tell you right now how I will vote on the new tax bill. I'm still on the fence: I'm looking for more information before I decide which way I'll jump.


这位议员说:朋友,对不起,我现在还不能告诉你我对这个有关税收的新法案如何投票。我还没有决定。在我决定站在哪一边以前,我还要了解更多的情况。


On the fence也可能指那种两面观望,看准了如何行动才对自己有好处的所谓"骑墙派"。下面就是一个典型的例子:


例句-2: That man has managed to stay in office for ten years by being a regular fence-sitter. He never makes up his mind how to vote on an issue until he's sure whether most voters are for or against it.


这是说:"那个人在投票前总是要先看准了大多数选民是赞成还是反对,然后再决定投什么票。就这样,他竟然当了十年议员。"


******


一般来说,忠实的民主党员或者是共和党员基本上会按照党的决定来投票。但是,每个党里都有一些非常独立、很有主见的人,他们往往不按照党的意志去投票。所以很难预料他们会站在那一边。美国人把这种人称谓:maverick。


Maverick是大约一百五十年前得克萨斯州一个牧场主的名字。当时,各农场之间是没有铁丝网隔开的,牲口可以到处去吃草。一般农场主都在自己的牛身上打上自己的记号,可是Maverick却不在乎,他的牲口身上没有任何记号。后来,当其他牧场主看到没有记号的牲口时,他们就会说:'看,那是Maverick的牲口!'现在,Maverick这个字已经用到政治上来,形容那些有独立主见,不像大多数党员跟着自己党的意志行事的议员。下面请听一位党的领导人说的话:


例句-3: This vote on the foreign trade bill is going to be close, and I sure wish we could be sure of that man's support. But he's such a maverick we can't count on his voting with the party.


他说:两个党在这个外贸法案上的票数肯定会非常接近。我真是希望能够得到那个人的支持,但是他的独立性非常强,没有办法肯定他是否会跟着党的意思去投票。


可是,maverick有时倒也很受人尊重下面这句话里说的就是一例:


例句-4: Congressman 2 Black is a real maverick but the voters keep sending him back to Washington. They admire a man who votes the way he really feels instead of just trying to please the voters all the time.


这是说:布莱克议员是一个真正独行其事的人,但是选民们不断投他的票,推选他到华盛顿去当议员。选民们很钦佩他,因为他总是根据自己真正的想法去投票,而不是单纯想讨好选民。



adj.特立独行的;不遵守传统的;n.持异议者,自行其是者
  • He's a maverick.He has his own way of thinking about things.他是个特异独行的人。对事情有自己的看法。
  • You're a maverick and you'll try anything.你是个爱自行其是的人,样样事情都要尝试一下。
n.(美)国会议员
  • He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
  • The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。
学英语单词
a strake
activated sludge filamentation bulking
adder accumulator
al faw (fao)
alkaline incrusted cystitis
apple jellies
B. & T.
bar disintegrator
baseball-card
be in favour
be no end fine
big-endian and little-endian
bolivian monetary units
boyis
camshaft gear drive
cap flashing
Cardium
cavetti
chinese calligraphy
claimants ledger
conversational report
crab winch
cutting over
delay mixing
deletes
demeurer
dhoruba
diatomaceous chert
double counterpoint in the twelfth
Dove Dale
energy-intensive technology
esc.
Ethershare
evaporable waste
Evenk
expendient
false reed
flour
forward current rating
genuflect
guardaba
hand driven generator
hattrick
heat exchange in sea
ice cream slab
indicine
individual cylinder
inhabited building distance
inherent opening time
ioderma
ko gaku (japan)
Kǒmdǒksan
mace butter
Madison River
mat matter
matrix gate
micro-code
monosyaptic reflex
multiple terminal
N-dimethylcyclohexaneethylamine
Nafrine
nuclear magnetic resonance computerized tomography
ordinal indicator
ordinary budget
Paleo-Siberian languages
Paneth and Hevesy method
passing shot
physik
pilot light burner
polyphenol-aldehyde fibre reinforcement
precompute
preferee
pry bars
Puricama
raphe of scrotum
rejoindure
roller cone
run-up brake
Salix microphyta
salmorejo
salvage group
scammoniae resina
scummers
semibatch selectivity
Serangoon, Pulau
Sitosterln
slamkins
sphinx-likest
sulfhydryl compound
super typhoon
taxable base
transfrontal orbitotomy
trial at nisi prius
triphenylguanidine
ultraviolet absorber fixative
unique array
unsupportively
vertical sliding window
vessel detection
virusin
yellow-orange leaf