On the fence 恒友们都很熟悉吧.之前"每日一词"也出现过,大家是否记得呢?
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做出决定。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”,也就是说,还没有决定投赞成票,还是反对票。下面就是一例:
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.
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。
难以做出决定是正常的。但是,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:
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.
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,然后才决定投什么票。就这样,他竟然当了十年议员。

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atongmu (2008-9-16 11:56:07)
engliwei (2008-9-16 13:35:56)
yunyi (2008-9-16 14:04:41)
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strawhat (2008-9-25 07:52:39)
anon (2008-9-25 08:53:42)
sit on the fence
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