又中又英 | Dish the dirt | 褚簡寧

　　There is an old saying that knowledge is power. All military leaders try to acquire knowledge about their enemies. Knowing the battle plan of an enemy empowers a military leader. Politicians acquire knowledge to defeat their opponents. Some politicians try to find scandals involving their opponents during elections. This knowledge gives them the power to dish the dirt on opponents. To dish the dirt means to reveal shocking or scandalous personal information about others. Investigative journalists try to find scandals about powerful people to dish the dirt on them.

　　I used to be an investigative reporter years ago but am now just a modest columnist! I spend several hours on the internet every morning to familiarize myself with the latest news. I also watch YouTube shows about politics and other topics. I acquire knowledge to get ideas for this column, not to dish the dirt on anyone! One YouTuber I sometimes listen to is a critic of Elon Musk, the world’s richest person. He recently used the expression “just deserts” to criticize Musk. US President Donald Trump has given Musk sweeping powers to cut government spending. The expression “sweeping powers” means a lot of power.

　　Musk’s popularity sank after he used his sweeping powers to fire thousands of government workers and close or shrink government agencies that many Americans depended on. They boycotted, set fire to, and even sold their own Tesla cars, causing the company’s stock price to sink. The YouTuber said Musk got his “just deserts”, which means the punishment one deserves. The word “deserts” in this expression is pronounced like desserts, which are sweet things. It is not pronounced like deserts, which are dry and sandy places. 

　　有一句老話道：知識就是力量。所有軍事領袖都嘗試獲取其敵人的資訊，能夠知悉敵方的作戰計劃，得以增加一個軍事領袖的權力。政客亦需要獲取能打敗對手的資訊，在競選期間一些政客就嘗試搜羅有關對手的醜聞，這種認知讓他們有能力去向對手dish the dirt—to dish the dirt是指去揭露他人一些駭人聽聞又或可恥丟臉的個人資訊。調查記者總是在搜刮有權力人士的醜聞，好能揭其陰私（dish the dirt）。

　　許多年前我亦曾經擔任調查記者，但我現在只是個卑微的專欄作家。每朝早我也會花幾小時上網，去了解最新的新聞。我也會收看YouTube上關於政治和其他題目的頻道。我增進知識，是為了取得靈感去寫這個專欄，而不是為了揭誰的陰私（dish the dirt）！我有時會聽一個YouTuber的頻道，他是世界首富伊隆．馬斯克的批評者，他最近用一個習語“just deserts”去抨擊馬斯克。美國總統唐納德．特朗普給予馬斯克sweeping powers去削減政府開銷，習語sweeping powers是指重大的權力。

　　馬斯克用其橫掃千軍的力量（sweeping powers）去裁掉數以萬計的政府員工，及關閉或縮減許多美國人所倚賴的政府機構以後，其民望大幅插水。人們杯葛、縱火，甚至賣掉他們自己的特斯拉汽車，導致公司股價一落千丈。那位YouTuber說，馬斯克得到他的“just deserts”了，意即一個人應得的報應。在這個習語中，“deserts”的發音像甜品desserts，而不是像沙漠deserts般發音。

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Michael Chugani褚簡寧
中譯：七刻