又中又英 | Stone - cold Liar | 褚簡寧

　　Have you ever lied? I would be lying to myself if I said I have never lied. We have all told lies. But the type of lie is what makes one liar different from another. Most people have told white lies. A white lie is a harmless lie or a lie that a person tells to be polite or to avoid hurting someone with the truth. People who tell white lies are different from natural liars, compulsive liars and pathological liars. A natural liar is the most common type. Natural liars are people who can lie easily with great skill but they, of course, don't believe in their own lies.

　　Compulsive liars lie out of habit, often without realizing it, to relieve stress or anxiety. Pathological liars lie intentionally to manipulate others, cover up something, or to create a certain image of themselves. Many critics of US President Donald Trump have accused him of being a pathological liar. California Governor Gavin Newsom, who has taken legal action against Trump's decision to use the National Guard to deal with protests in Los Angeles, called Trump a stone-cold liar last week. The expression "stone-cold" can be used in several ways but used this way describes someone with no feelings or emotions.

　　A stone-cold liar is someone who tells lies without regret or feelings. Newsom called Trump a stone-cold liar several times after accusing Trump of publicly lying about what they discussed in a phone call regarding the Los Angeles protests. The expression “stone-cold liar” is similar to a barefaced liar. A barefaced liar is someone who tells an obvious lie without feeling any shame.

　　你可曾說過謊？我如果說我從未曾說謊，那就是騙自己的。我們人人都撒過謊。然而，說謊者卻不盡相同，視乎他是說哪一種類型的謊話。大部分人都曾說過「白色謊言」（white lies）。A white lie是無害的謊言，又或是出於禮貌或避免說真話會傷害對方而說的善意謊言。說善意謊言（white lies）的人跟natural liars、compulsive liars及pathological liars是不同的。A natural liar是最常見的一種，這種天生的說謊者能滿有技巧地輕易說謊，但當然他們也不會相信自己的謊話。

　　Compulsive liars是說謊成性的人，他們出於習慣，為了紓緩壓力或焦慮而強逼性說謊，甚至很多時候不自知。Pathological liars則是病態說謊者，為了操控他人、掩藏某事，又或給自己塑造某種特定的形象而故意說謊。許多批評美國總統當勞．特朗普的人都指責他是個病態說謊者（pathological liars）。加州州長加文．紐森，已就特朗普使用國民警衛隊處理洛杉磯示威的決定採取法律行動，他上星期稱呼特朗普為stone-cold liar——習語stone-cold可以有幾種用法，但在這裏是用來形容某人鐵石心腸、沒有感受或情緒的。

　　A stone-cold liar是一個人說謊而毫不悔疚、毫無感受。紐森指控特朗普對於2人就洛杉磯示威通話的內容公開撒謊，其後他數度稱呼特朗普為鐵石心腸的撒謊者（stone-cold liar）。習語 stone-cold liar跟barefaced liar的意思相近，a barefaced liar就是公然說了個明顯的謊言，卻還能厚顏無恥的人。

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Michael Chugani褚簡寧
中譯：七刻