又中又英 | A crapshoot | 褚簡寧
What goes on inside the head of US President Donald Trump? No one knows for sure. He likes to keep everyone guessing, sometimes even his closest advisers, about his policy decisions until the last minute. Trying to guess what he will do is like a crapshoot. The word “crapshoot” means something that the result of which is unpredictable. Trump had threatened for a long time to invade Venezuela. Not everyone believed him, including Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro who thought Trump was bluffing (pretending). But Trump ordered the invasion of Venezuela in a lightning raid that captured Maduro.
A lightning raid is a very fast, sudden, and surprise attack. Trump is now threatening to attack Iran and acquire Greenland. Is he bluffing? Guessing what he will do is again like a crapshoot. He has also threatened to put boots on the ground. The expression “boots on the ground”, as I have explained before, means soldiers on the ground in a war zone sent there by a particular country. The expression only applies to soldiers, not the navy or air force. The expression nowadays can also be used when police or other people are physically present in a place doing their work.
Will Trump put boots on the ground in Iran and Greenland? The US already has a space force base in Greenland. Denmark and Greenland, which is an autonomous territory of Denmark, have both said they welcome American boots on the ground but don’t want Greenland to be a part of the US. I don’t think Trump will put boots on the ground in Iran although he may order air strikes like he did recently.
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美國總統特朗普的葫蘆裏到底是賣甚麼藥？沒有人確切知道。他喜歡要所有人－－有時甚至包括他的心腹顧問－－到最後一刻都在猜度他的政策決定。嘗試估計他下一步會做甚麼，就像a crapshoot－－crapshoot是指某事結果像擲骰子一般難以預料。特朗普威脅要進攻委內瑞拉已很久了，並非人人都相信他，包括委內瑞拉總統馬杜羅，他之前也認為特朗普只是虛張聲勢（bluffing）。然而，特朗普卻下令以lightning raid的方式進攻委內瑞拉，捉拿了馬杜羅。
A lightning raid是非常快速、突然、閃電式的突襲。現在，特朗普又威脅要攻打伊朗和取得格陵蘭。他又只是虛張聲勢，嚇唬嚇唬一下（bluffing）嗎？要猜中他之後會做甚麼，又是難以預料的（crapshoot）。他亦威脅要put boots on the ground。正如我從前解釋過的，習語boots on the ground是指某一國派遣到戰地的地面步兵。這個習語僅適用於陸軍，而不適用於海軍或空軍。今天這個習語也可以用來說警察或其他人到現場前線實地工作。
特朗普可會派遣地面部隊（boots on the ground）到伊朗和格陵蘭？美國在格陵蘭已經有一個太空軍基地。丹麥以至丹麥的自治國格陵蘭，同樣說他們歡迎美國地面部隊（boots on the ground），但不想格陵蘭變成美國的一部分。我不認為特朗普會派步兵（boots on the ground）到伊朗，但他或者會下令空襲，一如他最近做過的。
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Michael Chugani褚簡寧
中譯：七刻
