又中又英 | Shifting words | 褚簡寧
When is a war not a war? That depends on the shifting words President Donald Trump, and his top officials, have used to describe the joint US-Israel attack against Iran. Shifting words means always changing words. Some US officials have used the word "war" to describe the attack on Iran. They then walked back on the word "war" and used other words instead. To walk back on something means to retract or change an opinion you had expressed before. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has often called the attack on Iran a war.
He has also used shifting words such as an ongoing campaign and epic fury to describe the attack. The word "epic" means a very long poem or movie that contains a lot of action. Fury means extreme anger. The words "epic" and "fury" combined mean very long anger. The US has named the Iran attack Operation Epic Fury. Other US officials have called Operation Epic Fury a military operation and decisive action. Trump occasionally used the word "war" but later walked back by calling the Iran attack an excursion. This doesn't make sense because the word "excursion" means a short trip for pleasure.
He said last week he prefers not to use the word "war" because only the US Congress can declare war against another country. The Congress has not declared war on Iran. But the Associated Press (AP) news agency is calling it a war because it believes the joint US-Israel military conflict with Iran fits the description of a war. Iran and the US have not formally declared war on each other.
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甚麼時候戰爭不是戰爭？這就取決於美國總統特朗普和他的高官們用哪些shifting words去形容美國與以色列對伊朗的聯合攻擊了。Shifting words是指常常轉換用詞。一些美國官員會用上「戰爭war」這個字眼去形容對伊朗的攻擊，他們其後又會收回（walked back）war一字，而改用其他字眼。To walk back on something是指你撤回或改變你曾發表的一個意見。美國國防部長赫格塞斯就不時把對伊朗的襲擊稱為戰爭。
他亦有轉換用詞（shifting words），以正在進行的戰役和epic fury去形容這場襲擊。Epic是指一首很長的史詩，又或是有許多動作元素的史詩式電影。Fury則解暴怒。Epic和fury結合起來便解作長久的怒火。美國將對伊朗的襲擊稱為「史詩怒火行動」（Operation Epic Fury）。其他美國官員將「史詩怒火行動」（Operation Epic Fury）稱為軍事行動和決定性的行動。特朗普有時會用上戰爭一詞，但後來又收回（walked back），改稱對伊朗的襲擊為excursion。但這又說不通，因為excursion一字是解作玩樂的短程旅行。
他上星期說，他不願用「戰爭」一詞，因為只有美國國會才能向另一個國家宣戰。國會並未向伊朗宣戰。然而新聞機構美聯社將之稱為戰爭，因為它認為美國與以色列聯合跟伊朗的軍事衝突，符合戰爭的描述。伊朗和美國雙方都沒有正式向對方宣戰。
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Michael Chugani褚簡寧
中譯：七刻
