又中又英 | Loose lips sink ships | 褚簡寧
Silence is golden. Many of you will know this saying, which means it's often better to say nothing than to talk too much. But a lot of people like to blab. To blab means to talk too much or carelessly about secrets that you should not share with others. Reporters try hard to get exclusive news from people, such as government officials, by making them blab about things that are confidential. I must admit I tried to do that too when I was a reporter. There is an American saying that warns people against blabbing.
The saying is "loose lips sink ships". The expression "loose lips" is used to describe people who talk too much, especially about sensitive issues, that they should not be discussing with others. It is similar to the word "blab". The idiom "loose lips sink ships" originated during World War II when the US government put up posters urging the military and ordinary Americans to avoid careless talk that could benefit the enemy. The message of the wartime posters was that enemy spies could sink American warships if they found out about military secrets through careless talk by US citizens.
It was also meant to discourage Americans from spreading rumours, even true ones, that could hurt morale during the war, such as military setbacks. The idiom "loose lips sink ships" is used nowadays to discourage people from discussing private or sensitive issues that could cause a negative effect, such as a stock market sell-off.
Silence is golden.你們很多人都知道這句老話，它的意思是「沉默是金」，很多時候不說話比說太多要來得好。但許多人都喜歡blab——to blab是指喋喋不休、多嘴，又或隨便洩露一些你不應該跟人說的秘密。記者們都努力嘗試令某些人，例如政府官員大講特講（blab）一些機密的資訊，以求從他們取得獨家新聞。我必須承認，我當記者時也試過那樣做。有一個美式諺語，警戒人不要多嘴亂說（blabbing）。
那句諺語是"loose lips sink ships"。習語"loose lips"是用來形容那些「口疏」、關不住嘴巴的人，他們容易洩露一些不應該跟人說的敏感議題。它跟"blab"一字意思相近。成語"loose lips sink ships"源自二次世界大戰，當時美國政府張貼海報，力勸軍隊與一般的美國人避免草率說話，以免敵方得益。這個戰時海報要傳遞的訊息是，敵方間諜若能從美國公民一些疏忽的談話中發現軍事秘密，足以擊沉美國的戰艦。
那亦是用來阻止美國人散布流言，即使是真的，例如戰況受挫，因為那會在戰爭期間損害士氣。今天，成語"loose lips sink ships"則是用來勸阻人討論私人或敏感議題，以免帶來負面影響，例如股票市場的拋售。
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Michael Chugani褚簡寧
中譯：七刻
