又中又英 | Have its clock cleaned | 褚簡寧

　　Many of you will know about the clock tower which is a part of Parliament in London. I saw it numerous times as a reporter in London before the 1997 reunification when I went to Parliament’s press gallery. Most people call the clock tower Big Ben, but the official name since 2012 is the Elizabeth Tower to honour the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign. It was called the Clock Tower before 2012. Big Ben is the nickname of the Great Bell inside the clock tower. Some people still have a small alarm clock to wake them up in the morning.

　　But most people use their smartphone alarm nowadays. It is, of course, not necessary to clean your clock, unlike Big Ben and the clock tower near the Kowloon Star Ferry, which require regular cleaning. The expressions "clean your clock" and "get your clock cleaned" also have a different meaning from cleaning a clock. To clean someone's clock means to hit someone or totally defeat someone in a sporting event. If you had your clock cleaned, it means someone hit you or defeated you in a sporting event.

　　Donald Trump’s Republican Party now controls both houses of the US Congress. But the party fears it may have its clock cleaned by the Democratic Party in the November 3 midterm elections. Polls show the Democrats will likely win control of the House of Representatives and possibly the Senate. The political party that controls Congress usually loses midterm elections. Barack Obama's Democratic Party, which controlled Congress during his first term as president, got its clock cleaned by Republicans in the 2010 midterm elections by losing control of the House. Obama called it a shellacking, which means a complete defeat.

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

　　許多人都知道那個包括在倫敦國會範圍內的鐘樓。九七回歸前，我以記者身份去國會記者席時，就見過它無數次。大多數人都叫那鐘樓為大笨鐘（Big Ben），但它自2012年起，便有了一個官方名稱為伊利沙伯塔（Elizabeth Tower），以尊崇伊利沙伯二世在位60周年。鐘樓在2012年前則被稱為 Clock Tower。Big Ben是鐘樓內那個大鐘鈴的暱稱。有些人還是會用一個細小的鬧鐘去喚醒自己早上起床。

　　但現在大多數人都用智能電話的響鬧功能，那當然就沒有需要去洗你的鐘（clean your clock），不像大笨鐘（Big Ben）和九龍天星碼頭附近的那個鐘樓，它們都需要定期清潔。習語"clean your clock"和"get your clock cleaned"除了說清潔時鐘以外，也有另外一個意思。To clean someone's clock是指去在比賽中擊倒或徹底打敗某人。若你 had your clock cleaned，意即某人在賽事中擊倒你或打敗了你。

　　特朗普的共和黨現在掌控美國國會參眾兩院。但他們害怕會在11月3日的中期選舉中被民主黨擊敗（have its clock cleaned）。民調顯示，民主黨很可能奪回眾議院的控制權，也可能同時取下參議院。能掌控國會的政黨常常於中期選舉中落敗。奧巴馬所屬的民主黨，在其第一任總統任期期間掌控了國會，亦在2010年中期選舉中失去了兩院的掌控權，被共和黨人打得落花流水（got its clock cleaned）。奧巴馬稱之為shellacking，意即被徹底擊敗。

[email protected]
Michael Chugani褚簡寧
中譯：七刻