又中又英 | Unsightly smudge | 褚簡寧

　　Have you ever tried throwing spaghetti at your wall to see if it sticks? I never have and never will. The spaghetti may or may not stick but some sauce will for sure. It doesn't matter if it's Bolognese, a red sauce, or Alfredo, a white sauce. The sauce will leave an unsightly smudge on your wall that could be difficult or impossible to clean. A smudge is a large or small dirty mark on a surface, such as a wall. The word "unsightly" means ugly or unattractive to look at.

　　I have never heard of anyone throwing spaghetti at a wall but have read about US President Donald Trump throwing his lunch at the wall of his White House dining room in a fit of rage. To be in a fit of rage means to be suddenly very angry. Trump's lunch left an unsightly smudge on the wall. Cassidy Hutchinson, a White House aide at the time, told a Congressional hearing into the January 2021 storming of Congress by Trump supporters that Trump threw his lunch at the wall after his Attorney General told him there was no voter fraud in the 2020 election when Joe Biden defeated him. Cassidy said she helped clean up ketchup on the wall.

　　The idiom “throw spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks” means to try many ideas or strategies at the same time to see which one works. Some political commentators have used the idiom to describe Trump and his Republican Party trying different ideas to see which one will win back voters now that polls show Democrats will likely win the November 3 Congressional elections because of Trump’s unpopular policies.

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　　你可有試過將意粉拋擲上牆，看看它可會貼在牆上？我不曾試過，也不會嘗試。意粉或許會或不會貼在牆上，但或多或少一定會有些醬汁黏着，不論那是紅醬的肉醬意粉（Bolognese），還是白醬的芝士白汁意粉（Alfredo）。醬汁會在牆上留下一個unsightly smudge，很難清潔甚或無法清除。A smudge 是在某一表面，例如牆壁上的一塊大或小的污漬。Unsightly則指有礙觀瞻、難看的。

　　我就從未聽說過有人把意粉拋擲上牆，但就讀到美國總統特朗普在其白宮的飯廳內，大發雷霆（fit of rage）將他的午餐砸上牆。To be in a fit of rage 是指突然暴怒。特朗普的午餐在牆上留下了一抹很難看的污漬（unsightly smudge）。在有關2021年1月特朗普支持者闖入國會大樓的國會聽證會上，時任白宮助理卡西迪•哈欽森訴說，當司法部長跟特朗普說2020年祖•拜登擊敗他的選舉中並無舞弊後，他就將午餐砸上牆。哈欽森說她得幫忙清除牆上的茄汁。

　　成語“throw spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks”是指同一時間試試各種不同的想法或策略，看看哪一個成功。一些政治評論員也用這個成語，去形容特朗普和他的共和黨，正在嘗試各種方法去贏回選民的歡心，因為現在的民調顯示，因着特朗普諸多不受歡迎的政策，民主黨極有可能在11月3日的國會選舉中獲勝。

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Michael Chugani褚簡寧
中譯：七刻