又中又英——a hill of beans

　　A headline in the Washington Post last week caught my attention. It said: “Ivanka Trump is full of beans”. Ivanka is the daughter of US President Donald Trump. The headline was mocking (teasing, insulting, ridiculing) her because she posted a picture of herself on Twitter holding a can of a well-known brand of beans. She did that to support the owner of the company that produces the beans because the owner had supported her father. But critics said Ivanka, as the president’s daughter and also a White House adviser, should not be promoting private companies. Some newspapers used bean idioms to mock her.
　　I seldom hear Hong Kong people use the expression “full of beans”. The original meaning is full of energy or enthusiasm. For example, over 600,000 Hong Kong people were full of beans when they voted in an unofficial primary election last weekend to select opposition candidates for September’s Legislative Council elections. But in the US, it is now also an expression that means full of nonsense. For example, some legal experts, including executive councillor Ronny Tong Ka-wah, made clear it is not accurate to say last weekend’s unofficial primary election in itself violated the new national security law. Some government officials, including Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, said the primaries may have violated the security law.
　　Is that full of beans, or full of nonsense? We won’t know until or unless cases reach the courts and judges decide. Beans are full of protein and fiber but I never eat them because they make my stomach bloated. If you have a bloated stomach, it means your stomach feels uncomfortable because it feels it is full of air, food, or liquid. Another bean idiom I seldom hear Hong Kong people use is “hill of beans”. If you say something is a hill of beans, it means it is of very little importance or value. Politicians often say things that are a hill of beans.
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　　上星期，一条《华盛顿邮报》的新闻标题引起我的注意。它写道：“Ivanka Trump is full of beans”. Ivanka就是美国总统唐纳德‧特朗普的女儿伊凡卡。这个标题是在嘲讽（mocking）她，因为她在推特上贴了自己一张相，相中她手持一罐知名牌子的豆类食品。她这样做是为了支持那间制造豆类食品公司的东主，因为那位东主支持她的父亲。然而，批评者说，伊凡卡作为总统的女儿，同时也是白宫的顾问，不应推广私人企业。一些报章就用上有豆字的成语去嘲笑（mock）她。
　　我很少听到香港人用到习语“full of beans”，它的原意是指精神饱满、精力充沛的。譬如，上一个周末，超过六十万香港人活力十足（full of beans）的去参与非官方的初选投票，为九月的立法会选举拣选反对派的候选人。但在美国，这个习语现在也指一派胡言。譬如，一些法律专家，包括行政会议成员汤家骅，已说得很清楚，单单举行上周末的非官方初选就触犯了新《国安法》的这些说法，是不准确的。一些官员，包括特首林郑月娥，就说初选或已违反了《国安法》。
　　那到底是否 full of beans，或满口胡言？我们不会知道，直至或除非案件交由法庭及法官审理。豆类蕴含丰富的蛋白质和纤维，但我从来都不会吃，因为它们令我肚胀（bloated）。若你有个bloated stomach，即是指你肠胃很不适，肚胀胀的，肚内有很多空气、食物或液体。另一个我很少听到香港人说的豆类成语是“hill of beans”。若你说某事是a hill of beans，即是指它一文不值，或没有多大价值。政客们就不时说一些毫无价值（a hill of beans）的说话来。　
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　　中译：七刻

Michael Chugani 褚简宁