又中又英——playing footsie with

　　Whenever US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo holds a press conference, he answers only four or five questions, unlike his boss President Donald Trump, who sometimes has long and rambling press conferences. The word “rambling” used this way means lengthy and not to the point. Pompeo prefers to make strong points in a short opening statement, answer a few questions, and then leave. He used several interesting expressions at a press conference last week during which he discussed the Middle East, China, the WHO, and a coronavirus vaccine. One expression he used was “playing footsie with” when he talked about the Lebanon-based Islamist political party and militant group Hezbollah.
　　Pompeo said the new government in Lebanon must make genuine political reforms as demanded by the people, and Hezbollah must disarm. He accused some people of “playing footsie with” Hezbollah. This expression has several meanings. The common meaning is secretly using your feet to touch someone’s feet under the table for sexual reasons. If several people are having a meeting and the boss secretly uses his feet to touch his secretary’s feet under the table, he is “playing footsie with” his secretary. But the expression, as used by Pompeo, means to work together or cooperate with each other in a dishonest way.
　　Pompeo made clear the US will not join a WHO plan for countries to cooperate on a coronavirus vaccine so that the vaccine can be fairly shared globally. But Pompeo said no country is more committed to providing a vaccine globally than the US. He said the US will “dwarf” every country in providing funding. A “dwarf” is a very short person with a disproportionate body. Some parts are small and other parts are average or much larger than average. But to “dwarf” someone or something, when used as a verb, means to make the other person or thing much smaller by comparison. Pompeo meant US funding to help the world fight the coronavirus will “dwarf” or be far more than other countries.
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　　每当美国国务卿蓬佩奥召开记者招待会时，他只会回答四或五条问题，不像他的上司、总统特朗普，会举行长时间而漫无边际的（rambling）记者会。Rambling在这里是指冗长而不着边际的。蓬佩奥宁愿用简短的发言带出要点，回答几道问题，然后便离开。他上星期在记者会上谈及中东、中国、世界衞生组织以及新冠肺炎疫苗期间，用了几个有趣的习语。当他谈及以黎巴嫩为基地的伊斯兰政治和军事组织真主党时，就用到习语“playing footsie with”。
　　蓬佩奥说，黎巴嫩的新政府必须应人民的要求，进行真正的政治改革，而真主党亦必须解除武装。他指责一些人在“playing footsie with”真主党。这个习语有几个意思，最普遍的意思是在桌底下暗暗与人碰脚调情。若有几个人在开会，老板却在枱底下偷偷用脚扫秘书的脚，那他就在“playing footsie with” his secretary。然而，蓬佩奥用到这个习语，意思是不诚实地暗中勾结、合作。
　　世衞计划让各国合作研发新冠肺炎疫苗，好让疫苗能公平地全球共享，蓬佩奥表明美国不会参与这个计划。蓬佩奥却又说，没有任何一个国家比美国更致力于研发一个给全球使用的疫苗。他说美国会“dwarf”每一个提供资金的国家。A “dwarf”是极为矮小而身体不均称的侏儒，他们的一些部位较短小，而另一些部位则是平均或比一般人的为大。然而，作动词用时，to “dwarf”某人或某事，意指令另一个人或事物相形见绌。蓬佩奥的意思是，美国协助世界抵抗新冠肺炎疫情所投入的资金，将会远超其他国家，或令其他国家相形见绌（dwarf）。
　　中译：七刻
Michael Chugani 褚简宁