又中又英——Hissy fit & Fig leaf

　　As a journalist, my morning routine is to read as many news websites as I can. I do this even on holidays and weekends to keep informed about issues I discuss on my TV shows and in my columns. Such a daily routine can sometimes be tedious, especially on days when the news is not very exciting. The word "tedious" means boring, dull, or monotonous. Last week, while reading about US President Donald Trump's refusal to admit his challenger Joe Biden won the election, and about Beijing's disqualification of four opposition legislators, I came across two interesting expressions. One was "hissy fit", and the other was "fig leaf".
　　The New York Daily News used the American slang expression "hissy fit" in a headline to describe Trump's refusal to admit defeat. It means to become suddenly very angry in an uncontrolled way, just like when a child suddenly behaves in an angry and silly way. The usual expression is "throw a hissy fit". It is similar to the more common expression "throw a tantrum", which means a sudden period of uncontrolled anger, like a young child's. The New York Daily News columnist used "throw a hissy fit" to say Trump is behaving like a child, privately losing his temper and getting angry because Biden won the election.
　　A fig leaf is a leaf from a fig tree that painters sometimes draw in paintings to cover a naked person's sexual organs. But the expression "fig leaf" can also mean something that hides something else that is dishonest or embarrassing. The US National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien used this expression in a press statement to criticize Beijing's disqualification of four opposition legislators. O'Brien said one country, two systems is now just a "fig leaf" to hide Beijing's increasing one-party dictatorship in Hong Kong. Put simply, O'Brien meant one country, two systems is dead and is just an excuse, or fig leaf, to hide the truth that there is now only one country, one system.
＊＊＊＊＊
　　身为新闻工作者，我每早的惯例就是尽我所能去读新闻网站，有几多读几多。即使是假日和周末，我都会这样做，好让我对于在电视节目和专栏里探讨的议题，保持消息灵通。这样的日常例行工作有时颇为tedious，尤其是在某些日子里，那些新闻并不是很有趣。Tedious是解单调乏味的、沉闷的。上星期，当读到美国总统特朗普拒绝承认其挑战者拜登当选，以及北京取消四名反对派立法会议员的资格时，我遇到两个有趣的习语，一是“hissy fit”，另一个是“fig leaf”。
　　《纽约每日新闻》在一则标题中用上美式俚语“hissy fit”，去形容特朗普拒绝承认落败。它的意思是突然间失控地发脾气，就像小孩忽然大吵大闹。这个习语通常会说成“throw a hissy fit”，它跟更常见的习语“throw a tantrum”相近，意思是像个小童般胡闹、发脾气。《纽约每日新闻》的专栏作者用了“throw a hissy fit”去说特朗普的行为就像个小孩一样，因为拜登胜出，他就暗自发脾气和发怒。
　　A fig leaf就是无花果树的叶子，画家有时会画无花果树叶来遮盖裸体人像的性器官。但习语“fig leaf”也可解作「遮丑布」，用以遮掩一些不诚实又或尴尬的事。美国国家安全顾问罗伯特‧奥布莱恩就在一则新闻稿中，以此习语批评北京取消四位反对派议员的资格。奥布莱恩说，「一国两制」现在已变成了“fig leaf”，用来遮掩北京对港增强党的独裁专政。简单来说，奥布莱恩的意思是，「一国两制」已亡，它只是一个借口，或「遮丑布」（fig leaf），去掩饰现在只有「一国一制」的事实。[email protected]
中译：七刻

Michael Chugani 褚简宁