又中又英——“a zebra cannot change its stripes”

　　Last week, Facebook suspended former President Donald Trump’s account for two years for his alleged role in the attack on the US Congress. Trump denounced (strongly criticized) it as an insult. But President Joe Biden’s press secretary Jen Psaki welcomed Facebook’s decision. She told reporters social media platforms had a responsibility to stop disinformation. She said people had learned a lot about how Trump used these platforms before the suspension. Psaki then used an interesting expression to describe Trump. She said it “feels pretty unlikely that the zebra is going to change its stripes over the next two years”. Do not confuse the word “misinformation” with “disinformation”.
　　The word “misinformation” means spreading false or misleading information without purposely doing it. If you share something on social media without knowing it’s false, you are spreading misinformation. But if you share something you know is false, you are spreading disinformation. The expression “a zebra cannot change its stripes” is used to describe people who cannot change their bad habits or character even if they pretend to. When Psaki said it “feels pretty unlikely that the zebra is going to change its stripes over the next two years”, she meant it’s unlikely Facebook’s two-year suspension of Trump will make him change and stop the alleged spreading of disinformation.
　　The expression “a zebra cannot change its stripes” is not as common as other similar expressions. The most common is “a leopard cannot change its spots”. Another less common expression is “a tiger cannot change its stripes”. They all have the same meaning. The three expressions are logical. Zebras have stripes. So do tigers. Leopards have spots. It is impossible for them to change their stripes or spots. Human beings don’t have stripes or spots but many have habits or beliefs they strongly believe, which they don’t want to change. Trump believes Biden unfairly won the election. I don’t think he will change his belief. He has a right to his belief whether it is true or not.
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　　上星期，脸书宣布暂停前总统特朗普的帐户两年，因他涉嫌煽动支持者冲击美国国会。特朗普谴责（denounced）脸书此举是侮辱。然而，拜登的新闻发言人珍‧莎琪欢迎脸书的决定，她跟记者说，社交媒体平台有责任阻止虚假讯息（disinformation）。她说，在特朗普帐户被暂停之前，人们已领教过他怎样使用这些平台。其后莎琪用了一个有趣的习语去形容特朗普。她说it “feels pretty unlikely that the zebra is going to change its stripes over the next two years”。有关“disinformation”一字，千万别将之与“misinformation”混淆。
　　“Misinformation”是指传播错误或误导的讯息，但并非刻意为之。若你在社交媒体上分享一些资讯，但不知道它是错误的，那你就在传播misinformation；然而，若你明知某事是失实的，却仍然分享出去，那你就在传播disinformation。习语“a zebra cannot change its stripes”是用来形容人不能改变自己的怀习惯或性情，这是装也装不来的，所谓「江山易改，本性难移」。当莎琪说it “feels pretty unlikely that the zebra is going to change its stripes over the next two years”，她的意思是在未来两年，即使脸书暂停特朗普的帐户，看来也不大可能令他改变，停止发放虚假讯息（disinformation）。
　　习语“a zebra cannot change its stripes”并不如其他类近的习语那么常用。最常见的是“a leopard cannot change its spots”，另一个较不常用的则是“a tiger cannot change its stripes”，它们的意思都是一样的。这三个习语都很合理：斑马有条纹，老虎也有斑纹，豹则有斑点，要牠们去改变自己的斑纹或斑点是不可能的。人类没有甚么斑纹或斑点，但大多数人都有某些习惯或强烈信奉的信念，亦不想作出任何转变。特朗普相信拜登不公平地胜出选举。我不认为他会改变这个信念，他也有权去抱持他的信念，不论它是对是错。
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中译：七刻
Michael Chugani 褚简宁