又中又英——Night after night

　　One of the main topics on American TV news night after night recently was about movie star Alec Baldwin. About two weeks ago he accidentally shot dead a cinematographer with a prop gun and wounded a director. Police said the prop gun had real bullets. They are investigating who put the bullets in the prop gun. The expression "night after night" means every night. A cinematographer is a director of photography who operates the camera and is also in charge of lighting during a movie shoot. A prop gun can mean a real gun or a fake one that looks very real for use in movie-making. Real or fake prop guns for movies don't have real bullets but fake ones that look real when fired.
　　It is unclear what went wrong when Baldwin pulled the trigger in the prop gun during rehearsals before the movie shoot. The word "shoot" used this way does not mean shooting someone with a gun. It means to film a scene in a movie. The literal meaning of "pull the trigger" means to fire a gun by pressing the trigger. It has a very different meaning when used as an idiom. The expression means to make a final decision or commit to doing something. If you have looked at many apartments and finally decided to buy the most expensive one, you have pulled the trigger.
　　I had thought hard about taking a long break in the US and finally pulled the trigger three months ago, which means I finally decided to do it. If I had decided not to do it, then I would have pulled the plug on my plan to return to the US. If you pull the plug on something, it means to suddenly end something or to prevent something from continuing, especially by withdrawing financial support. During the worst of the pandemic last year many bars in Lan Kwai Fong pulled the plug, which means the owners decided not to continue their businesses.
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　　最近，美国电视新闻每晚（night after night）都跟进的主要话题之一，就是关于电影明星艾力宝云的事情。约两星期前，他以一把道具（prop）枪，意外枪杀一名摄影师（cinematographer），及导致一名导演受伤。警方指，道具（prop）枪装的是实弹，他们正在调查是谁将实弹放进道具（prop）枪中。习语 "night after night" 即每一个晚上、一夜复一夜的。A cinematographer就是电影摄影师，在电影拍摄（shoot）期间，负责操作摄影机，也负责灯光。A prop gun可以是指用来拍电影的真枪又或看来很像真枪的假枪。电影用的真枪又或假的道具（prop）枪，不会装上实弹，而是装上假子弹，射击时看来跟真的一样。
　　现时仍未确定，在正式拍摄（shoot）电影前的彩排期间，当宝云扣动道具（prop）枪扳机（pulled the trigger）的时候，到底是哪里出了错。Shoot在这里可不是指用枪去射击某人，它是指去拍摄一出电影的一幕。Pull the trigger的字面意思，就是扣下手枪的扳机去射击；但作成语用时，它却有截然不同的意思——这个习语是指去做最终决定，或许诺去做某事。若你看过了许多单位，最终「扑槌」决定买最贵的那一间，那你就已pulled the trigger。
　　我之前认真考虑要在美国放一个长假，最终在三个月前「扑槌」（pulled the trigger），意即我最终决定要这样做。若我决定不这样做，那我就得煞停（pulled the plug）我回到美国的计划。若你pull the plug on something，意即你突然停止某事，又或制止某事继续下去，尤指透过抽起对某事的财政资助。上年疫情最严峻的时候，兰桂坊许多酒吧都pulled the plug，意即酒吧东主都决定不再继续经营下去。
中译：七刻
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Michael Chugani 褚简宁