Michael Chugani 褚简宁 - Unfathomable｜又中又英

Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, turned Tesla, SpaceX, and PayPal into very successful businesses. He has now bought Twitter for US$44 billion. His net worth is over US$200 billion. That is an unfathomable amount for most people on Earth. The expression “net worth” means all the money and property a person or business has after all debts are taken away. If something is unfathomable it means it is hard to understand. Musk was born in South Africa but got Canadian citizenship as a teenager through his Canadian mother and went to study in Canada. He also became a US citizen at age 30.

This means his English should be very good but it seems he doesn’t fully understand a particular English word. Just before buying Twitter he went to the company’s headquarters carrying a sink and released a video with the caption “Entering Twitter HQ – let that sink in.” He also renamed himself “Chief Twit” on Twitter. The word “sink” has many meanings, including the basin in a bathroom or kitchen for washing. The expression “sink in” means to completely understand something. Musk cleverly played with words when he carried a sink into Twitter’s headquarters and used the expression “sink in”.

He wanted his purchase of Twitter to sink in, or to be fully understood by everyone. But he was not very clever when he renamed himself Chief Twit on Twitter. The British slang word “twit” means a stupid or silly person. It is unfathomable that he did not know this. Maybe he knew it but wanted to be funny.
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世界上最有钱的人伊隆‧马斯克，将特斯拉、SpaceX和 PayPal都转变成非常成功的企业。他现在已用四百四十亿美元购下了推特。他的财富净值（net worth）已超过二千亿美元。这对于世上大多数人来说都是一个深不可测的（unfathomable）数字。习语“net worth”是指一个人或企业所拥有的金钱与资产减去负债。若某事物是unfathomable，即是指它是难以理解的。马斯克于南非出生，但年轻的时候透过其加拿大籍的母亲前赴加拿大升学，而取得了加拿大籍。他在三十岁之时亦成为了美国公民。

这意味着他的英语应该非常好，但似乎他并不完全理解某一个特定的英文字。就在购买推特之前不久，他带了一个洗手盆（sink）去公司的总部，并发布一则短片，另加一句说明：「进到推特总部了—— let that sink in.」他又在推特上为自己改名为“Chief Twit”。Sink一字有许多意思，其中包括了浴室或厨房的洗涤槽。习语“sink in”是指完完全全明白某事情。当马斯克带着一个洗手盆（sink）进入推特的总部，及用上习语“sink in”时，是在聪明地一语双关。

他希望他购下推特之举可以 sink in，即被所有人充份理解。可是，他在推特上把自己改名为 Chief Twit就不是那么聪明了。英式俚语“twit”是指一个傻瓜或愚蠢的人。他不知道此字的意思，实在令人费解（unfathomable）。或许他知道这个字的意思，不过是想搞怪、开个玩笑吧。
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中译:七刻
Michael Chugani 褚简宁