又中又英｜Boiling Frog Syndrome

Every morning, I spend about an hour combing through the internet for the latest Hong Kong, US, and global news. Combing through news websites and YouTube news videos helps me get ideas for the columns I write for this newspaper. To comb through something means to search it to find what you need. While combing through the internet recently, I came across two interesting expressions an American politician used during a news interview. I have used these expressions many times while chatting with foreign friends, but not many Hong Kong people use them.

One is Boiling Frog Syndrome. This metaphor has an interesting meaning. If you put a frog in boiling water, it will instantly jump out to avoid being boiled to death. But if you put a frog in water that is slowly boiling, the frog will adjust and doesn’t sense danger until it is too late to jump out. The metaphor is used to describe a situation in which people don’t notice a worsening problem or a gradual change, trying instead to adjust, until it is too late to do anything about it. Frogs, in reality, of course, feel water that is slowly boiling and will try to escape.

The other expression I came across is “a bridge too far”. This idiom has a simpler meaning. It means doing something that is too ambitious or drastic, resulting in problems or failure. Some American politicians have suggested changing the US Constitution so that President Donald Trump can run for a third term. But others say it is a bridge too far because it is extremely difficult to change the US Constitution.

每朝早我都会花一个小时，彻底搜索（combing through）网上关于香港、美国以及世界最新的新闻。搜寻（combing through）新闻网站及YouTube新闻频道有助我给这份报章写专栏时获取灵感。To comb through something是指去搜寻某事以取得你所需要的。当我最近搜索（combing through）网络时，我遇到两个有趣的习语，是一个美国政客在一个新闻访问中所用到的。我跟外国朋友聊天的时候，多次用到这些习语，但香港人会用到的却不多。

其中一个是 Boiling Frog Syndrome，这个比喻有一个有趣的意思。若你将一只青蛙放在沸水中，牠会立即跳出来，以防被煮滚至死。但若你将青蛙放于慢慢煮热的水中，青蛙会调节自己，并不能感到危险，直到牠意识到的时候已经太迟了。温水煮蛙这个比喻是用来形容人并不察觉一个逐渐变差的问题，又或渐进的转变，反倒尝试调节，到想解决的时候已经太迟了。在现实中，青蛙当然能感到水正在慢慢煮沸，并且会尝试逃逸。

另一个我遇到的习语是“a bridge too far”，这个成语的意思更显浅。它是指某件事过于好高骛远、不设实际，最终带来问题又或达成不了。一些美国政客提议修改美国宪法，好让总统唐纳德‧特朗普能竞逐第三个任期。但其他人说这实在太遥不可及（a bridge too far）了，因为要修改美国宪法是极其艰难的。

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Michael Chugani褚简宁
中译：七刻