又中又英 | To tighten your belts | 褚简宁

　　Many ordinary Americans had to tighten their belts when the US stock market crashed after President Donald Trump began a global trade war. Lower income Americans are also worried the trade war would increase the prices of foreign-made consumer items. That's why they are tightening their belts by cutting back on air travel and eating in restaurants. To tighten your belt means spending less than before because you have less money. The stock market has bounced back a little but Trump's erratic policy on tariffs is making the stock market go up and down like a yo-yo.

　　The word "erratic" means unpredictable or irregular. An erratic policy is an unpredictable policy. The stock market crash has hurt America's billionaires big time, especially Elon Musk, the world's richest person. The expression "big time" can be used in several ways but used this way it means by a lot or significantly. Media reports said Musk lost over US$120 billion because of the market crash and a boycott of Tesla cars caused by his close friendship with Trump. He donated about US$288 million to Trump's election campaign. That may be chicken feed to the world's richest person, but losing over US$120 billion is not chicken feed.

　　Chicken feed is a mixture of different grains made into food for poultry such as chickens. But the expression "chicken feed" also means a very small amount of money. The stock market crash has also hurt my retirement investments. What I lost is pocket change to billionaires, but a lot to me. The expression "pocket change" means a very small amount of money, like chicken feed.

　　在美国总统唐纳德．特朗普发动全球贸易战之后，美国股票市场暴跌，许多一般的美国人都要勒紧裤头（tighten their belts）。低收入美国人也忧心，贸易战会抬高外国制消费品的价格，因此他们要节衣缩食（tighten their belts），削减旅游与在餐厅用膳的消遣。To tighten your belts是指因为荷包缩水而减省日常开支。股市有轻微反弹，但特朗普在关棁上飘忽不定的政策（erratic policy）令股市像摇摇般上上落落。 

　　Erratic是指难以预测或不稳定的，an erratic policy是指难以预测的政策。股票市场暴跌大大（big time）损害到美国的亿万富豪，尤其是伊隆．马斯克，他是世界首富。习语 big time可以有不同用法，但在这里是指大幅度或显著地。传媒报道指，马斯克因为股市崩盘以及他跟特朗普的紧密情谊所致的特斯拉汽车杯葛潮，而亏了超过1200亿美元。他捐了约2亿8800万美元给特朗普的竞选活动，那对于世界首富而言或许只是零钱（chicken feed），但亏损超过1200亿可就不是零钱（chicken feed）了。

　　Chicken feed是混合不同谷物，用以喂饲家禽例如鸡只的饲料。但"chicken feed"亦解作极小额的款项。股票市场暴跌，亦损害了我的退休投资。我所损失的对于亿万富豪来说只是 「碎银」（pocket change），但对我来说则是大数目了。习语pocket change跟chicken feed 一样，都是指小额金钱，就像口袋里用来找赎的零钱。

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Michael Chugani褚简宁
中译：七刻