又中又英 | Bromance | 褚简宁
It was like a match made in heaven, a bromance involving two of the world’s most powerful people. US President Donald Trump is often called the world’s most powerful person. Elon Musk, who controls companies like Tesla, SpaceX, and X, formerly known as Twitter, is the world’s richest person. The bromance began when Musk spent nearly US$300 million in campaign money to help Trump win the presidential election last November. Trump made him the head of an unofficial department called DOGE to reduce government spending and waste. The two became first buddies.
A bromance is a very close but non-sexual relationship between two men. If something, such as a marriage, is a match made in heaven, it means it is very good and successful. The wife of an American president is called the First Lady. Media organizations called Trump and Musk first buddies. A buddy is a close friend. But the bromance came to an angry end days after Musk finished his role at DOGE. He used X to attack a tax and spending bill now going through Congress. He called the bill, which Trump is pressuring Congress to approve, a “disgusting abomination” that would increase the budget deficit by US$2.4 trillion.
An abomination is something terrible or greatly disliked. Musk even backed a call to impeach Trump, who stayed silent at first, then hit back. He said Musk had lost his mind. Media reports said Musk disliked the spending bill because it would end government subsidies for electric vehicles, which would hurt Tesla. Some Trump aides have suggested ending government contracts for Musk’s companies such as SpaceX. Can the bromance start afresh? Unlikely for now.
两个世上最强大的人之间的兄弟情（bromance），简直像是天作之合（match made in heaven）。美国总统特朗普常被称为世上最有影响力的人；马斯克则是世上最有钱的人，他管理特斯拉、太空探索技术公司SpaceX，以及前称推特的X。这段兄弟情（bromance）起始于马斯克花近3亿美元在竞选活动资金上，协助特朗普于上年11月赢得总统大选。特朗普让他成为一个非官方部门名「政府效率部」的领头，去削减政府开支及浪费性支出。这两个人成为了第一兄弟（first buddies）。
A bromance是亲密但不涉及性关系的兄弟情谊。若某事，例如婚姻，是a match made in heaven，意即那是天生一对，非常融洽和美好。美国总统的太太被称为第一夫人（First Lady），传媒便叫特朗普和马斯克为first buddies。A buddy就是亲密伙伴、好友。但这段兄弟情（bromance）却在马斯克离任政府效率部几天后，迎来了怒火冲冲的结局。马斯克用X炮轰一条正在国会通过的税收和支出法案。特朗普正施压国会通过这条会增加2万4000亿美元财政赤字的法案，马斯克称这个法案为「令人作呕的丑恶之举」（disgusting abomination）。
An abomination就是令人恶心、憎恶之物。马斯克甚至支持一个弹劾特朗普的号召，而特朗普一开始保持沉默，之后还是反击了。他说马斯克疯了。传媒报道指，马斯克不喜欢这个开支法案，因为它会终止政府对电动车的补贴，因而伤害到特斯拉。特朗普有些助手亦提议，结束政府跟马斯克公司如SpaceX的合约。这段兄弟情（bromance）可否重新开始？现在看来就不大可能了。
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Michael Chugani褚简宁
中译：七刻
