又中又英 | Animal idioms | 褚简宁

　　During my younger days in Hong Kong, I tried hard to get the monkey off my back. But the harder I tried, the more difficult it became. I finally decided to go cold turkey. Some of you may be confused with what I just wrote. Many English idioms use the names of animals and birds, such as “a sitting duck” or “in the doghouse”.  If you are a sitting duck, it means you are vulnerable or are defenseless against danger or an attack. Companies are sitting ducks if they don’t protect their computer systems against cyberattacks.

　　If you are in the doghouse, it means you are in trouble or someone, such as your boss, is angry with you. To get the monkey off your back means dealing with a troublesome problem that is making you unhappy because it is hard to overcome. I smoked a lot of cigarettes during my younger days. So did my friends. It was a troublesome addiction that I knew was bad for my health. A classmate got throat cancer from smoking. Surgery luckily saved his life, but he still has difficulty talking.

　　I tried hard but couldn’t get the monkey off my back. I decided to go cold turkey. To go cold turkey, as I have explained before, means to suddenly stop a habit, such as smoking, even though it causes some suffering. I was lucky because going cold turkey didn’t make me suffer too much. I have not smoked since. Some friends are social smokers, which means smoking only during social occasions. I did that a few times in recent years but stopped because I knew it was still bad for my health.

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　　我从前在香港还年轻之时，曾努力尝试「弄走我背上的猴子」（get the monkey off my back），但我越努力越变得困难，最终决定来个「冷火鸡」（cold turkey）。你们好些人读着我刚刚所写的，大概读得一头雾水吧。许多英文成语都会用上动物和雀鸟，例如“a sitting duck”又或是“in the doghouse”。若你是“a sitting duck”，意即你像一只呆坐待宰的鸭子，很脆弱，又或面对危险或攻击毫无自卫能力。如果企业不保护自己的电脑系统，防范网络攻击，那它们就会成为容易被攻击的活靶子（sitting ducks）。

　　若你是“in the doghouse”，意即你惹祸了，又或惹怒了某人，例如你的老板。To get the monkey off your back是指去摆脱一个长久以来令你不快的困扰，因为它难以克服。我年轻的时候抽烟抽得很凶，我的朋友们也是。这是一个很棘手的瘾头，我知道这对自己身体不好。一个同班同学因为抽烟而得了咽喉癌，幸运地透过手术捡回一命，但他现时说话仍有困难。

　　我当时曾经很努力，却仍然未能去掉这个令我困扰的难题（get the monkey off my back），我最终决定要go cold turkey——to go cold turkey，正如我以前解说过的，是指突然戒掉一个习惯，例如吸烟，即使那带来一些痛苦。我很幸运，因为突然戒烟（cold turkey）并没有令我受多大的苦，自那时起我便没有再抽过烟。一些朋友是social smokers，意即只在社交场合才会抽烟。我近年曾那样做过几次，不过也停止了，因为我知道那仍然有损我的健康。

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Michael Chugani褚简宁
中译：七刻