又中又英 | Shifting words | 褚简宁
When is a war not a war? That depends on the shifting words President Donald Trump, and his top officials, have used to describe the joint US-Israel attack against Iran. Shifting words means always changing words. Some US officials have used the word "war" to describe the attack on Iran. They then walked back on the word "war" and used other words instead. To walk back on something means to retract or change an opinion you had expressed before. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has often called the attack on Iran a war.
He has also used shifting words such as an ongoing campaign and epic fury to describe the attack. The word "epic" means a very long poem or movie that contains a lot of action. Fury means extreme anger. The words "epic" and "fury" combined mean very long anger. The US has named the Iran attack Operation Epic Fury. Other US officials have called Operation Epic Fury a military operation and decisive action. Trump occasionally used the word "war" but later walked back by calling the Iran attack an excursion. This doesn't make sense because the word "excursion" means a short trip for pleasure.
He said last week he prefers not to use the word "war" because only the US Congress can declare war against another country. The Congress has not declared war on Iran. But the Associated Press (AP) news agency is calling it a war because it believes the joint US-Israel military conflict with Iran fits the description of a war. Iran and the US have not formally declared war on each other.
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甚么时候战争不是战争？这就取决于美国总统特朗普和他的高官们用哪些shifting words去形容美国与以色列对伊朗的联合攻击了。Shifting words是指常常转换用词。一些美国官员会用上「战争war」这个字眼去形容对伊朗的攻击，他们其后又会收回（walked back）war一字，而改用其他字眼。To walk back on something是指你撤回或改变你曾发表的一个意见。美国国防部长赫格塞斯就不时把对伊朗的袭击称为战争。
他亦有转换用词（shifting words），以正在进行的战役和epic fury去形容这场袭击。Epic是指一首很长的史诗，又或是有许多动作元素的史诗式电影。Fury则解暴怒。Epic和fury结合起来便解作长久的怒火。美国将对伊朗的袭击称为「史诗怒火行动」（Operation Epic Fury）。其他美国官员将「史诗怒火行动」（Operation Epic Fury）称为军事行动和决定性的行动。特朗普有时会用上战争一词，但后来又收回（walked back），改称对伊朗的袭击为excursion。但这又说不通，因为excursion一字是解作玩乐的短程旅行。
他上星期说，他不愿用「战争」一词，因为只有美国国会才能向另一个国家宣战。国会并未向伊朗宣战。然而新闻机构美联社将之称为战争，因为它认为美国与以色列联合跟伊朗的军事冲突，符合战争的描述。伊朗和美国双方都没有正式向对方宣战。
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Michael Chugani褚简宁
中译：七刻
