又中又英 | Springs to mind | 褚简宁

　　What's in a name? This famous question is from the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. The play is about young lovers Romeo and Juliet who belong to the feuding families Montague and Capulet. Juliet says: “What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." Juliet meant that a name is meaningless. She loves Romeo the person. His family name Montague will not stop her from loving him. The expression “feuding families” means families involved in long-standing hostility.

　　Juliet’s line that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet sprang to mind after I read a news article about US President Donald Trump calling Google CEO Sundar Pichai to discuss renaming the Atlantic Ocean. The expression “springs to mind” used this way means to suddenly remember something. Trump had floated the idea of renaming the Atlantic Ocean at a recent rally. To float an idea means to suggest a plan to see if people are interested. He said he had already renamed a gulf and a lake and now wants to rename an ocean.

　　Trump has renamed the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America and Lake Ontario as Lake America. Google Maps uses Gulf of America and Lake America in the US. It still uses Gulf of Mexico in Mexico and Lake Ontario in Canada but displays the original and new names everywhere else. Most people treat Trump’s name changes as meaningless. Trump wants Google Maps to use Trump Ocean or Ocean of America for the Atlantic Ocean. But Pichai refused point-blank, which means to reject it. He told Trump oceans border too many countries.

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　　名字有甚么意义？这句有名的提问是来自莎士比亚的剧作《罗密欧与茱丽叶》。这套剧是关于一对年轻的恋人罗密欧与茱丽叶，他们分别属于两个世仇家族（feuding families）：蒙太古与凯普莱特。茱丽叶道：「名字有甚么意义呢？玫瑰叫别的名字，依然芳香如故。」茱丽叶的意思是，名字是没有意义的，她爱的是罗密欧这个人，他的家族姓氏蒙太古并不能阻止她去爱他。习语feuding families是指长久以来互相仇恨敌对的家族。

　　当我读到关于美国总统特朗普致电谷歌行政总裁桑达•皮采，去讨论重新命名大西洋的新闻报道过后，我就猛然想起了（sprang to mind）茱丽叶这句玫瑰叫别的名字依然芳香如故的名言来。习语springs to mind在这里是指突然想起某事。特朗普在最近一场集会中，亦抛出了改名大西洋的想法来（floated the idea）。To float an idea是指去提议一个计划，试试水温，看人们是否感兴趣。他说他已经将一个海湾和一个湖重新命名，现在想去为一个海洋重新命名。

　　特朗普已经将墨西哥湾改名为美国湾，安大略湖改名为美国湖。谷歌地图在美国会用上美国湾和美国湖，在墨西哥则仍会显示为墨西哥湾，在加拿大则显示为安大略湖，而在其他地方，则会显示原名和新名。大多数人都将特朗普的改名视为毫无意义的。特朗普希望谷歌地图会将大西洋改成特朗普洋或是美国洋，但皮采refused point-blank，意即断然拒绝。他告诉特朗普，海洋所接壤的国家太多了。

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Michael Chugani褚简宁
中译：七刻