walk a fine line, skittish, 11th-hour, portend, megadeal, sulk

“The Lady Eve” may be Preston Sturges’s most beloved film. Henry Fonda plays Charles (Hopsie) Pike, a lanky heir to an ale fortune who dabbles as a snake expert. While travelling on a cruise ship, Hopsie falls for a con woman named Jean Harrington (Barbara Stanwyck). After realizing that Jean has been deceiving him, he sulks off to his Connecticut manor, where he encounters Jean again, though this time she has disguised herself as Lady Eve Sidwich, a louche aristocrat. The zany setup involves several layers of self-deception—a theme Sturges explores in many of his films. Read more about the master of the screwball comedy: http://nyer.cm/vo2JqB0

Can anyone control the FBI?


11th-hour, inaccurate leaks about an investigation of the Clinton Foundation are damaging the presidential campaign.

WASHINGTONPOST.COM|作者：WASHINGTON POST OPINIONS, OUTLOOK, AND POSTEVERYTHING





The brash Philippine leader displayed tactful diplomatic skills in dealing with China and Japan.

Duterte walks fine line between Abe, Xi on South China Sea
TOKYO -- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte deftly positioned himself…
ASIA.NIKKEI.COM





Obama Must Walk Fine Line as Congress Takes Up Agenda

By JACKIE CALMES

President Obama's second-term priorities - the deficit, gun safety and immigration - may hinge on his ability to inject himself into negotiations to just the right degree.

 Europe at Ease With Eyes in the Sky

By NICOLA CLARK

Despite general skittishness about electronic surveillance, European officials seem more open to civilian drones than regulators in the United States.

Rio Tinto Carries the Alcan Can

Rio Tinto has been forced to write off another $8.9 billion from its Canadian aluminium business Alcan, another timely reminder of how badly wrong megadeals can go in the mining sector.

Italian Premier Fights to Hang On

Berlusconi was in 11th-hour talks aimed at saving his conservative coalition as investors renewed pressure on the premier to step down and allow a new government to steer the country out of Europe's debt crisis.

Apple Tablet Portends Rewrite for Publishers

Book publishers were locked in 11th-hour negotiations with Apple that aim to rewrite the industry's revenue model after the technology giant unveils its highly anticipated tablet device.

For an outgoing president, there is always some resentment that the new guy is expected to act as president starting the day after the election; everyone anticipates his policies and ignores the actions of the lame duck. The president is often skittish about providing the newcomer with top-secret information, in part because the new team is not formally in place. For the president-elect, the outgoing president’s 11th-hour actions, including appointments of his loyalists to career positions, stir resentment.




BP will pay Chesapeake Energy $1.9 billion for 25 percent of some natural-gas properties in Arkansas. The transaction comes as energy companies remain skittish about megadeals.



Lehman is said to be shopping its commercial mortgage-backed business and roughly $40 billion in commercial real estate investments, as well as its investment management division, including the richly valued Neuberger Berman fund complex. But Lehman has declined to comment on any such plans.

Meanwhile, investors have become increasingly skittish in the absence of a stated plan from management and as other economic conditions weaken. Lehman's stock has plunged more than 10 percent on 11 days of the last quarter.



Paulson and Bernanke walked a fine line before a U.S. House panel. They warned that regulators need more power to deal with financial market turmoil while also offering assurances to a skittish market, particularly in regards to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

spare capacity 等等

--OPEC spare capacity, the safety cushion in the world system, is expected to remain constrained until 2010, then shrink to minimal levels by 2012, when the exporters collectively will only be able to pump a paltry extra amount-the equivalent of 1.6% of world demand. While the IEA didn't say so, the shrinking of OPEC's spare capacity in the past decade has made the oil market skittish about any development that could conceivably threaten supply, resulting in volatile markets and prices.-- Bhushan Bahree(WSJ)

• 作為全球能源系統安全調節閥的歐佩克剩餘產能在2010年之前將一直維持在有限的尷尬水平﹐到2012年則將萎縮至最低限度。屆時所有成員國的剩餘產能加 在一起只相當於全球需求的1.6%。儘管IEA並未言明﹐但過去10年中﹐歐佩克成員國剩餘產能的迅速縮水﹐令石油市場對想像中可能危及供應的任何一點點 風吹草動都會作出草木皆兵的反應﹐如此﹐市場和價格何以一直振盪不穩也就不難解釋了。


*****評 這段翻譯問題重重

“spare capacity” 翻譯成「剩餘產能」是錯誤的。這 spare 是extra意，正常產能之外再視供需而調整。”remain constrained “，竟然翻譯成「維持在有限的尷尬水平」--何「尷尬」之有？ “minimal levels”也不是「最低限度」。” a paltry extra amount”的翻譯，漏了幾字。
其他處問題請點原文的連接辭典的解說....

"With his current policy approach towards Iraq, President Bush walks a fine line between the interests of national security and those of warmongering."

walk a fine line

It means to steer a risky and difficult course between two policies... to be so near the edge of one that you risk falling into another less desirable one. All of which is a pretty unclear definition, so maybe an example might help.

'To walk a fine line' A fine line is a very small difference. In this sense, fine means thin. So a fine line is a very thin line, used figuratively to refer to a small difference or distinction between things: There's a fine line between testing someone and entrapping them.

'To walk a fine line' | Ask The Editor | Learner's Dictionary

skittish
adjective
(of people and animals) nervous or easily frightened, or (of a person) not serious and likely to change their beliefs or opinions frequently:
My horse is rather skittish, so I have to keep him away from traffic.
Investors are skittish about the impact of an economic downturn.
Marilyn was a complete child, playful and skittish one moment, sulky and withdrawn the next.







11th-hour the eleventh hour.
n.
The latest possible time: turned in the report at the eleventh hour.
(i-LEV-uhnth our)

noun
The last moment.

Etymology
From the parable in the Bible where laborers hired at the eleventh hour of the twelve-hour workday were paid the same as those hired earlier

World War I ended in 1918 when the armistice was declared on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.

Usage
"It is understood the women's premier side pulled out at the eleventh hour alongside Nadi's Votualevu women's team." — Lautoka Women Miss Challenge; Fiji Times; Feb 24, 2005.

"Agriculture Minister Kipruto arap Kirwa, who was invited, failed to show up and is suspected to have developed cold feet at the eleventh hour." — Andrew Teyie and Martin Mutuak; Secret Plot to Purge Cabinet Graft Barons; East African Standard (Nairobi, Kenya); Feb 10, 2005.

11th hour |投機取巧者的最後時刻

因與政府關係密切，中國電信巨頭華為被一些西方國家詬病存在“重大國家安全隱患”。但巴布亞新幾內亞不這樣認為。該國堅持與華為達成一項建設國內互聯網電纜的協議，並拒絕了澳大利亞、美國和日本提出的聯合反要約。

該國投資部長說，華為已經完成了上述項目的60%，“這讓西方國家在最後一刻做出的努力顯得' 有些居高臨下 '”。 (that made the 11th-hour effort from the Western powers "a bit patronizing".）

11th hour並非指字面上看起來的11點，而是“最後一刻”的意思。一般認為，這個用法出自《聖經》裡的典故：投機取巧的工人在工作快結束前才開始工作。

在爭奪巴布亞新幾內亞這個太平洋島國的影響力交鋒中，中國搶占了先機，並成功使西方國家最後一刻的合作邀約淪為the 11th-hour effort。

portend
tr.v., -tend·ed, -tend·ing, -tends.

1. To serve as an omen or a warning of; presage: black clouds that portend a storm.
2. To indicate by prediction; forecast: leading economic indicators that portend a recession.

[Middle English portenden, from Latin portendere.]