2020年10月29日 星期四

smart, smart phone, "bigoted woman", wear out, smarten up, 'smart as a whip,'Smarting, Chicagoans, Euphoria




Jacqueline Kennedy’s pink Chanel suit, stained with her husband’s blood, will remain out of view for around a century.



Stores Smarten Up Amid Spam Flood
Retailers have started to wear out their welcome in customers' email inboxes, forcing stores to rethink their spam strategies.


An expression in use early in the 19th century was 'smart as a steel trap,' which does indeed operate smartly too, but by 1860 the 'Mountaineer' in Salt Lake City was printing: 'Mr. A___ was a prompt and successful businessman, 'smart as a whip,' as the Yankees say." From "Dictionary of Cliches" by James Rogers (Wings Books, Originally New York: Facts on File Publications, 1985).



For Chicagoans, a Slap After Obama Euphoria By DIRK JOHNSON After a short-lived burst of civic pride, Chicago residents are smarting as the arrest of Gov. Rod Blagojevich resurrects the corrupt image of politics in Illinois.

Why Harvard Is Smarting

Harvard has lost about $350 million through an investment in hedge fund Sowood Capital, founded by a former Harvard-endowment manager. He isn't the only Harvard manager with a mixed record since leaving the ivory tower.

(WSJ)

smart

intr.v., smart·ed, smart·ing, smarts.

    1. To cause a sharp, usually superficial, stinging pain: The slap delivered to my face smarted.
    2. To be the location of such a pain: The incision on my leg smarts.
    3. To feel such a pain.
  1. To suffer acutely, as from mental distress, wounded feelings, or remorse: “No creature smarts so little as a fool” (Alexander Pope).
  2. To suffer or pay a heavy penalty.

REGIONAL NOTE Smart is a word that has diverged considerably from its original meaning of “stinging, sharp,” as in a smart blow. The standard meaning of “clever, intelligent,” probably picks up on the original semantic element of vigor or quick movement. Smart has taken on other senses as a regionalism. In New England and in the South smart can mean “accomplished, talented.” The phrase right smart can even be used as a noun meaning “a considerable number or amount”: “We have read right smart of that book” (Catherine C. Hopley).

adj. - 聰明的, 刺痛的, 漂亮的, 整齊的 v. intr. - 刺痛, 懊惱 n. - 刺痛, 痛苦 adv. - 聰明地, 機警地, 時髦地, 輕快地, 整齊地

idioms:

  • look smart 趕快, 看起來聰明, 穿的得體
  • smart alec 自作聰明的人, 小聰明
  • smart card 電腦卡
  • smart cookie 機靈小子
  • smart drug 可使人變聰明的藥物
  • smart money 賠償金
  • smart terminal 能夠獨立運作的終端機, 智能終端機
  • the smart set 最時髦階層, 最時髦人士

日本語 (Japanese) adj. - 気の利いた抜け目のないしゃれたスマートな流行の激しいきびきびした v. - ずきずき痛む感情を害する苦しめる n. - ずきずきする痛み苦痛苦悩

idioms:

  • smart alec/aleck/alick うぬぼれ屋
  • smart aleck 自惚れ屋, うぬぼれ屋
  • smart card 電子カード
  • smart cookie 粋な男
  • smart drug 合法ドラッグ
  • smart money 懲罰的損害賠償額, 負傷手当, 相場師
  • the smart set 名士たち




smart

Pronunciation: /smɑːt/
Translate smart | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish

adjective

  • 1 (of a person) clean, tidy, and well dressed:you look very smart
  • (of clothes) attractively neat and stylish:a smart blue skirt
  • (of an object) bright and fresh in appearance:a smart green van
  • (of a place) fashionable and upmarket:a smart restaurant
  • 2 informal having or showing a quick-witted intelligence:if he was that smart he would never have been tricked
  • (of a device) programmed so as to be capable of some independent action:hi-tech smart weapons  日本將 smart phone (多機能携帯電話)
  • chiefly North American showing impertinence by making clever or sarcastic remarks:don’t get smart or I’ll whack you one
  • quick; brisk:he set off at a smart pace

verb

[no object]
  • (of part of the body) feel a sharp stinging pain:her legs were scratched and smarting (as adjective smarting)Susan rubbed her smarting eyes
  • feel upset and annoyed:defence chiefs are still smarting from the government’s cuts

noun

  • 1 [mass noun] sharp stinging pain:the smart of the recent cuts
  • archaic mental pain or suffering:sorrow is the effect of smart, and smart the effect of faith
2 (smarts) North American informal intelligence; acumen:I don’t think I have the smarts for it



wear out
1. To make or become unusable through long or heavy use.
2. To use up or consume gradually.
3. To exhaust; tire.
4. Chiefly Southern U.S. To punish by spanking.

Gordon Brown 'bigoted woman' comment caught on tape



Gordon Brown describes pensioner as a 'bigoted woman'

Gordon Brown has apologised after being caught on microphone describing a voter he had just spoken to in Rochdale as a "bigoted woman".
Sixty-five-year-old Gillian Duffy had challenged Mr Brown on a number of issues including immigration and crime.
As he got into his car, he was still wearing a broadcast microphone and was heard to say "that was a disaster".
Mr Brown later phoned Mrs Duffy to apologise after the tape was played to him during a BBC Radio 2 interview.

After listening to the recording, with his forehead resting on his hand, he said: "I do apologise if I've said anything that has been hurtful."
The Prime Minister is now travelling to apologise to Mrs Duffy in person.
The comments were made after the conversation with Mrs Duffy which ended with him complimenting her and her family.
As he went to get into his car, Mr Brown told her: "Very nice to meet you, very nice to meet you."
But off camera, and not realising he still had a Sky News microphone pinned to his shirt, he was heard to tell an aide: "That was a disaster - they should never have put me with that woman. Whose idea was that? It's just ridiculous..."


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Gillian Duffy: "I want to know why I was called a bigot"

Asked what she had said, he is heard to reply: "Ugh everything! She's just a sort of bigoted woman that said she used to be Labour. I mean it's just ridiculous. I don't know why Sue brought her up towards me."
Mrs Duffy said after hearing of Mr Brown's comments: "I'm very upset. He's an educated person. Why has he come out with words like that?
"He's supposed to be leading the country and he's calling an ordinary woman who's come up and asked questions that most people would ask him... It's going to be tax, tax, tax for another 20 years to get out of this national debt, and he's calling me a bigot."
Mrs Duffy, a widow who has a daughter and two grandchildren, said she used to work with disabled children for Rochdale council before she retired.
She had earlier told reporters she was a lifelong Labour voter and described Mr Brown as being "very nice".
BBC political editor Nick Robinson said it was a disaster for the prime minister because it showed the gap between his public face and private face.
"For those of us who have known Gordon Brown for many years, what we have seen is no huge surprise. He has got better and better at handling himself in public, but quite often he flares up in private, expresses frustration," he said.
Nick Robinson added that the irony was that if his comments had not been picked up, it would have been a lively election exchange which would have been seen to do him credit.


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Brown: 'I apologise if I've said anything that has been hurtful'

Speaking on Radio 2's Jeremy Vine show, Mr Brown said: "Of course I apologise if I've said anything that's been offensive and I would never put myself in a position where I would want to say anything like that about a woman I'd met.
"I blame myself for what is done, but you've got to remember that this was me being helpful to the broadcasters, with my microphone on, rushing into the car because I had to get to another appointment and they have chosen to play my private conversation. These things can happen, I apologise profusely to the lady concerned."
Mr Brown later telephoned Mrs Duffy to personally apologise for the comments, telling her he was very sorry and said she "is a good woman".
When asked did this in any way make up for the comments she said "no - absolutely not".
'Resilience'
A spokesman for the prime minister said: "Mr Brown has apologised to Mrs Duffy personally by phone. He does not think that she is bigoted. He was letting off steam in the car after a difficult conversation.
"But this is exactly the sort of conversation that is important in an election campaign and which he will continue to have with voters."
The Conservatives said Mr Brown's comments spoke for themselves.
Shadow chancellor George Osborne said: "That's the thing about general elections, they do reveal the truth about people."
Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said: "You should always try to answer the questions as best you can. He has been recorded saying what he has said and will have to answer for that."
Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said Mr Brown was "mortified" over the hurt he had caused Mrs Duffy.
He told the BBC: "It is very unfortunate that this remark that he didn't believe got picked up. But he should be judged on how he responded. And that's why he apologised immediately."
Chancellor Alistair Darling said Mr Brown's apology was profuse and he was well aware he should not have made the comments.
"The election campaign will be decided not just on individuals but what the party stands for. There are big issues at stake. Gordon is a man of considerable strength, considerable resilience and considerable substance," he said.
"I hope people will judge him in the round. The fact we are coming out of this recession is down to him in no small part."


big·ot
(bĭg'ət) pronunciation

n.
One who is strongly partial to one's own group, religion, race, or politics and is intolerant of those who differ.

[French, from Old French.]
WORD HISTORY Bigots may have more in common with God than one might think. Legend has it that Rollo, the first duke of Normandy, refused to kiss the foot of the French king Charles III, uttering the phrase bi got, his borrowing of the assumed Old English equivalent of our expression by God. Although this story is almost surely apocryphal, it is true that bigot was used by the French as a term of abuse for the Normans, but not in a religious sense. Later, however, the word, or very possibly a homonym, was used abusively in French for the Beguines, members of a Roman Catholic lay sisterhood. From the 15th century on Old French bigot meant "an excessively devoted or hypocritical person." Bigot is first recorded in English in 1598 with the sense "a superstitious hypocrite."


big·ot·ed (bĭg'ə-tĭd) pronunciation
adj.
Being or characteristic of a bigot: a bigoted person; an outrageously bigoted viewpoint.

bigotedly big'ot·ed·ly adv.

brinksmanship, statesmanship, big deal, Who's Who, Lehman positions


請問可以在我的"英文人行道"brinkmanship詞條中引用一半。 我發現 Concise Oxford Dictionary 解是很好:the art or policy of pursuing a dangerous course to the brink of catastrophe, before desisting, esp in politics.
在"終局"或結束之前,採取走險路幾近到災難邊緣的藝術或政策(尤其指政治事件)。

Opinion: Kenya needs statesmanship, not brinksmanship
Kenya's current political crisis is a symptom of deeper ethnic divides. Now political leaders must start addressing the country's real problems, writes Jane Nyingi.




Probably his most important role was in foreign affairs. He visited 56 countries as a good-will envoy, but, more important, he served on the National Security Council, at the heart of policy decisions and intelligence. He was close to Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, whose policy of 'brinksmanship' fit perfectly with Mr. Nixon's idea of bold and even risky actions abroad. (Nixon 訃聞)



The humbling moves, which reshape the landscape of American finance, followed a feverish weekend of brinksmanship and emergency meetings attended by a Who's Who of Wall Street. With the government refusing to backstop a Lehman bailout, potential suitors walked away, and traders rushed to work to try to make sure they were out of their Lehman positions.

Lehman traders, for their part, were sending out goodbye messages to colleagues and gathering their belongings, The Times wrote.

Go to Article from The New York Times»

TEACHERS’ UNIONS UNHAPPY WITH DEBT DEAL
The nation's two major teachers' unions both voiced reservations about deep cuts to government programs included the congressional agreement to raise the debt ceiling, but said the deal was necessary to avoid the even more negative economic consequences of a default. National Education Association President Dennis Van Roekel called the debate over the debt ceiling a "reckless game of political brinksmanship," but said a default would have been a catastrophe. The article is in Education Week.


新聞WSJ
Yahoo may have to resort to some big-deal brinksmanship to get a sweetened offer from Microsoft. The first battleground is over some of the most basic steps of valuing Yahoo.
參考翻譯
Yahoo 公司可能必須訴之某些大型"挺身走險"的手法來讓Microsoft 公司的收購提案金加碼
首先的戰線在某些估鑑Yahoo價值的最基本步驟





說明
此處BIG DEAL 多少有雙關意思,它一方面指大交易,  另外指 "嚴肅認真的"。


On ‘Mad Men’ the Thrills Are All in the Office
By ALESSANDRA STANLEY
It was the water-cooler brinksmanship that made Season 4, which concludes on Sunday, so engrossing.



be no big deal
INFORMALto not be a serious problem:
It just means we'll have to pay a little more - it's no big deal.

brink


━━ n. (がけの)ふち; 水際; せとぎわ.
on [to] the brink of …のせとぎわで[へ].


brink・man・ship, brinks・man・ship ━━ n. せとぎわ作戦[交渉,政策].
n.
The practice, especially in international politics, of seeking advantage by creating the impression that one is willing and able to push a highly dangerous situation to the limit rather than concede.
我曾譯為"關鍵時刻,不入虎穴焉得虎子"策略.

Google 翻譯為"邊緣精神"?   日譯:瀬戸際政策
瀬戸際語源・由来】
「瀬戸」は「狭門(せと)」の意味で、両側の陸地が接近して海が狭くなっている所。 ... 「際」は境界となるところ、境目の部分を意味する言葉で、瀬戸際は「狭い海峡と海との境目」が本来の意味である。 そこから、重要な分岐点・物事の分かれ目などを「瀬戸際」というようになった。



Brinkmanship is the practice of pushing a dangerous situation to the verge of disaster in order to achieve the most advantageous outcome.




position
    1. A commitment to buy or sell a given amount of securities or commodities.
    2. The amount of securities or commodities held by a person, firm, or institution.
    3. The ownership status of a person's or institution's investments.

2020年10月28日 星期三

cipher, deciphered, indecipherable, captcha, yesterday's man



On his first morning as President Trump’s national security adviser, in 2017, H. R. McMaster invited me to drop by his office. He had heard that The New York Times was getting ready to report on a classified U.S. operation that attempted to sabotage North Korea’s missile programs with cyberstrikes. “Is this the revelation of the modern-day Enigma codes?” he asked, the military historian searching for an analogy from the World War II operation to crack German ciphers.

2017年,在擔任特朗普總統國家安全顧問的第一個早上,H·R·麥克馬斯特(HR McMaster)請我去他辦公室一趟。他聽說《紐約時報》正準備報導美國試圖通過網絡攻擊,破壞朝鮮導彈計劃的一項機密行動“這是當代的恩尼格瑪密碼破譯嗎?”他問道,這位軍事歷史學家試圖從二戰期間破譯德國密碼的行動中尋找類比。


《時代雜誌》的亞洲總編輯在報導馬習會文章中,就用了「yesterday man」(過氣的人)、「cipher」(無足輕重的人;意即無用之人)來形容馬英九;還酸馬英九,在黨內同志眼中就只是位「魯蛇」( loser「失敗者」),「Ma will be a cipher. Even some in his own party regard him as a loser」!



Now, to stay one jump ahead of fraudsters and their automated programs, researchers are devising more versions of the puzzles, called captchas, to help sites block abuse that includes spam e-mail, illegal postings and skewed online voting.

yesterday's man
PHRASE

A man, especially a politician, whose career is finished or past its peak.
‘he was no sooner elected leader than the media dismissed him as yesterday's man’


The mega-expensive musical is no longer the ungodly, indecipherable mess it was in February. It’s just a bore.

Now, to stay one jump ahead of fraudsters and their automated programs, researchers are devising more versions of the puzzles, called captchas, to help sites block abuse that includes spam e-mail, illegal postings and skewed online voting.

United States Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) is one of ten unified commands of the United States' Department of Defense. It unifies the direction of cyberspace operations, strengthens DoD cyberspace capabilities, and integrates and ...

アメリカサイバー軍 - Wikipedia

 
アメリカサイバー軍(アメリカサイバーぐん、United States Cyber Command; USCYBERCOM)は、アメリカ軍のサイバー戦を担当する統合軍である。 目次. 1 概要; 2 任務; 3 設立の経緯; 4 配下の部隊; 5 本拠地とリーダーシップ. 5.1 本拠地; 5.2 リーダーシップ ...

captcha(Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart) A category of technologies used to ensure that a human is making an online transaction rather than a computer. Developed at Carnegie Mellon University, random words or letters are displayed in a camouflaged and distorted fashion so that they can be deciphered by people, but not by software. Users are asked to type in the text they see to verify they are human.



cipher noun (PERSON)

[ C ] formal disapproving person or group of people without power, but used by others for their own purposes, or someone who is notimportant:
The interim government is a mere cipher for military rule.

cipher noun (SECRET LANGUAGE)

[ C or U ] also cypher system of writing that prevents most people fromunderstanding the message:
The message was written in cipher.
Synonym

failed state, strategic plans, “strategic narcissism,” last nail in the coffin of strategic fiasco


It was a bracing start for what turned out to be a wild 13-month effort to devise a modern-day security strategy for a president with no experience, more interest in cutting deals than designing a long-term strategy — and an unwillingness to sit for intelligence briefings, much less discussion of containing an angry, decaying Russia or of a 50-year plan to compete with a rising China. So “Battlegrounds” is, at its heart, the McMaster strategic plan that might have come to fruition had he worked for a president who was interested in strategic plans.這一振奮人心的開端之後,卻是瘋狂的13個月,他在這段時間裡努力設計現代安全戰略,而他所效力的總統毫無經驗,對達成交易而不是設計長期戰略更感興趣——他連坐下聽情報簡報會都不情願,更不用說參與關於遏制憤怒而衰敗的俄羅斯、或製定與正在崛起的中國競爭的50年計劃的討論了。所以,《戰場》這本書的核心,就是麥克馬斯特原本可能成為現實的戰略計劃——如果他是為一位對戰略計劃感興趣的總統工作的話。


The key to his argument is that America is suffering from what Hans Morgenthau called “strategic narcissism,” or, in McMaster’s words, “the tendency to view the world only in relation to the United States and to assume that the future course of events depends primarily on U.S. decisions or plans.” It’s hard to argue with that premise: Every new president comes to office assuming that the world is waiting for direction from Washington. Some countries are. Others are looking for power vacuums they can fill, each in its own way.
他的論點關鍵是,美國患上了漢斯·摩根索(Hans Morgenthau)所謂的“戰略自戀”,或者用麥克馬斯特的話來說,“只從美國的角度看待世界的傾向,認為未來事態發展主要取決於美國的決定和計劃。”很難否認這樣一個前提:每一位新總統上台時,都認為世界正在等待華盛頓的指示。有些國家是如此。其他國家則在以各自的方式尋找可以填補的權力真空。



"The pandemic is the last nail in the coffin of strategic fiasco."



BLOOMBERG.COM
South Africa Heading Toward Becoming a Failed State, Group Says



strategic

音節stra・te・gic 発音記号・読み方/strətíːdʒɪk/
形容詞
strategic bombing 戦略爆撃.
STRATEGY+‐IC

bracing, lash, lash out, whiplash, Bracing for a Bailout Backlash


It was a bracing start for what turned out to be a wild 13-month effort to devise a modern-day security strategy for a president with no experience, more interest in cutting deals than designing a long-term strategy — and an unwillingness to sit for intelligence briefings, much less discussion of containing an angry, decaying Russia or of a 50-year plan to compete with a rising China. So “Battlegrounds” is, at its heart, the McMaster strategic plan that might have come to fruition had he worked for a president who was interested in strategic plans.這一振奮人心的開端之後,卻是瘋狂的13個月,他在這段時間裡努力設計現代安全戰略,而他所效力的總統毫無經驗,對達成交易而不是設計長期戰略更感興趣——他連坐下聽情報簡報會都不情願,更不用說參與關於遏制憤怒而衰敗的俄羅斯、或製定與正在崛起的中國競爭的50年計劃的討論了。所以,《戰場》這本書的核心,就是麥克馬斯特原本可能成為現實的戰略計劃——如果他是為一位對戰略計劃感興趣的總統工作的話。



Bracing for a Bailout Backlash

The Obama administration is worried that populist anger at financial institutions and Wall Street could complicate its agenda.

Whiplash Ends a Roller Coaster Week By VIKAS BAJAJ For three straight days, the stock market collapsed in the last hour of trading. On Friday, it merely swooned. New Orleans Levees Tested As Gustav Lashes Gulf Coast NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 1 -- Hurricane Gustav smashed into Louisiana's Gulf Coast on Monday, unleashing torrential rains and 110-mph winds that sent waves of water splashing over this city's levees. But early indications were that the weakened storm caused far less damage than feared, and New Orleans... (By Jacqueline L. Salmon and Spencer S. Hsu, The Washington Post)

Japanese leader thought his country "weak" for surrendering after Hiroshima

Japan's wartime leader felt betrayed by a weak-willed public and a frightened government, according to newly discovered private diaries.

General Hideki Tojo lashed out at his countrymen in his journal even after atomic bombs had been dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Some growers have lashed out at Japan, arguing that it keeps raising the drug residue standard simply to protect its own eel farms against competition. But growers here say buyers from Japan will eventually be forced to purchase eels from China.
Chinese Policies Led Slowly to Backlash in Tibet

The only surprising thing about unrest in Tibet may be that Beijing managed to keep things stable for so long.



bracing
adjective
UK 
 
/ˈbreɪ.sɪŋ/
 US 
 
/ˈbreɪ.sɪŋ/
(of weathercold and perhaps windy; (of an activity) making you feel full of energy because it is done outside when the weather is cold and perhaps windy:
We enjoyed a bracing walk on the beach.
類義語



brace yourself 
(PREPARE) verb [R] to prepare yourself physically or mentally for something unpleasant: The passengers were told to brace themselves (= to press their bodies hard against something or hold them very stiff) for a crash landing. She told me she had some bad news for me and I braced myself for a shock. 


  backlash 
noun [C] a strong feeling among a group of people in reaction to a tendency or recent events in society or politics: the Sixties backlash against bourgeois materialism the backlash against feminism (機械の)がた(つき); 激しい反動, 反発. white back-lash (人種差別撤廃運動に対する)白人側の巻返し.


  lash (HIT) T] to hit with a lot of force: The prisoners were regularly lashed with electric cable. The sound of the rain lashing against the windows was deafening. See also lash out. 2 [T] to criticize someone severely


lash 
 1 [C or S] a thin strip of leather at the end of a whip, or a hit with this, especially as a form of punishment: He received 30 lashes for the crime. The punishment for disobedience was the lash. whiplash Show phonetics noun [C or U] a neck injury caused by a sudden forward movement of the upper body, especially in a car accident: a whiplash injury 豐田汽車宣佈開發出了可減輕追尾時對頸部造成傷害的"主動頭枕",並將配備在計劃近期上市的新車型上。計劃首先配備于預定在2007年7月全面改進的"Ist"上,之後將依次擴大採用範圍。

  主動頭枕的工作原理是:追尾時,乘客的腰部就會擠壓內置於靠背中的下部組件,這時力就會通過線纜傳遞給上部組件,使頭枕向斜上方(上方30mm、前方25mm)移動。這樣便可保證頭部和背部同時被托住,從而緩和對頸部的衝擊。   該公司的內部測試顯示,與原來利用包括頭枕在內的整個座席靠背承受衝擊的"WIL(Whiplash Injury Lessening,鞭打性損失減輕)概念座席"相比,頸部傷害評價指標降低了10~20%左右。

2 [C] a sudden violent movement of something that can bend: With a powerful lash of its tail, the fish jumped out of the net and back into the river. 

  lashing 
usually singular] when someone is hit with a whip as a punishment: FIGURATIVE He was given a tongue lashing (= criticized severely) after the game. lash out (ATTACK) phrasal verb to suddenly attack someone or something physically or criticise them in an angry way: I was only teasing him and suddenly he lashed out (at me) and hit me in the face. Why's Tina in such a bad mood? She really lashed out at me when I was late for work. lash out (sth) (SPEND MONEY) phrasal verb UK INFORMAL to spend a large amount of money in an unnecessary or wasteful way: He lashed out £5000 on his daughter's wedding.