出品 | 外宣微记
欢迎转发朋友圈,转载全文请申请授权
11月14日下午,中美元首在印度尼西亚巴厘岛会晤,举世瞩目。
(资料图片仅供参考)
这几天,美国主流媒体都在引述美国官员反复讲的一句隐喻表达:put a floor under the relationship (between China and US),从中或可窥探美方对此次会晤的“期望值”。
试看几例:
Biden seeks to build a floor underthe relationship and increase communication ...(彭博新闻社)
But in general, this is aboutputting a floor in the relationship. (NPR)
Both leaders have a crucial opportunity to put a floor beneaththe relationship. (美国《外交》杂志)
Ahead of the talks, American officials repeatedly said their objective was to “build a floor” for ties with Beijing, implying the relationship cannot spiral any further. (CNN)
你看,相比之下,还是CNN比较体贴周到,生怕读者读不懂“build a floor for ties”,特地补了一句:意味着两国关系不能再继续恶化下去了。
“put a floor under (e.g. the price/crash)”在股市语境下常见,把它用在中美关系上还不多见。在股市语境下,给不断下跌的股价下面“put a floor”,喻指“触底”,与“bottom out”一词基本同义。
bottom out:to have reached the lowest point in a continuously changing situation and to be about to improve (《剑桥词典》)
有中文媒体把“put a floor under the relationship”译成了“为两国关系打地基”,估计是理解出现了偏差。
这句刷屏外媒的隐喻表达告诉我们,美方的期望值似乎并不高。不过,如能实现这个“小目标”也是好事。