Liesl Schillinger

Thirty- five years ago, when the late wordsmith William Sa fire—a former Nixon speechwriter,and the coiner of the phrase “nattering nabobs of negativism”—began writing “On Language,” aNew York Times Magazinecolumn about the changing currents of American speech, he opened with the simple salutation “How do you do.”1(Note the lack of question mark, which was his initial, throat-clearing point.)2In homage I had wanted to begin this column, “News of the Word,” with the phrase; but in intervening decades,the expression “How do you do” has fallen out of favor,replaced by the more perfunctory “Nice to meet you,” or the slangy “How yadoin’?” or “How’s it goin’?”3If you are determined to hear someone say “How do you do,”your best bet is to watch the filmMy Fair Lady—in which Audrey Hepburn (as Eliza Doolittle) says it repeatedly,with a mannered flourish.4These days, though, there is no longer one de rigueur stock phrase of introduction.5And so, I’ll just begin, “Hi, folks.”

Question: What do I mean by “folks”?

The word “folks” used to have a bonhomous,backslapping, affectionate quality in this country;“folks” were ordinary people like you and me, whom we recognized as familiar, or even familial.6One entry in my desksideAmerican Heritage Dictionary7. American Heritage Dictionary：《美國(guó)傳統(tǒng)詞典》，是美國(guó)國(guó)內(nèi)非常有影響和權(quán)威性的詞典之一。de fines “folks”as: “The members of one’s family or childhood household;relatives”. Another explains that, once the word “folks” moves beyond that narrow circle, it tends to latch on to a descriptive phrase—rich folks, poor folks, black folks, white folks, “old folks, just plain folks, country folks”—to specify the particular type of folksiness implied.8. entry： 詞條；latch on to： 理解為；folksiness： 友善，平易近人。Lately, though, the usage of this word has been shifting, and the change has come from the White House—transforming the “folks” of yesteryear into a complex and alien entourage whom you’d be unhappy to bump into at a backyard barbecue.9. yesteryear： 近年，不久以前；alien：異己的，不相容的；entourage： 隨行人員；bump into： 碰見，遇見。

威廉·薩菲爾

有時(shí)候，流行語的使用可以映射一個(gè)時(shí)代的特征。曾在美國(guó)歷史上廣為流行、甚至助力克林頓贏得大選的“伙計(jì)”一詞，如今何以演化成了恐怖分子、暴亂者、非正義的代名詞？曾經(jīng)象征著彬彬有禮、風(fēng)度翩翩的“紳士”一詞如今怎么充滿了諷刺味道？

In September, 2014, when President Obama sat with the reporter Steve Kroft of “60 Minutes“ to discuss the terrorist groups ISIS (which he calls ISIL) and Khorasan,10. ISIS： 伊拉克和大敘利亞伊斯蘭國(guó)（Islamic State of Iraq and al Shams，縮寫為ISIS），活躍在伊拉克和敘利亞的一個(gè)極端恐怖組織，又被稱作ISIL；Khorasan： 指敘利亞境內(nèi)強(qiáng)硬派團(tuán)體呼羅珊。he warned that “those folks could kill Americans” and urged “Arab and Muslim leaders to say very clearly, ‘These folks do not represent us.’” Another group of folks, the Syrian rebel fighters whom the United States had decided not to arm, early in that country’s civil war, seemed to elicit more fellow feeling,though President Obama refuted the “mythology” that “if we had given those folks some guns two and a half years ago, that Syria would be fine.”11. 在敘利亞內(nèi)戰(zhàn)早期，另外一群“家伙”——美國(guó)決定不予以武裝支持的敘利亞反對(duì)派——仿佛引起了更多同感，盡管奧巴馬總統(tǒng)駁回了“如果兩年半前我們?yōu)檫@些家伙提供槍支，敘利亞可能會(huì)好起來”的觀點(diǎn)。arm： v. 武裝；elicit： 引起，引出；fellow feeling： 同感；refute： 反駁，駁斥；mythology： （沒有事實(shí)根據(jù)的）虛構(gòu)信念或觀點(diǎn)。Back in August, the President had regretted the excesses of the CIA toward yet another group in the aftermath of 9/11, when he said, “We tortured some folks”.12. excess：（常用作復(fù)數(shù)）過分的行為；CIA： 中央情報(bào)局；aftermath：（事件）結(jié)束后的一個(gè)時(shí)期；torture： 折磨，拷問。While, several years before, he had denounced domestic fearmongers who demonized his healthcare plan,because “some of the same folks who are spreading these tall tales have fought against Medicare in the past.”13. denounce： 譴責(zé)，聲討；fearmonger：散布恐懼的人；demonize： 妖魔化，使……變?yōu)槟Ч恚籺all tale： 吹牛的話，夸張的故事；Medicare： 美國(guó)老年人醫(yī)療保險(xiǎn)制度。The“folks” President Obama speaks of often have a negative or alien aura14. aura： 氣氛，氣味。, a quality of “them,” not “us.” They are terrorists or armed militants, hard-hearted ideologues or benighted unfortunates.15. ideologue： 空想家，理論家；benighted：愚昧的；unfortunate： 不幸的人。This is new.

When President Clinton used the word “folks” in the’90s, during State of the Union addresses, stump speeches,and NAFTA talks, he did so in the time-honored, colloquial manner, making “folks” synonymous with “people” but more personal;16. State of the Union： 國(guó)情咨文；stump speech： 政治演說；NAFTA： 全稱為North American Free Trade Agreement，北美自由貿(mào)易協(xié)定；time-honored： 歷史悠久的，久享盛名的；colloquial： 口語體的，通俗的；synonymous with：與……同義。and that’s still how he uses the word 20 years on: to show his commonality with and sympathy for his audience. In “A Place Called Hope,” the speech in which he accepted the Democratic nomination for the presidency in 1992,17. nomination： 提名；presidency： 總統(tǒng)職位。he suggested that all Americans were just folks: “There is no them; there is only us.” So, when I say, “Hi, folks,” I revert to18. revert to： 回歸，回到。the traditional, inclusive spirit of the word; “us,” not “them.” From this group, however, I would like to exclude gentlemen, who lately have taken on a markedly ungentlemanly character.19. exclude： 排除；markedly： 明顯地，顯著地。

When a disturbed Iraq war veteran named Omar Gonzalez scaled the White House fence in last September and sprinted deep into the executive mansion, some journalists conferred the title of gentleman upon him.20. disturbed： 精神失常的；veteran： 老兵；scale： v. 攀登，攀爬；sprint： 沖刺，全速奔跑；executive mansion：（美國(guó)）總統(tǒng)官邸，白宮；confer： 授予，給予?！癟here’s the gentleman, you see him running across the White House lawn,” said José Díaz-Balart on MSNBC, as he relayed news of the home invasion.21. MSNBC： 微軟全國(guó)廣播公司，由美國(guó)全國(guó)廣播公司（NBC）和微軟公司聯(lián)合開辦，受眾既可在家通過電視機(jī)收看有線電視的MSNBC節(jié)目，也可通過電腦上網(wǎng)獲取在線MSNBC的信息；relay： 轉(zhuǎn)播。Gonzalez was “the same gentleman who, twice in months prior, posed a direct threat to the White House,” wrote thePittsburgh Tribune-Review, explaining that, in last July, “after a high-speed chase, he was found with 11 guns and a map,” while in last August, he had appeared in front of 1,600 Pennsylvania Avenue with a hatchet.22. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review： 《匹茲堡先驅(qū)評(píng)論報(bào)》；Pennsylvania Avenue：賓夕法尼亞大道，華盛頓哥倫比亞特區(qū)的一條街道，連接白宮和美國(guó)國(guó)會(huì)大廈，是官方游行和民間抗議的地點(diǎn)，也是重要的通勤路線；hatchet：短柄小斧。The September intruder should not be confused with the Ferguson Missouri policeman Darren Wilson,23. intruder： 入侵者，闖入者；Ferguson： 弗格森（美國(guó)密蘇里州的一個(gè)城市）。whose boss, Police Chief Tom Jackson,described him as “nice, respectable,and well-mannered, a gentleman”after he shot and killed an unarmed man named Michael Brown.Commentators often bemoan the decline of civility in public discourse, but the excessive rise of misplaced civility is just as good a source for consternation.24. 評(píng)論員們經(jīng)常對(duì)公共話語缺少禮貌而感到惋惜，但是過度且不正當(dāng)使用禮貌用語同樣是造成恐慌的來源之一。bemoan： 為……惋惜；civility：禮貌，禮儀；public discourse： 公共討論，公共話語；consternation： 驚恐，驚慌失措。

Historically, Americans have preferred to be called gentlemen,rather than simply folks, whenever possible. When Frances Trollope,mother of the British novelist Anthony Trollope, moved from England to Tennessee and Ohio in 1827, this preference was already well-established.25. 在1827年，當(dāng)英國(guó)小說家安東尼·特羅洛普的母親弗朗西斯·特羅洛普從英格蘭搬到美國(guó)田納西州和俄亥俄州時(shí)，這一偏好早已普遍有之。Anthony Trollope： 安東尼·特羅洛普，英國(guó)作家，代表作有《巴徹斯特養(yǎng)老院》和《巴徹斯特大教堂》等。In her scathing,humorous accounts of this country’s rough-and-ready language and customs,Domestic Manners of the Americans, which she published upon her return to England for the entertainment of her countrymen, she wrote with patronizing amusement that she found“draymen, butcher’s boys and the labourers on the canal” all were called “gentlemen” in these parts.26. scathing： 苛刻的，嚴(yán)厲的；rough-and-ready： 潦草的；patronizing： 高人一等的；drayman： 運(yùn)貨馬車車夫。Her own de finition hewed closer to27. hew to： 堅(jiān)持，遵守。the de finition that you’ll still find in theAmerican Heritage Dictionarytoday: “A man of gentle or noble birth or superior social position.”

We Americans have little patience for such snobbish exclusiveness.28. snobbish： 勢(shì)利的；exclusiveness： 排他性，排外性。To our ears, her criticisms have an unladylike ring (though Mark Twain applauded her bile, and said, “She was merely telling the truth and this indignant nation knew it”).29. unladylike： 不淑女的；bile： 憤怒；indignant： 憤慨的。

So—should you call a menacing30. menacing： 險(xiǎn)惡的，具有威脅性的。stranger with a hatchet, gun, or automatic weapon in his hands a gentleman? Sometimes yes, sometimes no; you can’t always be sure, but most folks will know the difference when they see it.