Accounting in China

Accounting in China
中国的会计
Seeing the forest for the trees
只见树木，不见树林
Corporate governance in China is lousy
中国的公司治理问题重重
Feb 4th 2012 | HONG KONG | from the print edition

CAN you trust Chinese accounts? Many investors fear (and several short-sellers are betting) that the answer is "no". Sino-Forest, a big forestry firm listed in Toronto, is a case in point. Last year Muddy Waters, a short-seller, accused it of running a Ponzi scheme, which it denies. On January 31st Sino-Forest released the final report of independent investigators into the charge. Insiders crow that the gumshoes found no smoking gun. The gumshoes grumbled that, lacking access to all the evidence, they were "not able to reach definitive conclusions".
中国公司的帐目值得相信吗？许多投资者担心答案会是"不"，而一些做空者却为此下了重注。嘉汉林业（Sino-Forest）是来自中国的一家大型林业企业，其股票已经在多伦多证交所挂牌交易，该公司的遭遇恰好可以用来研究本文开头的问题。去年，一家名为浑水（Muddy Waters）的做空公司指控嘉汉林业实际上是一场庞式骗局，而后者对此予以否认。今年1月31日，针对浑水的指控进行的独立调查最终报告终于出炉，嘉汉林业内部人士欢呼说，调查者们没有找到确凿的证据。调查者则抱怨，由于部分证据的获取受限，他们"无法获得明确的结论"。

America's SEC is trying to force the Shanghai office of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, a big Western accountancy firm, to hand over papers related to Longtop, a Chinese software firm that was delisted by the New York Stock Exchange last year. Deloitte refuses, saying this would violate Chinese laws on "state secrets". Deloitte may have a point. If it co-operates, its local staff could be jailed under Chinese law.
另外，美国证券交易委员会正试图要求"四大"之一的德勤会计师事务所上海分所提交与一家中国软件公司Longtop有关的资料。这家公司的股票去年被纽约证券交易所摘牌。德勤拒绝了这一要求，因为这违反了中国保护"国家机密"的相关法律。德勤的拒绝有一定道理，如果接受这一要求很可能导致其在当地的部分员工因违反中国法律而入狱。

Many accountancy problems spring from reverse takeovers, when a Chinese firm buys a foreign one to acquire its listing. T. J. Wong of the Chinese University of Hong Kong has analysed 200 Chinese reverse takeovers in the West, and found that many have run into trouble. The troubled outfits are typically smallish private ones that opted for a backdoor Western listing because they could not list in Hong Kong (where reverse takeovers are barred).
许多会计问题源自于反向收购，即一家中国公司通过购买了一家外国公司，以此获得上市资格。香港中文大学的T. J. Wong分析了中国公司在西方市场上进行的200次反向收购，发现其中存在许多问题。出现问题的通常是小型私人公司，因为他们无法在禁止反向收购的香港市场上市，所以只得选择走西方证券市场的后门。

Western accountancy firms have taken flak for lending their good names to dodgy Chinese firms. But the international boss of a Big Four accountancy firm says this is unfair. The first 156 Chinese reverse takeovers were not audited by Western accountants, he says, but by their Chinese rivals. He insists the Big Four have greatly increased their vigilance in China.
许多人批评西方会计师事务所用自己的好名声为这些问题重重的中国公司保驾护航。但是"四大"中一家的总裁认为这样的批评并不公平。他说，在中国公司所进行的反向收购中，前156次没有与西方会计师事务所合作，而是选择了国内其他会计师事务所。该总裁坚称，"四大"对于涉及中国公司的业务已经提高了警惕。

Michael Thompson of the China Europe International Business School argues that Chinese corporate-governance laws are better than people think. They call for independent directors, separate the chairman's role from that of the chief executive, and grant shareholders many rights.
中欧国际商学院的Michael Thompson则认为，中国公司治理的相关法律比人们想象中要好得多。中国法律要求公司聘用独立董事，将董事长一职从首席执行官中区分出来，并赋予股东许多权利。

The problem with many of the firms whose accounts are currently under scrutiny is that they were registered in such places as the Cayman Islands, outside the reach of Chinese law. And the loophole that allowed them to list in America via reverse takeovers is an American loophole, not a Chinese one.
问题在于，多数当前受到关注的公司，都在像开曼群岛这样的地方注册，不受中国法律管辖。另外，他们通过反向收购在美国证券市场上市，这体现了美国证券市场的漏洞，而非中国。

China's biggest corporate-governance problem is not its laws, but its government's willingness to enforce them even-handedly. William McGovern of Kobre & Kim, a lawyer and former SEC enforcement official, argues that aggressive action by American regulators after the Enron debacle restored confidence to American markets. China risks a similar crisis of confidence now, but Mr McGovern observes that its regulators have yet to act decisively at home or to co-operate with foreign agencies such as the SEC. Not all Chinese firms are crooked―but until China gets serious about regulating its companies, investors should remain wary.
中国公司治理的最大问题不是缺乏相关法律，而是政府是否愿意公平地贯彻和实施相关法律。来自Kobre & Kim 的律师William McGovern曾任美国证券委员会执行官员，他认为美国监管者在安然事件后采取的严厉措施有助于恢复市场信心，中国正面临着同样的信心缺失风险。但是Mr McGovern观察到，中国的监管者既没有下定决心在国内解决问题，也不愿意和像美国证券交易委员会这样的外国机构进行协作。并非所有的中国公司都使诈，但是如果中国不能实施严格的监管，投资者必须保持谨慎。

Hong Kong and the mainland

Hong Kong and the mainland
香港与大陆

Dogs and locusts
狗论与蝗论

Old divisions find a new expression
旧分歧的新表达方式

Feb 4th 2012 | HONG KONG | from the print edition

DESPITE a plethora of festive new-year dragons and a few days of holiday, it has been a season of ill will in Hong Kong. On January 15th a young Mandarin-speaking girl dropped some dried noodles she had been nibbling on a Hong Kong underground train. Perhaps her family, from mainland China, did not know that eating and drinking is banned on the spotless metro. When a local Cantonese speaker objected to the noodle-eating in bad Mandarin, a quarrel erupted. The whole incident, recorded on a mobile phone, was soon viewed online by millions in Hong Kong and in China.

尽管新年春节喜庆的龙处处皆是，再加上好几天的假期，但在香港却怨声载道。1月15日，一位大陆小女孩在香港地铁上把自己吃的点心面掉落在了地面。也许由于她和家人来自大陆，所以并不清楚在这一尘不染的地铁车厢内是不能吃东西的。当一位香港本地人用不标准的普通话提醒她不能在这吃东西时，一场骂战便爆发了。整个事件被手机录制下来，很快，这一视频在网上被上千万的香港和大陆人点击观看。

"That's what mainlanders are like," was perhaps the nastiest thing said by any Hong Konger in the metro carriage. But soon a well-known loudmouth professor at Peking University was suggesting that some in the former colony were "British running dogs". This caused some Hong Kongers to take to the streets to protest. On February 1st another group took out a full-page advertisement in a Hong Kong newspaper complaining about mainland "locusts" swarming into the territory; it called for the government to stop the "infiltration".

"他们大陆人是这样的"这句话或许是在那节地铁车厢里的某位香港人说的最过分的一句了。然而，很快，内地北京大学的一位以多嘴著名的教授便指出，一些香港人是"前英殖民地的走狗"。这一言论引发了香港人上街示威抗议。2月1日，另有一组织在香港报纸上刊登了整整一版的广告，抱怨大陆人如"蝗虫"一般涌入他们的领地，他们还要求香港政府阻止这一"渗透"。

In the past two months Hong Kong has seen a spate of related protests: one against the thousands of expectant mothers who pour in from the mainland to give birth in local hospitals; another involving a march against Dolce & Gabbana, a prominent Italian retailer, when it was thought to be favouring shoppers from the mainland. Though Hong Kong reverted to Chinese sovereignty in 1997, a border still runs between the territory and mainland China, and access from the mainland is restricted. The Hong Kongers' broad complaint is longstanding: they see hordes of mainlanders putting a strain on public resources. Mainlanders in turn feel that Hong Kongers are arrogant and disloyal to the motherland.

在过去的两个月里，香港发生了一连串的抗议事件：其一是反对数以千计的大陆待产妇女到香港的医院进行生产；其二是抗议意大利著名品牌"杜嘉班纳"香港销售商对大陆商客的偏爱。虽然香港主权已于1997年回归大陆，但在香港与大陆之间仍留有边界，从大陆进入香港也还是受到限制的。香港人长期以来一直抱怨不已，他们认为成群结队的大陆人的进入让他们的公共资源变得紧张起来。相反的，大陆人则觉得香港人傲慢无比，对祖国大陆并不忠诚。

What has changed drastically in the past few years is that the old fear of poor mainland Chinese swamping Hong Kong has been washed away by floods of rich mainland shoppers. Where once Hong Kongers disdained their countrymen from the mainland as Ah Chan, the derisory term for a bumpkin, they are now more likely to hear themselves disparaged as Kong Chan, Hong Kong bumpkins, by mainlanders flush with cash.

过去的几年发生了巨大的变化，以前香港人怕的是一穷二白的大陆人的涌入，而现在随着如潮水般的富有大陆购物者的到来，这种担忧已不复存在。曾几何时，香港人把内地的同胞鄙视为"阿灿"，即粤语里"乡巴佬"的意思，但现在，他们却更害怕被手里攥着大把钞票的大陆人鄙视为"港灿"，也就是"土包子港民"。




附一下我在网上查到的"阿灿"的意思和来源，是香港电台名为"俗语趣谈"栏目里面的，比较权威~分享之~

阿�：阿�是一�名字，出自����翡翠��之《�中人》，他是�中�大�逃�香港的非法移民，土包子，�充�髦。一般用作�呼��既自卑又自大的中�非法移民。�在引申到外�的土包子。例如港�――在大�的港人反成了土包子；加�――在香港、大�的加拿大回流移民土包子。
例：唔好以���阿�，�����，��富商喇。/笑人阿�，自己先�港�！正老土！
�源：
阿�是《�中人》�的一�配角，�大�偷渡�港，他生�的地方�香港不同，�值�念大�，重新在香港生活遇到很多��，使��典型角色充�了喜�感。����典型的�思，是一位��考����的大�新移民���，��王晶和�志�巧妙地�中提取精�，塑造出一�家���、更成�香港典型人物的角色。

Making ting tong cool 令“ting tong”变酷

Chinese college students
中国大学生

Making ting tong cool
令"ting tong"变酷

Chinese arrivals at American universities are changing stereotypes
美国大学的中国留学生正在改变人们对他们的成见

Feb 4th 2012 | LOS ANGELES | from the print edition

Annoying Ms Wallace
惹恼亚历山德拉•华莱士

LAST March, Alexandra Wallace, a blonde Californian who was attending the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), was so annoyed by "these hordes of Asian people" filling up her campus and talking on their cellphones in the library that she made a YouTube video mocking them: "Aah, ching chong ling long ting tong." Her clumsy imitation of Chinese catapulted Ms Wallace to her moment of fame. Asians and others responded with YouTube counterattacks; "ching-chong-ling-long" became a ringtone; UCLA declared itself outraged; and Ms Wallace apologised, then left the university.
去年三月，就读于洛杉机加州大学（UCLA）的金发加州女孩亚历山德拉•华莱士对"成群的亚洲学生"充斥校园并在图书馆拿着手机大聊特聊感到十分厌烦，于是她拍了一段嘲笑他们的视频放到YouTube上："啊，ching chong ling long ting tong。"她鹦鹉学舌地说中文的笨拙口音令她一夜成名。亚洲和其他地区的人们也在YouTube上用视频进行反击，"ching-chong-ling-long"成了一个手机铃声；UCLA声称校方对此感到愤怒；而亚历山德拉•华莱士则在道歉后退学了。

A year on, and the incident has spawned its own genre of local comedy, but nobody seems the least bit bothered by it anymore. In fact, the increase in applications by Chinese students only quickened in the past year, says Bob Ericksen, the director of UCLA's centre for international students. There are now 695 undergraduates from China at UCLA, five times more than two years ago. They represent 3% of the student body.
一年过去了，一种新的本土喜剧剧种因此诞生，但似乎再也没有人对那有丝毫兴趣了。UCLA国际学生中心的主任鲍伯•埃里克森说，实际上，去年申请留学的中国学生数量增加得更快了。现在UCLA有695名来自中国的本科生，这个数字是2年前的5倍，占学生总数的3%。

This is a nationwide trend. After years of staying flat, the number of foreign undergraduates has increased 25% in the past four years, while the number of Chinese students has almost sextupled, to about 57,000. China thus leads India and South Korea as the primary country of origin for foreign students. On the demand side, China produces vast numbers of highly qualified applicants whose families can afford to pay American fees. On the supply side, American universities are usually happy to accept such good students.
这是个全国性的趋势。外国本科生的人数多年来一直没什么变化，但在过去四年里增加了25%；而中国学生的数目几乎增长了五倍，达到57000人。由此，中国超过印度和韩国成为了留学生的最大生源国。中国作为学位需求方，提供了大量家庭能负担美国学费的高质量申请人。而美国的大学作为学位供应方，往往乐于接收这样的好学生。

Public universities, moreover, have an additional incentive. Many are struggling financially because their states have been cutting budgets in a weak economy. So they take more pupils from other countries and states in part because they pay higher fees. For example, Californians pay an average of $13,000 a year at the ten campuses of the University of California; outsiders pay about $36,000.
此外，公立大学这样做还有另一个动机。许多公立大学因其所在的州在衰退的经济中一直削减预算，现正面临财务困境。所以这些大学招收更多来自其他国家和州的学生，在某种程度上是由于他们有能力支付更高的学费。例如，加州学生平均每年支付给加州大学十个学院的学费为一万三千美元；而外来学生则平均支付三万六千美元。

Naturally, this leads to some resentment among in-state applicants who fear rejection. In reality, says Robert Stacey, a dean at the University of Washington (the state, not the district), those outsiders displace very few in-state applicants, and subsidise the education of the rest. While the number of Chinese students at UW tripled this year, to about 600, they still account for only about 10% of all students, and Washingtonians still account for about 75%, he says.
这自然会使那些害怕被拒绝的本州申请者有些愤恨。华盛顿（是华盛顿州，不是区）大学的一位系主任罗伯特•史黛丝说，事实上，留学生只占州内学位名额的很小一部分，但他其余学生却受惠于他们所交的学费。他还说，尽管今年华盛顿大学的中国学生人数增长了两倍，达到600人，但他们仍只占所有学生的10%，而华盛顿学生则仍占约75%。

But the many new Chinese students do more than provide funds. They also change the culture. Traditional stereotypes about Asian students being geeky came about when the pupils tended to be "ABCs" (American-born Chinese). Those caricatures still exist, as displayed to humorous effect on websites such as asianssleepinginthelibrary.tumblr.com, which consists of photos of Asian students sleeping in the library, usually slumped over their study materials.
不过，这些数量庞大的新中国学生不仅带来了资金，还改变了当地的文化。当中国留学生大多是"ABCs"（生于美国的中国人）时，就出现了"亚洲学生往往是书呆子"这种传统的偏见。现在这种嘲讽依然存在，它们被放在asianssleepinginthelibrary.tumblr.com这样的网站上以博读者一笑，网站上是各色亚洲学生在图书馆睡觉（往往是趴在他们的学习资料上）的照片。

This picture is totally outdated, says Mahlon Meyer, who teaches a class in Chinese history at the University of Washington to about 200 students, one third of whom are Chinese. Increasingly, the Chinese have more money to spend than the Americans. And they have more on their minds than studies. "They are now the popular ones, getting the American girls," says Mr Meyer. "The Chinese students, I think, have more confidence than American students in general." Based on his experience, the problem is not that too many of them will come, but that on the contrary they will start to decide that it's not worth the money, and stay home.
玛伦•迈耶说，这种情况已完全过时了。他在华盛顿大学教一个班级的中国历史，班上约有200个学生，其中三分之一是中国人。中国人越来越比美国人有钱了。他们可不只会读书。"现在他们才是受欢迎的人，美国的女孩喜欢他们。"玛伦•迈耶说，"我觉得，中国学生通常比美国学生更自信。"根据他的经验，问题不是有太多中国学生前来留学，而是反过来，他们会开始觉得这钱花得不值，于是就不来了。

委婉语

本帖最后由 乌龙水草 于 2011-12-28 10:01 编辑 Euphemisms 委婉语 Making murder respectable 让谋杀看起来正派 Phoney politeness and muddled messages: a guide to euphemisms 假装的礼貌和混乱的信息： 委婉语导引 Dec 17th 2011 | from the print edition  SHORT sharp terms make big points clear. But people often prefer to soften their speech with euphemism: a mixture of abstraction, metaphor, slang and understatement that offers protection against the offensive, harsh or blunt. In 1945, in one of history's greatest euphemisms, Emperor Hirohito informed his subjects of their country's unconditional surrender (after two atomic bombs, the loss of 3m people and with invasion looming) with the words, "The war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan's advantage." 简短而辛辣的言辞有助于廓清重要的论点。 可是人们往往喜欢软化自己的话语，使用婉言隐语：婉言隐语乃是一堆混杂之物， 包括概念抽象， 隐喻比拟， 市井俚俗以及言不尽意的轻描淡写， 以此掩饰无礼， 缓和刺耳， 减轻唐突。裕仁天皇于1945年向国民发表日本（遭到两颗原子弹轰炸，三百万人丧生，亡国之危迫在眉睫之后）无条件投降诏书的时候这样说："战事未必对日本有利"。这是历史上最著名的委婉语之一。 Euphemisms range promiscuously, from diplomacy ("the minister is indisposed", meaning he won't be coming) to the bedroom (a grande horizontale in France is a notable courtesan). But it is possible to attempt a euphemistic taxonomy. One way to categorise them is ethical. In "Politics and the English Language", George Orwell wrote that obfuscatory political language is designed "to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable". Some euphemisms do distort and mislead; but some are motivated by kindness.  从交际辞令（"部长有些不舒服"意味着他不会来了）到两性关系（横陈贵体在法语里是艳名四播的贵胄情妇），委婉语涉及范围极广。不过我们可以把委婉语进行分类。一种方法是按照道德标准分类。乔治・奥威尔(George Orwell )在《政治和英语》（Politics and the English Language）一书中写道，含糊不清的政治语言可以使"谎言听起来真实可信，让谋杀看起来正派合理。"有些委婉语起到了曲解和误导的作用，不过有些则出自善意的驱使。 Another way to typify them is by theme. A third―and a useful way to begin―is by nationality. A euphemism is a kind of lie, and the lies peoples and countries tell themselves are revealing. 第三种方法是按照国家分类，初级分类用此相当有效。委婉语实际上就是谎言，研究人们和国家对自己编一些什么谎言可以揭示不少的东西。 American euphemisms are in a class of their own, principally because they seem to involve words that few would find offensive to start with, replaced by phrases that are meaninglessly ambiguous: bathroom tissue for lavatory paper, dental appliances for false teeth, previously owned rather than used, wellness centres for hospitals, which conduct procedures not operations. As the late George Carlin, an American comedian, noted, people used to get old and die. Now they become first preelderly, then senior citizens and pass away in a terminal episode or (if doctors botch their treatment) after a therapeutic misadventure. These bespeak a national yearning for perfection, bodily and otherwise.  美式委婉语自成一格，主要原因在于这种委婉语压根儿用的就是一些难以得罪人的词儿，随后几经置换，代以一些没有意义且含糊不清的措辞：把便纸说成浴纱，把假牙说成牙具，把旧货说成曾用，把看病医院说成健康中心，在那里，开刀手术就是程序执行。正如已故美国喜剧演员乔治•卡林（George Carlin）所说：过去，人们老去而死。现在，他们先变成 前长者，随后成为 资深者，最后要嘛在人生逆旅之末隐没，要嘛在治疗意外后（如果医生的治疗失误）仙逝。这些委婉语都彰显出一个民族对于完美-----无论是身体上的还是别的方面的完美------的追求。 Sensitive China, perfidious Albion 中国：敏感。 英国：狡猾 Some Chinese euphemisms also stem from squeamishness. Rather than inquire about a patient's sex life, doctors may ask if you have much time for fang shi (room business). Online sites sell qingqu yongpin, literally "interesting love products". 有些中国委婉语同样脱胎于拘谨这一因素。医生询问病人时不会说"性生活"，而是问是不是"房事"过密。网络商城销售的是"情趣用品"。 But Chinese circumlocution is often a form of polite opacity. Chinese people don't like being too direct in turning down invitations or (as many journalists find) requests for interviews. So they will frequently reply that something is bu fangbian (not convenient). This does not mean reapply in a few weeks' time. It means they don't want to do it, ever. If they don't want to tell you what is going on they will say vaguely they are bu qingchu: literally "I'm not clear." 不过中国人讲话喜欢兜圈子，他们通常都是出于礼貌性才会讲些难懂的话。中国人不喜欢直接拒绝邀请或者采访要求（许多记者均有此感）。于是他们常说"有些不方便"。这样说可不是为了过几个星期再约时间，而是说他们根本没有此意。如果他们不想告诉你发生了什么事情，他们会含糊地说"不清楚"。 One feature of Chinese euphemisms comes from the tonal nature of the language. Yan is slang for cigarettes; jiu means alcohol. But, with different tones, the two syllables together can also mean "to research". So a corrupt official being asked to do something might suggest, "Let's research (yanjiu) this issue together", by which he would probably mean, "Give me some cigarettes and some alcohol and I'll make it happen." 中国式委婉语的特点之一源于中文的发音特质。香烟的俚语是烟，酒精饮料的俚语是酒。这两个词和在一起的就是"研究"（烟酒），音调就大不相同了。某个贪腐官员想要贪污时就会说"我们一起研究（烟酒）这件事情。"他的意思其实是"送我烟和酒，我就帮你办事。" The British are probably the world champions of euphemism. The best of these are widely understood (at least among natives), creating a pleasant sense of complicity between the euphemist and his audience. British newspaper obituaries are a rich seam: nobody likes to speak ill of the dead, yet many enjoy a hint of the truth about the person who has "passed away". A drunkard will be described as "convivial" or "cheery". Unbearably garrulous is "sociable" or the dread "ebullient"; "lively wit" means a penchant for telling cruel and unfunny stories. "Austere" and "reserved" mean joyless and depressed. Someone with a foul temper "did not suffer fools gladly". The priapic will have "enjoyed female company"; nymphomania is "notable vivacity". Uncontrollable appetites of all sorts may earn the ultimate accolade: "He lived life to the full." 英国在使用委婉语方面可谓全世界无人能及。一些最妙的委婉语通俗易懂（至少英国本地人能够明白）。说委婉语的人和听众之间达成了某种愉悦的共通关系。英国报纸刊登的讣告可谓最佳范例，人们不愿意诋毁死者，"仙逝者"哪怕是一丝的美德都会得到大加赞赏。醉汉在人们口中成了"convivial（意为怡然自得）"或"cheery（意为兴致很高）"的人。那那些唠唠叨叨令人不胜其烦的人就是很"sociable（意为合群）"，严重的可以是"ebullient（意为热情洋溢）"，"lively wit（意为活泼机智）"是说有些人偏爱讲些惹人反感、无聊至极的事情。"Austere（意为朴素）"和"reserved（意味含蓄）"则说明无趣与压抑。脾气暴躁的人则是"did not suffer fools gladly（意为没有耐心与蠢人周旋）"。色男被称为"enjoyed female company （意为喜欢女性陪伴）。"notable vivacity（意为众人皆知的活泼）"指荡女。放任欲望不加约束则会赢得终极赞誉："He lived life to the full（意为他的人生完满无憾）"。 Such euphemisms are a pleasant echo of an age when private lives enjoyed a degree of protective discretion that now seems unimaginable in Britain. That left room for "a confirmed bachelor" (a homosexual) or someone "" (leaving the reader guessing whether the problem was indecent exposure, adultery or cross-dressing). 这些委婉语是英国私生活依然处于受保护时代发出的快乐回响，而这种保护态度现在则不能想象。左边的房间是给那些"a confirmed bachelor（意为确定无疑的单身汉）即同性恋者" 或者"burdened by occasional irregularities in his private life（意为在私生乎中偶尔犯规而背负重担）"的人（让读者去猜到底是露阴癖，通奸者还是易装癖）。 Writing about dead people is a question only of taste, because they can't sue. Describing the living (especially in libel-happy jurisdictions such as England) requires prudence. "Thirsty" applied to a British public figure usually means heavy drinking; "tired and emotional" (a term that has moved from the pages of Private Eye, a satirical magazine, into general parlance) means visibly drunk. "Hands-on mentoring" of a junior colleague can be code for an affair, hopefully not coupled with a "volatile" personality, which means terrifying eruptions of temper. References to "rumbustious" business practices or "controversial", "murky" and "questionable" conduct usually mean the journalist believes something illegal is going on, but couldn't stand it up in court if sued. 描写死者纯属品味问题，因为他们无能提出控诉。描写活着的人则需要考虑周详（尤其是在英格兰这种以审理诽谤案件为乐的司法区域）。如果在英国公众人物的身上看到了"Thirsty（意为饥渴）"的字眼，那就是说此人已经喝得不省人事，要是说"tired and emotional（意为疲倦情绪化）"（这个词最早出现在讽刺杂志《侦探》当中，后成为流行语）就是说已经喝得烂醉如泥。"Hands-on mentoring（意为手把手指导）"年轻同事可理解为风流韵事，但愿不要再加上性格"volatile"的描述，因为这意味着脾气一触即发。记者要是提到商业惯例"rumbustious（意为无法无天）"，或者"controversial（意为存在争议）"、"murky（意为黑暗不堪）"以及"questionable（意为疑点甚多）"这些词汇的时候，就表示他们相信有人在进行非法勾当，不过却不足以成为呈堂证供。 In the upper reaches of the British establishment, euphemism is a fine art, one that new arrivals need to master quickly. "Other Whitehall agencies" or "our friends over the river" means the intelligence services (American spooks often say they "work for the government"). A civil servant warning a minister that a decision would be "courageous" is saying that it will be career-cripplingly unpopular. "Adventurous" is even worse: it means mad and unworkable. A "frank discussion" is a row, while a "robust exchange of views" is a full-scale shouting match. (These kind of euphemisms are also common in Japanese, where the reply maemuki ni kento sasete itadakimasu―I will examine it in a forward-looking manner―means something on the lines of "This idea is so stupid that I am cross you are even asking me and will certainly ignore it.") 英国上层当局视委婉语为一项精细艺术，新人要快速融会贯通。"Other Whitehall agencies（意为白厅其它机构）"或"our friends over the river（意为我们河对岸的朋友）"则是说情报部门（美国间谍则常说他们"work for the government意为为政府工作"）。公务员警告部长说这项决定应该"courageous（意为一往无前）"，就是在说这个决定不得人心，而"Adventurous（意为具有冒险性）"一词程度就要严重得多，意即太疯狂了，没有可行性。"frank discussion（意为坦诚交谈）"表示将要大吵一架，"robust exchange of views（意为全面交换意见）"则是要从头到尾吵个不休。（这种委婉语在日本也很普遍，日本人要是说我会继续观察，那么就表示这个主意愚蠢至极，你居然向我提起，我很生气，肯定不会当回事。） Euphemism is so ingrained in British speech that foreigners, even those who speak fluent English, may miss the signals contained in such bland remarks as "incidentally" (which means, "I am now telling you the purpose of this discussion"); and "with the greatest respect" ("You are mistaken and silly"). This sort of code allows the speaker to express anger, contempt or outright disagreement without making the emotional investment needed to do so directly. Some find that cowardly. 委婉语已经成为英国人演讲中不可或缺的一部分。外国人甚至那些能讲一口流利英语的人都可能错过那些毫不起眼的闲谈中所包含的信号。比方说，"incidentally（意为顺便地）"（意思是"我现在告诉你的是此次谈话的目的"），"with the greatest respect（意为给予最诚挚的尊重）"的意思是你错得愚蠢）。说话者可以利用这些密码来表达愤怒、蔑视或者断然反对等等情绪，从而避免了直抒胸意。不过有人认为这都是些懦弱的表现。 Boardroom, bathroom, bedroom 会议室、浴室和卧室 A thematic taxonomy of euphemism should have a category devoted to commerce. Business euphemisms are epitomised by the lexicon of property salesmen. A "bijou" residence is tiny (it may also be "charming", "cosy" or "compact"). A "vibrant" neighbourhood is deafeningly noisy; if it is "up and coming" it is terrifyingly crime-ridden, whereas a "stone's throw from" means in reach of a powerful catapult. Conversely, "convenient for" means "unpleasantly close to". "Characterful" means the previous owner was mad or squalid. "Scope for renovation" means decrepit; "would suit an enthusiast" means a ruin fit only for a madman. 委婉语还应分为商务委婉语，是房地产销售人员使用词汇的集中体现。"bijou小巧"的住宅就是面积极小（还可能是"charming（意为吸引力十足）""cosy（意为舒适惬意）"或者"compact（意为简洁紧凑）"）。说邻居"vibrant（意为朝气蓬勃）"，实际上是指嘈杂地几近震耳欲聋。销售人员口中的"up and coming（意为前景良好）"就表示该处犯罪活动猖獗，这些地方若有"stone's throw from（意为一步之遥）"就意味着还远着呢。相反地，"convenient for（干……很便利）"实为"unpleasantly close to（和……近得令人不快）"。"Characterful（意为有个性）"表示前任业主要么疯狂不羁，要么拉里邋遢。"Scope for renovation（意为可以翻新）"实为破败不堪。"would suit an enthusiast适合热情人士"就是说只有狂人才会适合那种破房滥瓦。 But the richest categories would centre on cross-cultural taboos such as death and bodily functions. The latter seem to embarrass Americans especially: one can ask for the "loo" in a British restaurant without budging an eyebrow; don't try that in New York. Lavatory and toilet were once euphemisms themselves; they in turn were replaced by water closet (WC) and the absurd "rest room". British English encourages lively scatological synonyms: foreigners told that someone is "taking a slash" or "on the bog" may be mystified. 委婉语在不同文化里的禁忌方面得到了最全面的运用，比如死亡和肉体机能。美国人似乎尤为因后者而不知所措：在英国的餐馆中你可以随意询问"loo厕所"在哪，但是在纽约可不能这样做。洗手间（Lavatory）和盥洗室（toilet）曾是美国人的委婉语，现在却改用WC和rest room（荒唐无比的一个词）来表示厕所。英式英语鼓励人们使用并不雅观的同义词，比如外国人说有人"taking a slash正在撒尿"或者"on the bog身陷险境"的时候，他们可能会困惑不解。 Sex outstrips even excretion as a source of euphemism. The Bible is full of them: "foot" for penis, "know" for intercourse, with "other flesh" if transgressive. Masturbation was self-abuse or the sin of Onan to the Victorians; oral sex is "playing the bamboo flute" in Japanese. A prostitute accosting a client on the streets of Cairo will ask ? (Literally, "Do you have someone to wash your clothes?") 性也是委婉语的来源之一，比重甚至超过针对排泄物的委婉语。圣经中这样的例子比比皆是："foot（脚）"表示阴茎，"know（任我们所为）"表示性交，Masturbation（手淫）对维多利亚时代的人来说叫作自我虐待或俄南之罪。日语当中的"演奏竹笛"意为口交。开罗街头的妓女在和客人搭讪的时候会说"Fi hadd bitaghsal hudoumak （意为有人为你洗衣服吗）？" Even the most straight-talking obfuscate that line of work. Swedes, like many others, refer to världens äldsta yrke (the world's oldest profession). A brothel in Russian is a publichny dom―literally a "public house", which causes problems when British visitors with rudimentary Russian try to explain the delights of their village hostelry. In China many hair salons, massage parlours and karaoke bars double as brothels. Hence anmo (massage), falang (hair salon) or a zuyu zhongxin (foot-massage parlour) can lead to knowing nods and winks. For obscure reasons, Germans call the same institution a Puff. In Japan, such places are called sopurando, (a corrupted version of "soapland") or a pin-saro (pink salon). 即便是最直白的语言也会让妓女这种工作变得晦涩难解。和其他国家一样，瑞典将妓女称为 världens äldsta yrke （意为最古老的职业）。俄罗斯语的"旅店"就是指妓院，操着蹩脚俄文的英国游客向别人解释他们乡村旅店的美丽之处的时候常会引发歧义。在中国，许多发廊、按摩室和歌厅都兼营妓院生意，因此人们对按摩室、发廊和足疗中心的作用心知肚明。不知道为何，德国人把妓院称之为"Puff。而在日本，妓院叫做sopurando（洗浴中心，是对soapland一词的错误拼法）或者pin-saro（粉红沙龙）。 Euphemisms for the act itself may be prim (carnal knowledge), poetic (make love) or crude (shagging). Over time such expressions lose their suggestive power and may even become off limits themselves. To engage in sexual intercourse in German is b umsen (to thump), along the lines of the English "bonk". To masturbate is wichsen (to polish). In both cases the slang sexual connotation has overtaken the original one. 对于性的委婉语可能是prim（一本正经，意为性交），poetic（充满诗意，意为做爱）或者crude（粗野，意为性交）。久而久之，这些表述渐渐失去了挑逗力，不再被人们使用。德国用bumsen（意为重击）这个词表示性交，英语中则使用bonk（意为重击）这个词。用wichsen（意为摩擦）表示手淫。在这两种情况下，性俚语的言外之意都超出了字面本身的含义。 Personal ads provide an entire subgenre of euphemism. "Cuddly" means "fat". "Romantic" means needy and clingy. "Old-fashioned" means inconsiderate sex (if male) or infrequent (for females). "Outgoing and fun-loving" mean annoyingly talkative, promiscuous or both. "Open-minded" means desperate. 个人信息贡献了一整套委婉语。比如说，Cuddly（意为让人想拥抱他）表示肥胖。Romantic（意为浪漫的）表示贫困和依赖性强。Old-fashioned（意为老套）表示男性只顾自己爽的性爱或者女性缺乏性生活。Outgoing and fun-loving（意为外向活泼）表示唠唠叨叨惹人厌烦，或者男女乱交，或者两者皆有。Open-minded（意为心胸开阔）表示性饥渴。 Little white lies 善意的谎言 Orwell was right: euphemisms can be sneaky and coercive. They cloak a decision's unpleasant results, as in "let go" for "fire", or "right-sizing" for "mass sackings". They make consequences sound less horrid―as, chillingly, in "collateral damage" for "dead civilians". 奥威尔（Orwell）是对的：委婉语既鬼祟又强硬。使用了委婉语之后，某个决定令人不快的结果就得到了伪装，比如说let go（意为让他走人）表示解雇，right-sizing（意为合理精简）表示大规模裁员。 Such jargony, polysyllabic euphemisms, often using long Latinate words instead of short Anglo-Saxon ones, can quickly become an argot used by slippery-tongued, well-educated insiders to defend their privileges. With luck, the real word may fall into disuse and the humble outsider will feel intimidated by the floppy, opaque language that masks wrongdoing or shortcoming. How do you begin to complain if you don't know the lingo? 这类多音节的行话委婉语通常由较长的的拉丁字符组成，而非简短的盎格鲁撒克逊字符，它们很快成为了油嘴滑舌受过高等教育的业内人士为保护自己的特权而使用的暗语。运气好的话，原词会因为不使用而慢慢消逝，那些可怜的行外人就会被这些委婉的、难解的语言喝阻，而坏事和缺点都已经被掩藏的毫无破绽。要是你对行话一无所知，该如何提出控诉呢？ Politically correct euphemisms are among the most pernicious. Good and bad become "appropriate" or "inappropriate". A ghastly problem becomes a less alarming "challenging issue". Spending is investment; cuts are savings. "Affected by material error" (in European Union parlance) means money stolen from the budget. 政治委婉语是危害性性最强的委婉语。好与坏摇身一变成了"appropriate恰当"与"inappropriate不恰当"。可怕的问题被说成是不那么令人震惊的"challenging issue（意为具有挑战性的事件）"。开销说成是投资，削减则变成了节省。"Affected by material error（意为受到物质错误影响）"（按照欧盟的说法）则表示预算款项遭人挪用。 But euphemisms can also be benign, even necessary. Sometimes the need to prevent hurt feelings justifiably takes precedence over clarity. Saying that dim or disruptive children have "special needs", or that they exhibit "challenging behaviour", does not make them easier to teach―but it may prevent them being teased or disheartened. "Frail" (of an old person) is nicer than doddery or senile. Euphemisms may be a species of lie, but some of them are white. 然而委婉语也有良性作用，甚至是不可或缺的。有时候避免伤害感情要比凡事清楚明白重要得多。比如说那些智力低下或性格缺陷的儿童都是有"special needs（意为特殊需要）"，又或者他们在展现"challenging behaviour（富于挑战性的行动）"，这样做也许不会让孩子们乖乖听话，但却可以保护他们不被欺负，不会丧失信心。在形容老年人时，说"Frail脆弱"要比"doddery衰老"或"senile上年纪"亲和得多。虽与谎言别无二致，不过有些委婉语却是出于善意。 A culture without euphemism would be more honest, but rougher. Here's a New Year's resolution: scrub your conversation of euphemism for a day. The results will startle you. 某种文化若没有委婉语来点缀，虽会去伪存真，却也显得稍欠雕琢。来试试这项新年新计划：尝试一天内不说一句委婉语。结果将会使你大为惊奇。 from the print edition | International