川普的英文好不好?

企劃/英語島編輯室

"Donald Trump just stops being funny"

美國滾石雜誌的標題這麼寫。緊接著的一句話是:

"Win or lose, Trump's campaign threatens to unleash the Great American Stupid."

 圖片來源:appledaily

是贏是輸,川普的競選活動都暴露了大美國的愚笨心態。川普由房地產起家,許多人從真人實境節目「誰是接班人」認識他,招牌台詞"You are fired!"曾掀起一股流行。和承襲上代財富的曼哈頓"old money"相較,川普的土豪風受到不少歡迎。今年6月宣布角逐共和黨美國總統候選人,屢屢創造話題,民調領先。

川普語不驚人死不休語錄表

2015年6月宣布參選

談中國
When was the last time anybody saw us beating, let's say, China in a trade deal? They kill us. I beat China all the time. All the time.
稱自己能帶領美國在經濟上打敗中國。

談移民
When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems to us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.
指墨西哥移民帶來毒品、犯罪、強暴問題。《誰是接班人》所屬電視台NBC中斷與川普一切往來,包括不轉播NBC與川普共持股權的美國小姐、環球小姐選美。

談歐巴馬健保
You have to be hit by a tractor, literally, a tractor, to use it, because the deductibles are so high. It's virtually useless. And remember the $5 billion website?... I have so many websites, I have them all over the place. I hire people, they do a website. It costs me $3.
川普說被牽引機撞到才有機會用到歐巴馬健保,並指歐巴馬花了五十億做網站,他花三美元就能做好。

談美國夢
The American Dream is dead. But if I get elected president I will bring it back bigger and better and stronger than ever before and we will make America great again.

2015年7月

談美國參議員馬侃John McCain
"He's not a war hero. He's a war hero because he was captured? I like people who weren't captured."
馬侃越戰時被俘虜5年並遭刑求,川普稱,被俘虜不算英雄,他喜歡沒被抓到的人…。

2015年8月

兩名男子攻擊拉丁裔遊民,被逮捕後,其中一人對警方說:「川普是對的,這些非法移民都應該被趕出境。」聽聞此事的川普首先回應"That would be a shame." 但緊接著他說:
"I will say, the people that are following me are very passionate. They love this country. They want this country to be great again. But they are very passionate. I will say that."(我的支持者非常熱情,他們熱愛這個國家,希望這個國家能夠再度偉大。)

2015年9月

談共和黨候選人對手,前惠普CEO Carly Fiorina
"Look at that face. Would anyone vote for that?"
這回川普澄清,他指的是Carly Fiorina的形象,不是長相,但已引發眾怒。9月份共和黨第二場初選辯論,川普也因此被Carly Fiorina打臉,無力還嘴。

說白了,川普熱是因為他的「政治不正確」。他的發言沒有深奧字彙,沒有繁複句型,沒有修飾只有誇飾,說出一種隱藏的心聲。他的支持者對紐約時報說:

"He's refreshing. He said everything that all of us want to say, and because we have to be politically correct, we can't say it!"

但是當直言不諱帶著一種企圖,企圖將傷害行為拉到愛國的高度,企圖鼓動人把不安與不平、把問題怪罪到移民或其他任何人,以發洩怒氣取代解決方案,高度娛樂就升級為高度危險。川普的英文充滿戲劇張力,但是領袖的語言,需要更多智慧。

收錄於英語島 2015年10月號
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