又中又英—Late To The Dance

作者：Alice的学习笔记

原文

It is common for Americans to tweak well-known English expressions without changing their meaning. I saw an American politician do this while watching a news item on Fox News. The host was interviewing James Comer, a Republican in the House of Representatives, about the theory the coronavirus leaked from a Wuhan lab. This theory has been debunked by many scientists although former US President Donald Trump supported the theory. The theory has now found credence after the US media revealed three researchers from the Wuhan lab were hospitalized in November 2019 with coronavirus symptoms. This was more than one month before china officially announced the outbreak in Wuhan.

President Joe Biden had not supported the theory before but has now ordered US intelligence agencies to investigate the origins of the coronavirus. When Comer was asked on Fox about Biden's order, he said " he's late to the dance" but "better now than never". The word "tweak" has several meanings but used this way it means to change something slightly. To "debunk" something means to show it is not as true or important as claimed. If somethinghas "credence", it means people are willing to accept it as true or are ready to believe it. The original expression of "late to the dance" is "late to the party". This means to become aware of or become involved in something long after others have already become aware of it.

Comer tweaked the expression without changing its meaning. He said Biden was "late to the dance" because many others had long believed the theory the virus could have leaked from the Wuhan lab. But he said "better now than never." The original expression is "better late than never". This means it is better to do something late than not doing it at all. It can also mean it's better to arrive late at a meeting or party than not arrive at all. Comer meant even though Biden had ordered an investigation late, it was better than not having an investigation at all.

单词、短语

• tweak
  1）扭；扯；拧。
     He tweaked Guy's ear roughly...
     他粗暴地扯盖伊的耳朵。

   2）稍稍改进；对…作微调。
      Maybe you should tweak a few sentences before you send in the report.
      报告交上去之前，有几个句子你也许应该修改一下。

• debunk
  证明（观点或观念）错误。
     His claims were later debunked by fellow academics.
     他的断言后来被学术界同行证明是错误的。

• credence
  作名词表示相信; 信任。
     His ideas quickly gained credence among economists.
     他的观点很快就得到了经济学家的认可。
     I don't give any credence to these rumors.
     我一点都不相信这些谣言。
  拓展：
  有一个很有意思的短语：lend credence to sth，意思是增加某物的可信度，英文解释为：to make something more believable。
     The DNA results lend credence to Hausmann's claims of innocence.
     DNA 测试的结果使得豪斯曼声称自己无辜的说法变得更加可信了。

• hospitalize
  使住院，送…入院，英文解释为：If someone is hospitalized, they are sent or admitted to hospital.
     Most people do not have to be hospitalized for asthma or pneumonia.
     大多数哮喘或肺炎患者无需住院。

• late to the dance
  慢半拍，落伍，英文解释为：Late in taking an action or adopting an idea.
     I've just started watching "Game of Thrones". Yeah, I know, I'm late to the party.
     我刚刚开始看《权力的游戏》。我知道，自己落伍了。

• better now/late than never
  晚做总比不做好，总比没有强。英文解释为：If you say better late than never when someone has done something, you think they should have done it earlier.
     It's been a long time coming but better late than never.
     早就该如此了。不过，也总比没有的强。

翻译

原文作者：Michael Chugani 褚簡寧
中文翻译：七刻

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