Political correctness is this awful thing that's been plaguing America for some time now. It's basically social policing. You're not allowed to say or do or have certain things. Ever. Or a large portion of society will look down upon you, and even those who agree with you will look down upon you because if they don't then they'll be looked down on also.
注:在这里,我特意将 look down upon 翻译成了“觉得有问题”。因为我觉得“看不起;轻视”这些字眼太清高了。以我的经验,你“政治不正确”,美国人不是特别强烈的看不起你,而是觉得你有问题。当然,更深一步,会有一点觉得自己政治正确,所以似乎高你一等 = =
For example, there is a football team called the "Washington Redskins." Well, now that's "racist" and people are fighting to have that changed. This is also true for a lot of high school and college mascots who have are Indian / Native American / Native American Indian (no matter what word you pick, you're still wrong in the eyes of "Social Justice Warriors") or depict a picture of an Indian.
比如吧,有一个球队,叫 Washington Redskins。现在,这个球队因为这个名字过于“种族主义”,大家都在要求他改名。同时,很多高中或者大学的吉祥物是 Indian / Native American / Native American Indian——嗯,我不知道应该怎么称呼他们,因为不管你怎么称呼他们,那些“正义的社会卫士”都会告诉你,你在歧视。我想说的是,这些队伍名称都面临着要被更改的问题。
You can't call criminals "thugs" because it hurts their feelings or something ridiculous like that.... a cop lost his job because he called Trayvon Martin (a thug....) a "thug."
注1:Trayvon Martin案件也是近年来美国非常著名的,颇有争议的“白人警察执法黑人的案件”了。有兴趣的同学可以阅读这个:Shooting of Trayvon Martin 。貌似在美国,白人该怎么对黑人执法已经成了大问题...
注2:感谢 @公孫策那 的勘误:文中这名丢掉饭碗的人,Zimmerman不是警察,只是鄰里監督制度下的「志願者」。我有查证了一下准确说法:At the time of the shooting, Zimmerman was employed as an insurance fraud investigator.
另外我去查了一下这位警察的发言,原句是“Another thug gone. Pull up your pants and be respectful. Bye bye thug r.i.p.” "又一个流氓挂了。提好裤子(应该是指黑人裤子挂在臀部以下的行为),小心点。拜拜流氓,安息(应该类似于’sorry not sorry‘)“。这样就更与”thug“这个称呼无关了,而是:1. 他对Martin的死表达了一种幸灾乐祸的情绪 2. 他对Martin的种族传递了一个死亡威胁。
You're not allowed to say "climate change isn't real," because you'll hurt hippies' feelings, and saying "One Nation Under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance is offensive to atheists.
你不能说“气候变暖是没有的事儿”,因为这种说法伤害了一些hippies的感情。国旗宣誓的誓词里因为有"One Nation Under God"的字眼,也深深冒犯了一些无神论者的玻璃心。
注2:the Pledge of Allegiance 就是美国版的在国旗下庄严宣誓。我要是印象没有错,中国也有。小学的时候在操场上要高喊一声“时刻准备着”。我理解就类似是这个。在美国一些州一些重大会议或者学校或者军队或者典礼集会什么的,也要“时刻准备着”一下。它的完整内容是:
I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
有意思的是,这个现在有争议的"One Nation Under God"的字眼,似乎是1954年这个誓言的最新版本特意加上去的。有兴趣的同学可以参见:Pledge of Allegiance
You can't say the "gender wage gap" isn't real because it destroys feminists' arguments. College classrooms can't discuss rape/issues that might be challenging because it could cause people to freak out and need to flee to a "safe space." (A "safe space" is a room where adults go to flee topics they can't handle............ there are videos of puppies, councilors, pillows, crayons, and gentle music playing in them).
You're not allowed to pray in public if you're a Christian, but if you're anything else, it's OK. If a Muslim threw down a mat and turned to mecca to pray and you tried to stop that, Social Justice Warriors would be all over you. If a Christian family holds hands to pray, people become "uncomfortable" and it's perfectly fine to interrupt them and let them know you don't like it.
You can't say someone is "black," even if they are black. But it's totally fine to say someone is "white." You have to say "african american" — although they ARE NOT from Africa, and every person I've met from Africa that has became an American is proud to say they are an "American."
I did not expect you to ace that exam. Good for you.
我完全没有想到你能在考试里拿A。真棒!
That skirt makes you look far thinner.
你穿上这个裙子显得好瘦!
嗯,相信大家都能明白,上面两个句子明褒暗贬,话里有话...
You can't use BC and AD when citing dates. Now you're supposed to say "BCE" and "CE".
如果你想表示时间,你不能使用BC或者AD,而要使用BCE或者CE。
注:中国把BC,AD这两个词分别翻译成公元前,公元后,没有任何问题。但是在西方,BC,AD这两个表示方法带有宗教色彩。B.C. 是 before Christ的简写,就是基督降生之前。至于A.D. ,很多人认为是 after death。这个一般正确(我理解是说的人多了,就变得也能接受了。)实际上,A.D. 源于拉丁文 anno domini,意思是“in the year of our Lord.”
显然,如此具有基督教色彩的词语,却要被所有宗教人士,包括不信教的人士使用,太政治不正确了。怎么办呢?两个新词出现了。BCE和CE。其中CE是 Common Era 或者 Current Era 的简称。BCE 就是 "before the Common (or Current) Era" 了。
Job titles are sexist — i.e. "waiter" or "waitress." The word "waitron" has appeared. "Maid" is bad also, now it's "housekeeper." Ironically, I think "butler" is still fine.....
注2:butler是男管家的意思。貌似没有人认为这个词政治不正确。我之前把这个词和butcher屠夫搞混了。感谢 @Shi Wong 的指正。 另外,我不得不说,butler所指代的男管家,感觉地位确实比maid高。我查了一下词典,对于butler是这么解释的 the chief manservant of a house.
"Steward/Stewardess" has become "flight attendant." You might think: Well there's two titles, so it must be ok to call the male one "steward" and the female one "stewardess." Well, the female version can be seen as "inferior."
Also, some people aren't male or female, they're it's/they's/zie's/sie's/xer's/zer's/gender non-conformists/gender queer/agender/don't use a gender pronoun/use a gender pronoun like "he" but identify as a "female"........ I really wish I was making this up.
另外,还有一些人,他们既不是男人,也不是女人,我们怎么使用相应的代词?it's/they's/zie's/sie's/xer's/zer's/gender non-conformists/gender queer/agender/don't use a gender pronoun/use a gender pronoun 我真希望这些都是我一个人编出来的!(感谢 @小纪19 的更正!)
'Black lives matter' doesn't mean other lives don't. It's simply asking that the black community also achieves the justice they deserve.
Black lives matter并不意味着其他的生命不重要。Black lives matter只是简单地要求,黑人社区也能争取到他们应有的公正。
民主党人士对于“All Lives Matter”这个口号的回应是这样的:
For those at the heart of the Black Lives Matter movement, these words hit the wrong note. 'All lives matter' is a phrase adopted by those who seek to minimize or criticize the movement.
替换理由: As a corporate policy, the term "black list" (or "blacklist") is not to be used at Microsoft due to the fact that it may be interpeted as racially offensive. 根据公司政策,我们不使用blacklist这个词语,是因为这个词语有可能被解释成为是一种种族歧视。
这学期在法学院选了一门博弈论和法律结合的课,想这个是我的老本行,可以蹭蹭学分。 课上讲了一个博弈模型,叫做“巴赫与斯特拉文斯基”博弈,英文是"Bach or Stravinsky",简称依然是BOS 说的是两个朋友想去听音乐会,两人都希望一起听同一场,但一人喜欢巴赫,一人喜欢斯特拉文斯基。 一看这个模型,这个收益分配,我就想了:“假洋鬼子的玩意,这不就是当时学的那个‘夫妻之争’吗?!” 讨论的时候我还是管他叫"battle of sex"模型,周围人都纠正我,不对,是“巴赫与斯特拉文斯基”。