《中英對照讀新聞》No Minister： NZealand politician red-faced after bungle 不是的，部長：紐西蘭政治人物搞砸後一臉尷尬

◎張沛元

A New Zealand minister has been left red-faced after accidentally dusting off a colleague’s two-year-old speech and delivering it to parliament in an impassioned address.

一名紐西蘭部長在一場慷慨激昂的演說中，誤將一名同僚在2年前發表過的演講稿，拿來向國會再說一遍，結果落得一臉尷尬的下場。

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Immigration Minister Jonathan Coleman waxed lyrical for 10 minutes late Tuesday about the benefits of the government’s taxation legislation as puzzled members of the opposition Labour Party looked on.

移民部長強納森．寇曼週二晚間興致高昂地針對政府的稅務立法好處暢談了10分鐘，一旁的反對黨勞工黨的議員們卻是一臉困惑。

In a mix-up worthy of the British comedy "Yes Minister", Coleman only realised after completing his address that a government staffer had accidentally handed him a speech originally delivered by Revenue Minister Peter Dunne in 2008.

寇曼直到發表完他的演說，才明白自己犯了一個媲美英國喜劇「是的，部長」的錯，一名政府幕僚誤把稅務部長彼得．杜恩早在2008年就發表過的演講稿交給他。

Dunne admitted Wednesday the mix-up "wasn’t a good look" for politicians and accepted responsibility for the gaffe.

杜恩週三坦承此一搞錯對政治人物而言「並不好看」，並接受此一口誤的責任。

A sheepish Coleman said he had realised there was a problem with the speech but decided to press on.

至於出包的寇曼則說，他當時就發現演講稿有問題，但決定繼續把它講完。

新聞辭典

red-faced：形容詞，臉紅尷尬的。例句：They were caught red-handed, and now they are red-faced.（他們被人贓俱獲逮個正著，現在他們可糗大了。語出英國前首相柴契爾夫人。）

dust off：片語，溫習；重新拿來使用。

wax lyrical：慣用語，興致高昂地談論某事；侃侃而談。例句：I recall John waxing lyrical about the flatness of his stomach.（我想起約翰興致勃勃地談論他的肚子有多平坦。）