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進入《中英對照讀新聞》From Covfefe to Hollyweed： Weird news grabs headlines in 2017－從Covfefe到Hollyweed：怪新聞強佔2017年新聞頭條
俯瞰美國加州洛杉磯市的「好萊塢標誌」（HOLLYWOOD）常遭人惡作劇，今年又赫然變成「HOLLYWEED」，疑似影射當地娛樂性大麻合法化的新政。（美聯社）
◎周虹汶
President Donald Trump’s Oval Office style dominated U.S. headlines in 2017, but readers were particularly perplexed by his use of the word "covfefe," in what turned out to be one of the oddest news stories of the year.
總統唐納．川普的白宮風格主宰了美國2017年新聞頭條，但讀者對他用「covfefe」一字感到尤其困惑，這也變成年度最怪新聞之一。
A tweet by Trump in May read simply："Despite the constant negative press covfefe."
川普5月的一則推文簡單寫著：「儘管持續負面的新聞界covfefe。」
White House officials batted away questions about what the word meant and even the dictionary company Merriam-Webster drew a blank. Trump left it up to the reader to divine his meaning, with a follow-up："Who can figure out the true meaning of ’covfefe’ ? Enjoy!"
有關此字涵義，白宮官員模糊焦點迴避問題，連字典公司「梅里亞姆—韋伯斯特」也答不出來。川普後來又補了一則：「誰可以想出『covfefe』的真正意思？請享受！」把它留給讀者來解他的真意。
But he was not alone in leaving readers scratching their heads. Even outside Washington, the year produced a spate of weird news, including odd pranks and poorly considered crimes.
但不只他讓讀者想到抓破頭。就算在華盛頓以外，這年頭怪新聞氾濫多產，包括了奇怪惡作劇以及思緒不周的犯行。
Los Angeles residents awoke on New Year’s Day to find the four-story white letters of the world-famous "Hollywood"sign had been altered to read："Hollyweed." The prank came just two months after California voters approved the recreational use of marijuana despite a federal ban. （Reuters）
洛杉磯居民元旦那天驚醒發現，4層樓高的全球知名白色字母「Hollywood」（好萊塢）標誌，被改成「Hollyweed」（holly指冬青、weed指大麻）。這起惡作劇就在加州選民不顧聯邦禁令，同意娛樂性大麻使用的兩個月後發生。（路透）
《新聞辭典》
perplex：動詞，指使迷惑、使混亂、使複雜化、使難為。例句：She is perplexed to know what to do.（她不知所措。）
bat away：片語動詞，指擊球、分散焦點以迴避。例句：Try to bat the flies away with the newspaper.（試試看用報紙把這些蒼蠅趕走。）
draw a blank：片語動詞，指一無所獲。例句：I tried to remember her name, but I could only draw a blank.（我試著記起她的名字，但一點都想不起來。）
