《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。
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。)