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進入中英對照讀新聞》A guide to understanding the German election 解讀德國選舉
「媽咪」是現任及下屆總理梅克爾的暱稱。擔任12年總理職務的梅克爾，被許多德國人幾乎視為家庭成員之一。（美聯社）
◎劉宜庭
In German you can create new words almost ad infinitum, usually by bolting existing words together. One way to understand Germany’s elections of September 24 is therefore to look at the country’s current political vocabulary, from Genderwahn（delusions about gender issues）to merkeln.
在德國，你幾乎可以無止盡地創造新字，通常是透過連接現有的辭彙。有一種解讀9月24日德國大選的方式，便是觀察該國當前的政治辭彙，包括「性別錯覺（對性別議題存有錯覺）」、「梅克爾了」。
Mutti（Mummy）, the nickname of current and future chancellor Angela Merkel. After 12 years as chancellor, Merkel is regarded by many Germans almost as a family member.
「媽咪」是現任及下屆總理梅克爾的暱稱。擔任12年總理職務的梅克爾，被許多德國人幾乎視為家庭成員之一。
Merkel even has her own verb, merkeln, which means to not make decisions, to kick the can down the road, as has been her general strategy during the Eurocrisis.
梅克爾甚至擁有自己的動詞，「梅克爾了」，它代表不作決定、緩兵之計，正如她應對歐債危機時一貫的策略。
Merkeln doesn’t necessarily stem from cowardice or indecisiveness. Rather, Merkel believes that if you don’t immediately try to solve a problem, the problem often either changes or goes away.
「梅克爾了」不一定出於懦弱或優柔寡斷。倒不如說是梅克爾認為，一個問題若無法立即解決，往往會消失或再生變化。
When Merkel does make a decision, she typically calls it alternativlos, meaning without alternative. Alternativlos is less combative than Margaret Thatcher’s beloved acronym Tina（There is no alternative）. Merkel presents alternativlos more as a matter of calmly arriving at the only sensible solution.
梅克爾作決定時，她通常稱其為「別無選擇的選擇」。「別無選擇的選擇」相較於（英國）柴契爾夫人愛用的縮寫辭彙「Tina（沒有其他選擇）」更不具侵略性。梅克爾的「別無選擇的選擇」，更像是冷靜地選出唯一合理的解決辦法。
新聞辭典
kick the can down the road：慣用片語，緩兵之計。例句：If you kick the can down the road, you delay a decision in hopes that the problem or issue will go away or somebody else will make the decision later.（緩兵之計指的是拖延作決定，並希冀問題消失或等其他人決斷。）
cowardice：名詞，懦弱、膽小鬼。例句：Chickens don’t denote cowardice in Iraqi culture; sheep do.（在伊拉克文化中，雞不代表膽小鬼，羊才是。）
indecisiveness：名詞，猶豫不決、優柔寡斷。例句：Indecisiveness leads to negative consequences.（優柔寡斷導致負面結果。）
