新闻英语词汇: Coattail Effect, Coattails 衣尾效应,搭顺风车

Coattails 影响力或吸引力

单词 coattails 复数的原意是指 : 燕尾服、长礼服或外套的下摆，所谓“衣尾”部分（the skirts of a dress coat, cutaway, or frock coat).

coattails 一词后来引申为：运动或人物(如政治候选人)的影响力或吸引力 the influence or pulling power of a popular movement or person (such as a political candidate)

例句：Trump's coattails no boon for GOP Senate candidates. It won't be easy for President Donald Trump and Republicans this fall, and not merely because Trump faces a bigger deficit against Democratic rival Joe Biden than Obama ever faced against Mitt Romney in 2012. (CNN)

on (one's) coattails 搭顺风车

单词coattails 经常在英语词 on (one's) coattails 里使用, 表示从别人的成功中获益; 利用别人的成功作为实现自己成功的手段，即有搭顺风车的意思。

词组 on (one's) coattails 也经常搭配相关动车，组成更多的动词词组：hang on (one's) coattails，ride on (one's) coattails

例句：Trump is still riding Obama's economic coattails. We are eight years into an economic miracle that began six years before Trump took office. Use whatever economic metric you prefer: GDP, stock market, employment. There have been eight years of continued growth, which is only now beginning to sputter after just two years of Donald Trump and his ill-informed policy decisions. I can't believe Republicans are now the party of tariffs, not to mention deficit expansion. (Chicago Tribune)

Coattail Effect 衣尾效应，也叫裙摆效应

Coattail Effect ( or down-ballot effect) 经常翻译成“衣尾效应”，也叫裙摆效应，在美国政治术语中, 指的是一个受欢迎的政党领导人在选举中为同一政党的其他候选人吸引选票的趋势。The coattail effect or down-ballot effect is the tendency for a popular political party leader to attract votes for other candidates of the same party in an election.

在美国，总统候选人获胜的政党通常还会在国会赢得许多席位; 这些国会议员是受惠于在总统的“衣尾效应”下投票上台的，达到“水帮鱼，鱼帮水”的效果。

这一理论在各级政府中普遍存在。一个受欢迎的州长或参议员候选人也可以吸引他们所在政党的选票。

例句：So logically, you’d see the strongest coattail effect in states where the presidential campaigns are most active. That’s worth keeping in mind when you consider that seven competitive Senate races are in six states that are or could become presidential battlegrounds (Michigan, Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, Colorado, and Maine). （nymag.com）

It also raised questions about the fate of down-ballot Republicans if the coattail effect — an incumbent president’s ability to attract votes for other candidates in his party — is no longer guaranteed. （Politico）