新闻英语词汇: politics ain’t beanbag_北京外宾旅游指南

新闻英语词汇 Journalism Vocabulary

politics ain’t beanbag 政治不是软软的豆袋

媒体多次用到了一个政治习语 politics ain’t beanbag。

这里beanbag通常是指装满干的豆子并用作玩具的布袋。豆袋游戏过去是儿童的一种游戏游戏，软软的豆袋打在人身上不会疼。但现在英语词典很少有这个定义了。现在beanbag 这个词主要用于这个政治习语：politics ain’t beanbag。

politics ain’t beanbag 这一习语主要用于回应那些经常抱怨的政治家。有的政治家抱怨竞选活动太辛苦；竞争对手暗箭伤人；媒体不公正等等。 politics ain’t beanbag 强调政治是“残酷的”，既然从政了就不要抱怨， quit your moaning。豆袋是小女孩做的事，不是政治上的男子气概（Bean bag is something wimpy little girls do, not manly men in politics ）。

芬利·彼得·邓恩（Finley Peter Dunne）（1867–1936年）是美国新闻记者、幽默作家，他为芝加哥的《时代先驱报》（Times-Herald）等报纸撰写“杜利先生”系列幽默短文。

这一习语是1895年他在的报纸专栏上创作这个人物角色 -- 爱尔兰裔美国人杜利（Dooley）先生说的一句话：“Sure, politics ain’t bean-bag. ‘Tis a man’s game, an’ women, childer, cripples an’ prohybitionists ‘d do well to keep out iv it.” (“当然，政治不是豆袋。这是男人的游戏，不是女人、孩子、残废和禁酒者的游戏，远离它吧。”）

Citations
Politics can be a rough game. I get it. I’ve been covering campaigns for the last 40 years. No, politics ain’t beanbag.

But in the old days, political dirt was shoveled under cover of darkness, circulated by whispering campaigns or anonymous handouts left on car windshields on Sunday mornings.
---Oct 15, 2019 rollcall.com

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WATCH: The president held a campaign rally last night and attacked Hunter Biden. We cannot in good conscience show it to you. @chucktodd

"Politics ain’t beanbag, but it isn’t supposed to be this either. We all need to play a role in not rewarding this kind of politics"
-- Twitter @MeetThePress Oct 11, 2019

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When a president does something “unprecedented,” that action creates a new precedent. Every move you use against your opponents can be used against you, too. But in today’s politics, nobody wants to think that far ahead — or they conclude that their opponents are so irredeemably devious and unethical, that any devious and unethical move of their own is pre-justified. “Politics ain’t beanbag,” to quote the cliché that has become the universal excuse for everyone willing to cheat in pursuit of victory.
-- nationalreview.com By Jim Geraghty September 23, 2019