從德國新詞解讀德國大選

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 to merkeln.

在德國，你幾乎可以無限地創(chuàng)造新詞，通常是把兩個已有詞匯拼在一起。因此，解讀9月24日的德國大選的一種方式，就是看看德國現在的政治詞匯，無論是“性別錯覺”(Genderwahn)還是“默克爾了”(merkeln)。

Autoland (literally, land of cars). On the upside, the car industry is Germany’s economic motor. On the downside, the Autolobby is also often Germany’s political motor, much as Wall Street is in the US or the City in the UK. Germany’s Autokartell (car cartel) has its own revolving door with politics. Most blatantly, Matthias Wissmann, president of the automobile industry’s trade body, is a former Christian Democratic transport minister. The German foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel (sometimes known as Siggi Pop) was a government representative on Volkswagen’s supervisory board and later worked for a communications firm that advised the company.

“汽車之邦”(Autoland)。好處是，汽車業(yè)是德國的經濟發(fā)動機。壞處是，汽車游說組織往往也是德國的政治發(fā)動機，就像華爾街之于美國、或者倫敦金融城之于英國。德國的“汽車卡特爾”(Autokartell)有自己通往政界的旋轉門。最為明顯的是，德國汽車工業(yè)聯(lián)合會(German Automobile Industry Association)主席馬蒂亞斯•維斯曼(Matthias Wissmann)來自基督教民主聯(lián)盟(Christian Democratic)，曾擔任交通部長。德國外長西格馬爾•加布里爾(Sigmar Gabriel，有時被稱為西吉老伯(Siggi Pop))曾是大眾汽車(Volkswagen)監(jiān)事會的政府代表，后來曾在一家為該公司提供咨詢的傳播公司工作。

Cosseted by government, car companies felt free to lie for years about their diesel emissions, until Dieselgate (or der Abgasskandal) broke in 2015. The Autolobby also moderates the much-trumpeted German Energiewende

在政府的縱容下，汽車企業(yè)任意妄為，在柴油汽車尾氣排放問題上欺騙公眾多年，直到2015年“排放門”(der Abgasskandal)曝光。汽車游說組織還阻礙了大受吹捧的“德國能源轉型”(German Energiewende)——擺脫對化石燃料能源的依賴。德國的減排措施將只在不惹惱汽車制造商、小而強悍的“煤炭游說組織”(Braunkohle-Lobby)、以及堅持要求政府廢棄核反應堆的環(huán)保“原教旨主義者”(Fundis)的情況下推進。

, or shift away from fossil fuels. Germany will reduce emissions only insofar as that doesn’t upset carmakers, the small but potent Braunkohle-Lobby (coal lobby) or, indeed, green Fundis (fundamentalists) who insisted the country scrap its nuclear reactors.

“好人”(Gutmensch)?，F在這個詞基本上是貶義詞，用來形容看似單純、自我仇恨、歡迎穆斯林的德國左翼。“車站鼓掌者”(Bahnhofsklatscher)是2015年9月在火車站鼓掌歡迎抵埠難民的“好人”。“車站鼓掌者”自認為他們在弘揚一種德國人的新“好客文化”(Willkommenskultur)。

Gutmensch (good person). The word is mostly used pejoratively, to describe supposedly naive leftie self-hating Muslim-hugging Germans. Bahnhofsklatscher (literally, station clappers) are the Gutmenschen who stood in train stations in September 2015 applauding arriving refugees. The Bahnhofsklatscher themselves thought they were expressing a new German Willkommenskultur (welcoming culture).

與“好人”對立的一種人是“憤怒公民”(Wutbürger)。德國的“好人”和“憤怒公民”相當于美國的“藍”營與“紅”營，但引發(fā)內戰(zhàn)的風險沒美國那么高。年紀較大的“憤怒公民”有時被稱為“仇恨的退休老人”(Hassrentner)，盡管“憤怒公民”傾向于自詡為“憂心的公民”(besorgte Bürger)。他們斥責“好人”的“高道德感”(Hypermoral)和“性別錯覺”(Genderwahn，對性別問題存在錯覺)。

The rival tribe to the Gutmenschen are the Wutbürger (furious citizens). Gutmenschen and Wutbürger are roughly Germany’s equivalents of “Blue” and “Red” Americans, but with less risk of civil war. Older Wutbürger are sometimes known as Hassrentner (hate-pensioners), though Wutbürger prefer to call themselves besorgte Bürger (concerned citizens). They berate Gutmenschen for their Hypermoral (hypermorality) and Genderwahn (delusions about gender issues).

“說謊的媒體”(Lügenpresse)曾經是納粹黨最喜歡的詞匯之一，如今被“憤怒公民”重新啟用。另一個詞是“種族叛徒”(Volksverräter)，可適用于任何主流政客。極右翼政黨德國新選擇黨(Alternative für Deutschland)的領導人弗勞克•彼得里(Frauke Petry)由于試圖重新啟用“種族的”(völkisch)一詞而陷入困境。這個詞在歷史上曾用于指代被定義為一個種族的德國人，或者說德國種族(Volk)。

Lügenpresse (lying press) is one of several words favoured by the Nazis and now revived by Wutbürger. Another is Volksverräter (traitor to the people), which can be applied to any mainstream politician. Frauke Petry, leader of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland party, got into trouble for trying to revive völkisch, an adjective that historically connotes a racially defined German people, or Volk.

“媽咪”(Mutti)是現任(以及下一任)德國總理安格拉•默克爾(Angela Merkel)的昵稱。在默克爾擔任總理長達12年后，很多德國人幾乎把她視為家庭成員。她的面部抽搐人們能馬上看出來。“鉆石形手勢”(Raute)，是她拍照時做的手勢。(據英國小報《每日快報》(Daily Express)援引陰謀論者的話表示，這種“秘密手勢”暴露了她身為秘密組織“光明會”(Illuminati)成員的身份。)二戰(zhàn)后，德國人傾向于選擇他們熟悉的、來自基督教民主聯(lián)盟、并且四平八穩(wěn)的總理：康拉德•阿登納(Konrad Adenauer)當了14年總理，赫爾穆特•科爾(Helmut Kohl)當了16年。

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. Her tics are instantly recognisable. The Raute, or diamond, is the shape she makes with her hands when posing for photographs. (According to conspiracy theorists cited by the British Daily Express tabloid, the “secret hand sign” betrays her membership of the Illuminati secret society.) Postwar Germans prefer their chancellors familiar, Christian Democratic and dull: Konrad Adenauer served for 14 years and Helmut Kohl for 16.

默克爾甚至有了她自己的動詞——“默克爾了”，指不做決定、能拖則拖，正如她在歐債危機期間的總體戰(zhàn)略一樣。(一般用法：“讓他去參加繼母的生日，結果他默克爾了。”)

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. (Popular usage: “Asked to attend his mother-in-law’s birthday, he merkelte.”)

“默克爾了”不一定是因為懦弱或猶豫不決。相反，默克爾認為，如果你不立即試圖解決問題，問題往往會改變或消失。“默克爾了”要求政府不理會往往要求本周內就拿出解決方案的媒體，在考慮問題時預先想到20年后的情況。

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. Merkeln entails ignoring media who demand a solution this week, when governments ought to be thinking 20 years ahead.

當默克爾做決定時，她通常稱之為“別無選擇的選擇”(alternativlos)。這個詞沒有瑪格麗特•撒切爾(Margaret Thatcher)所鐘愛的縮寫詞TINA(There is no alternative，沒有別的選擇)那么強硬。默克爾說“別無選擇的選擇”時，更像是冷靜地選擇了唯一合理的解決方案。

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.

“普京理解者”(Putinversteher)，指那些理解普京的人。這個詞用來諷刺某些德國建制派人物，他們四處解釋德國對這位俄羅斯總統(tǒng)存在誤解、普京是必不可少的伙伴等等。德國的資深“普京理解者”是前總理格哈德•施羅德(Gerhard Schröder)，如今他準備進入俄羅斯石油公司(Rosneft)的董事會。

Putinversteher (those who understand Putin). The word is used sardonically to describe German establishment figures who go around explaining that the Russian president is misunderstood in Germany, an essential partner, etc. Germany’s senior Putinversteher is former chancellor Gerhard Schröder, now poised to join the board of the Russian state-controlled oil company Rosneft.

“黑零”(Schwarze Null)指德國政府以保持預算平衡(零)或盈余(黑字)為目標的政策。在44年的預算赤字后，德國自2014年起已經實現了連續(xù)三年的“黑零”。這令德國自豪，也令歐洲其他國家苦惱——歐洲其他國家希望德國成為它們的經濟火車頭。德國對外國債務人的鄙視，可以從小報常用的“破產的希臘人”(Pleite-Griechen)一詞中窺見一二。別忘了，德語詞匯“Schuld”既表示債務，也表示罪行。

Schwarze Null (literally, black zero) refers to the German government’s policy of aiming for a budget that’s either balanced (zero) or in the black. After 44 years of deficits, the state has scored three black zeros in a row since 2014. This is a source of pride in Germany and of chagrin in other European countries, which want Germany to be their economic locomotive. German scorn for foreign debtors is captured in the tabloid phrase Pleite-Griechen (literally, broke Greeks). Always remember that the German word Schuld means both debt and guilt.

“非種族化”(Umvolkung，意思大致是，強制改變人口的種族構成)。這個詞體現了“憤怒公民”的如下恐懼，即擔心默克爾正在用穆斯林和其他“護照德國人”(Passdeutsche)取代他們的種族。與之相關的一個詞是“種族滅亡”(Volkstod)。