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「收賄」、「白手套」英文怎麼說？
　
Accept bribes? White gloves?
　
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《中華民國刑法》
　
Article 122

A public official or an arbitrator who demands, agrees to accept, or accepts a bribe or other improper benefits for a breach of his official duties shall be sentenced to imprisonment for not less than three years but not more than ten years; in addition thereto, a fine of not more than two million yuan may be imposed.

A breach of official duties shall be sentenced to life imprisonment or with imprisonment for not less than five years; in addition thereto, a fine not more than four million yuan may be imposed.
　
1. public official 公務員
2. arbitrator 仲裁人
3. accept a bribe 收受賄賂*
4. a breach of official duties 違背職務**
5. be sentenced 判處
6. imprisonment 監禁；關押
7. a fine 罰金
8. impose 強制實行
　
第 122 條

公務員或仲裁人對於違背職務之行為，要求、期約或收受賄賂或其他不正利益者，處三年以上十年以下有期徒刑，得併科二百萬元以下罰金。

因而為違背職務之行為者，處無期徒刑或五年以上有期徒刑，得併科四百萬元以下罰金。

全國法規資料庫: https://bit.ly/2Dk8Ia4

*bribery: https://bit.ly/31bwsFj
**breach: https://bit.ly/3k5qcHJ
　
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那「白手套」呢？

White gloves? Not really...
　
The term "white-glove" is typically used as an adjective. It means providing a very high level of service, or involving a lot of care about small details:

白手套(white-glove)通常用作形容詞。表示提供非常高的服務水準，或與諸多照護細節有關：

➣The cruise company does not want to risk alienating the other passengers who don't get the white-glove treatment.

郵輪公司不想冒險讓其他未接受白手套待遇的乘客變得疏遠。

➣We know that when extra attention is required, our white-glove delivery service will not disappoint.
　
當您有特殊要求，我們的白手套配送服務一定不會讓您失望。

—Cambridge Dictionary

https://bit.ly/3hZTw0r
　
Wait…that doesn't fit our context!

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According to the South China Morning Post, the expression “white gloves,” when used as a noun, was coined in Taiwan!

“The innocuous-sounding euphemism ‘white gloves’ generally refers to a middleman or outfit that launders dirty or corrupt money under a seemingly legitimate front - dirty hands concealed by a pair of white gloves. The expression, coined by the Taiwanese, is catching up fast on the mainland as rampant corruption is exposed at all levels of the bureaucracy.”
　
9. coin (v.) 創造（新詞或新的表達方式）；首次使用（某一詞語）
10. innocuous-sounding 聽起來無害的
11. launder (v.) 洗（贓款） ; money laundering 洗錢
12. legitimate front 合法的地帶; 僞裝（人或機構的）僞裝；假裝的樣子
13. conceal 隱藏
14. catch up 了解（或討論）最新情況
15. rampant 猖獗的；蔓延的
16. bureaucracy 官僚體制；官僚主義
　
據《南華早報》的報導，「白手套」作為名詞的用法，首見於臺灣!

「聽起來無害的委婉用語『白手套』通常是指中間人或公司，他們在看似合法的地帶清洗髒錢或賄款——髒手則藏於白手套當中。這種由臺灣人首創的表達方式，正在中國迅速傳開，因為猖獗的腐敗現象已於官僚體制的各個層面暴露出來。」

詳見《SCMP》：https://bit.ly/3i2cqUA
　
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我個人會用「middleman」或「go-between」。

請注意，「middleman」是指批貨後轉售他人者，或協助他人安排商業交易者。該詞本身並不具有任何犯罪或不法行為等負面意涵（negative connotations），亦須有上下文才足以呈現「白手套」的概念。
　
另一方面，「go-between」是在雙方無法見面或不想見面時，將消息從一人（或一個團隊）傳給另一人（或另一個團隊）的人。例如，聯合國代表將充當兩國領導人的中間人（或掮客）——「go-between」，而它的搭配你可以用「act/serve as a go-between」。「go-between」 的一個同義詞是「intermediary」。

❖再次提醒各位，若缺乏前後文，這些用語就不能完全代表「白手套」的涵義。底下我將舉出一些在腐敗情況中所使用的例子。
　
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I. middleman
　
"Many of these middlemen stay on the right side of the law, offering advice and connections. But others cross the line. They grease the palms of officials and local managers, and they put a buffer between the payoff and the client, offering plausible deniability if the authorities catch on."
　
17. connections 社會關係；人際關係；可資利用的熟人
18. cross the line（行為）越過界線
19. grease (v.) 用油脂塗；給⋯⋯加潤滑油
20. buffer 緩衝物；起緩衝作用的人
21. payoff 賄款；遮口費
22. plausible deniability 合理推諉
　
「在這些中間人裡，有許多人站在法律這邊，提供建議與人脈。但其他人卻踰越了界線。他們成為官員與地方經理人的潤滑劑，並在賄款與委託人之間置入緩衝物，起到合理推諉的作用，以防當局上門。」
　
詳見《紐約時報》：https://nyti.ms/39MMwkM

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II. intermediary
　
"For China’s elite, a 'white glove' is an intermediary who launders your money; they handle the dirty deeds, while you keep your hands clean. 'White gloves' are often well-connected Westerners, such as former top politician Bo Xilai’s two European fixers, British businessman Neil Heywood and French architect Patrick Devillers. Using a BVI shell company, the two men helped Bo’s wife Gu Kalai buy a 7 million euro French mansion and rack up rental fees on it."

23. elite（社會）上層集團；掌權人物；出類拔萃的人；精英
24. deed（尤指很壞或很好的）事情；行為
25. well-connected 與顯貴人物有交情的；與有影響人士有來往的；很有背景的
26. fixer 籌謀者；安排者（尤指精於用不正當手段來操辦事情的人）
27. BVI (The British Virgin Islands) 英屬維京群島
28. shell company 空殼公司
29. fixer 安排者（尤指精於用不正當手段來操辦事情的人）
　
『對中國的權貴來說，「白手套」是幫你洗錢的中間人；他們負責處理骯髒的事，讓你的雙手保持乾淨。「白手套」通常是與權貴有交情的西方人士，例如前副國級領導人薄熙來的兩個歐洲籌謀者——英國商人海伍德以及法國建築師德維利耶。兩人藉由一家英屬維京群島的空殼公司，幫助薄的妻子谷開來買下一座價值７００萬歐元的法式豪宅，並大大提高了租金。』
　
詳見《石英財經網》：https://bit.ly/30lFnEJ
　
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III. go-between
　
"The offence is similar to bribery with one important difference: trading in influence concerns the 'middleman', or the person that serves as the go-between the decision-maker and the party that seeks an improper advantage."
　
30. offence (US offense) 犯罪行為；罪行
31. bribery 賄賂
32. trade in influence 斡旋賄賂；影響力交易
33. serve（為⋯⋯）工作；（為⋯⋯）服務；盡職責
34. improper advantage 不當利益
　
『此一罪行與賄賂相似，但有一個重要的區別：斡旋賄賂係指「middleman」或人充當決策者與尋求不當利益方的中間人（掮客）——「go-between」』。
　
詳見 Anti-Corruption Resource Center：https://www.u4.no/terms
　
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歡迎在底下留言與我們分享更多相關字詞（例如：prosecutor、corruption charges、litigations⋯⋯）。

圖片出處: Google Image

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如果同學對於如何分析英文時事，以及如何進行批判性思考有興趣，歡迎加入我們的課程！

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#你不知道的美國大小事 #hardnut
Food Idioms 💬 美國生活用語之其他食物：Nut
上班昏昏欲睡嗎？來嗑點健康的堅果吧～

1⃣ sb. is a nut
2⃣ work for peanuts
3⃣ from soup to nuts
4⃣ in a nutshell
5⃣ sb./sth. is a hard nut

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Other than fruit, what else makes a healthy snack? Nuts! While there may not be as many nut-related idioms (unless you include those related to a certain part of the male anatomy, but we won’t go there), there are still enough to tide you over till the next meal.
除了水果，還有什麼健康的零嘴？堅果！雖然與堅果相關的美國用語不是很多（除非你想討論十八禁的用語，但我們可是清新健康的英語學習頻道），不過已經足以讓你撐到晩餐時間囉！

Let’s start with the word nut itself. Aside from being a tasty snack, 1⃣ a nut can be a strange or crazy person: Just ignore that guy—he’s a nut. A nut can also be an enthusiast: Tom is a tennis nut—he plays every day. Or add an “s” and you have an adjective meaning “crazy”: You’d have to be nuts to go skydiving!
我們先來談談nut這個字。它除了很好吃，nut還可以指「瘋子或怪人」，如： Just ignore that guy—he’s a nut.（不要理那個人──他是個瘋子）。nut也可以指「對某事相當狂熱者」，如：Tom is a tennis nut.（湯姆是個網球愛好者。）也就是說他天天打網球。在nut後面加個s就變成形容詞用法，指「瘋狂的」，如：You’d have to be nuts to go skydiving!（你一定是瘋了才去跳傘！）

Technically, peanuts aren’t nuts (they’re actually legumes), which may be why they’re so cheap. So cheap, in fact, 2⃣ that “peanuts” can mean “a very small amount of money”: Students often have to work for peanuts.
嚴格來說，花生雖然有nut幾個字，但並非堅果類（其實是莢豆的一種）。所以其實花生很便宜，因為太便宜了，所以peanuts可以指「非常便宜，花不了幾毛錢」，如：Students often have to work for peanuts.（學生常為了幾斗米折腰。）

At one time, a formal dinner started with soup and ended with port and nuts, so 3⃣ “from soup to nuts” came to mean “leaving nothing out, from beginning to end”: That store sells everything from soup to nuts.
以前的正餐是以湯品開始，以波特酒與堅果為結尾，所以from soup to nuts後來有「任何東西都有；從頭到尾」的意思。如：That store sells everything from soup to nuts.（那間商店的商品包羅萬象。）

If you’re a tree, what’s inside a nutshell—a nut—is both small and important. For this reason, 4⃣ “in a nutshell” has come to mean “in sum, in brief”: It’s a long story, but in a nutshell, I got fired. Another thing about nutshells is that they’re hard, which makes a nut tough to crack. 5⃣ If a person, problem or situation is “a tough/hard nut to crack,” it means they’re difficult to deal with or understand: I’ve known Bob for a year, but he’s a tough nut to crack.
如果你是一棵樹，堅果外殼裡面會有什麼──既小但又很重要的堅果。因此in a nutshell延伸為「簡單來說，一言以蔽之」。如：It’s a long story, but in a nutshell, I got fired.（說來話長。不過一句話，我被炒魷魚了。）另外，堅果殼太硬，常要花很大力氣才撬得開，所以我們如果說某人事物是a tough/hard nut to crack，就是說他們「很難搞，或很難捉摸」。如：I’ve known Bob for a year, but he’s a tough nut to crack.（我認識鮑伯一年了，不過他真的很謎。）

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英文基礎文法 18 - 形容詞的用法(Basic English Grammar - Adjective usage.)