Brexit--Doing it the hard way
February
25
Brexit--Doing it the hard way
Brexit：Britain和exit的合成词。被柯林斯词典誉为2016年最重要的英文单词，并称其为自“Watergate”（水门事件）一词后对英语最具影响的政治术语。
类似的合成词还有：
Trumpism：-ism后缀表“主义”，如pragmatism实用主义，这里作“川普主义”
Uberization：-ization后缀表“化”，如industrialization工业化，这里作“分享经济化”，来形容像“优步”的分享经济模式给其他固有行业带来的冲击。
除了这些正统的词，还有一些可用于日常口语的词哦：
比如askhole，ask（问）和asshole（蠢蛋）合成，意为总是不停问各种愚蠢问题的蠢蛋；
sharenting，晒娃狂魔，相信谁的朋友圈里都会有这样的存在；
JOMO，这个比较难猜，和它对应的还有一个FOMO，现在很多人都成了低头族，不停的刷微博刷朋友圈，总是fear of missing out，生怕错过什么好玩的事情，而JOMO呢，就是英文joy of missing out的缩略语，意为“错失的乐趣”，指因为不再害怕错过别人做的事情或说的话而体会到的愉悦。
回到题目，Doing it the hard way
Hard双关，既可表“艰难”，也可表示“强硬”，到底是艰难还是强硬，这是一个悬念。
It might be called May’s paradox. Since she became prime minister last July, Mrs May has been urged by businesses to clarify her Brexit goals. Yet every time she has tried, investors have reacted by selling sterling, because she has shown a preference for a “hard” (or, as her advisers prefer, “clean”) Brexit that takes Britain out of the EU’s single market and customs union.
词
汇
paradox：悖论，迷局
The paradox of earth is that it cradles life and then entombs life.
大地的奥妙在于它既生长万物，亦埋葬万物。
sterling：英镑，中文常音译为先令。Pound也是英镑，而sterling的原意是银子。货币必须有贵金属做其后盾，因此sterling就是Pound的后盾。因此英镑的全称是Pound Sterling，复数Pounds Sterling.
single market：单一市场，最初几位老大哥创立欧盟共同体的主要目标之一，说白了也就是大家都是一家人，一家人来回串门没有门槛，商品、人员、服务、资本都可以自由流动，而大家抱团，总是力量更大一些，因此欧盟单一市场为各成员国在过去带来的好处是很多的，在英国宣布脱欧的时候，很多成员国就指出，英国要明确表态，不要半退半留，占尽欧盟的便宜还卖乖，毕竟英国对于欧盟的依赖还是更重一些，这点文章后续也有提到。
customs union：关税联盟，也就是两个国家之间商量好了，我们互相都把关税减少一些，或者互相不要关税，这个就是关税联盟
single market与customs union的关系？这时候有同学会有疑问了，他们不都单一市场了么，过成一家人了，为啥还要关税联盟呢？单一市场这一目标的发展不是动动嘴皮子的事情，即使到现在也有部分行业没有实现单一市场，但是大家都是自家兄弟嘛，还是要和外人区分开，因此我们就先建立一个关税联盟，step by step，类似于咱们之前学习的一篇文章说a foot in the door，先一只脚进门。最终实现所有行业的单一市场。
解
析
梅姨的处境很是艰难。自从梅姨接去年七月任首相位置以来，众多商界人士就敦促她明晰自己的脱欧目标，但是每当她有所行动的时候, 投资者就开始抛售英镑,因为梅姨的政策倾向于执行一个“强硬的（或是其顾问提到的干净利落）”脱欧，这种强硬的脱欧：就是使得英国脱离欧洲单一市场以及关税联盟。
由此照应标题，hard表示“强硬的”。
至此，我们理解了“Brexit，doing it the hard way”就是：脱欧就要脱的干净。
In fact the pound rose on January 17th when she gave a speech that set out her most detailed thinking so far about Brexit. That was partly because her decision to leave the single market and customs union had been widely trailed, causing the pound to fall in the run-up to her speech. But it may also have been because markets were pleasantly surprised by her language in setting out a dream of a liberal, open future for the country—she spoke behind the slogan “A Global Britain”—and her expressed wish for continuing friendly relations with Europe.
词
汇
In fact：在逻辑上往往表达弱转折。
run-up：前夕，前奏
解
析
（虽然“强硬脱欧”）但是1.17在梅姨讲了一下她对脱欧的详细想法后，英镑居然还涨了。如此奇妙现象的原因有两个： 第一是因为演讲开始前，梅姨脱离单一市场和关税联盟的计划就已从小道广泛传开，所以英镑该跌的都跌过了，梅姨再在演讲中谈“脱单”，大家也不会吃惊了。而另外一个原因，就是梅相指出，她梦想打造大格局的英国，并要同欧盟继续保持友好关系。市场对她的想法表示欣慰，因此英镑蹭蹭涨。
There is a liberal vision of a post-Brexit future in which Britain escapes the most protectionist features of the EU and opens its economy to the rest of the world. It is one that includes lower taxes, less pettifogging regulation and freer trade. During the referendum campaign it was sometimes talked of as “Singapore on steroids”: a dynamic, open Britain capable of competing not just with other EU countries but with the whole world.
词
汇
liberal vision：自由愿景
referendum：公投，重要政治术语。前年还搞过苏格兰独立公投Scotland Independence Referendum，用的也是这个单词。
Singapore on steroids：steroid是类固醇（兴奋剂），这里想象一下：脱欧派认为英国从欧盟独立出来之后，会像当年新加坡从马来西亚联邦中独立出来一样风生水起，而且不是正常版的新加坡，而是打了鸡血的新加坡~嗯，好像学了一个新用法呢，什么像打了鸡血一样，就直接说：sth on steroids。
解
析
接着往后看，文章指出关于英国脱欧之后，大家是持有一个自由愿景的：税收低，摆脱无益规定的一个更加自由的贸易地。在公投期间，大家都在想脱欧之后的英国，其生存方式更像打了鸡血的新加坡，变成一个开放充满活力的英国，不仅能与欧盟抗衡，还能够与整个世界抗衡。
这里是有一定的讽刺意味的，这也是写作的时候一个技巧：欲抑先扬，所谓“捧杀”。
The trouble is that, for all her pleasing rhetoric, Mrs May is not really pursuing this vision. She has set immigration control as her priority (see Bagehot), even though today’s service businesses depend on being able to move people around at short notice, as does high-tech industry. A similar drawback attaches to her insistence on escaping the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice (ECJ). Free-trade deals require a neutral umpire. So would any effort, hinted at again by Mrs May, to secure post-Brexit barrier-free access to the EU’s single market for such key industries as cars and financial services.
词
汇
for all her pleasing rhetoric：说的好听
set...as her priority：设重心
Bagehot 全名Walter Bagehot，这个人曾任经济学人的主编，然后将自己陆续发表于一家期刊上的论文及英国政治相关的文章结集出版，于是就有了现在所见的《英国宪法》（The English Constitution）。这里指代宪法。
European Court of Justice (ECJ) 欧洲法院
Free-trade deals：自贸协定
neutral umpire：中立裁定
So would： 与……一样
解
析
哦，果然，trouble来了！尽管说的好听，但是还没打算这么做啊。即使现在服务行业同高科技行业一样，需要能够随时转移人才，但她首要目标是移民控制（这能够在宪法中窥到一二）。与移民控制一样，让梅姨更加坚持要退出ECJ欧洲法院的管辖是：自贸协定需要中立的裁定。脱欧后为了维持英国进入欧洲单一市场（如汽车以及金融行业这些重要行业）的无障碍通道所作出的努力同样也需要中立裁定。
Such a sectoral approach is anyway unlikely to work, for two reasons. One is that the EU will not offer favoured access to its market only for certain industries. The second is that the World Trade Organization does not allow it. The WTO accepts free trade deals and customs unions, but only if they embrace “substantially all the trade”. Were the EU to single out cars, say, for barrier-free trade with Britain, the EU would be obliged by the WTO’s non-discrimination rules to offer the same deal to all WTO members, including China and India.
词
汇
non-discrimination rules：非歧视原则
解
析
当然那些都是英国单方面的考虑，欧盟不可能会同意。原因一是欧盟不会仅仅对特定产业实行优惠，原因二是世贸组织不允许。WTO接受自由贸易和关税联盟，但前提是对所有的交易。如果欧盟对英国单独打开汽车市场的无障碍通道，那么根据世贸组织的非歧视原则，欧盟也必须要向所有的世贸组织成员国打开无障碍通道，包括中国和印度。
你看，这果然就是所谓的理想和现实的差距吧，梅姨现在需要做的就是给英国人民画大饼，画的越像越好，真实状况是道路很艰难的多。
至此，文章说了梅姨的硬脱欧政策，以及该政策为英国经济带来的变化，英镑上涨了对不对，大英帝国崛起指日可待，但是呢，现实情况没有那么一帆风顺，还是有很多艰难险阻。
Mrs May was frank about the trade-off between being in the single market and taking back control of borders and laws. She even declared that to stay in the single market would mean “to all intents and purposes” not leaving the EU at all. But she was less honest in not admitting that Brexit will impose costs, and that a hard Brexit will make them heavier. A YouGov poll for Open Britain, a pro-EU group, finds that even a majority of Leave voters are not prepared to be made worse off in order to control immigration.
词
汇
Trade off：权衡
解
析
面对这些种种的困境，梅姨要做什么？梅姨要权衡留在单一市场和拿回边境和法律掌控权。她在17年1月的讲话中十分明确的指出：我们放弃欧盟单一市场，但是要换回对边界和法律的掌控权，这算是英国政府在脱欧问题上最为明确的表态。甚至还说，留在单一市场实际上就意味着根本就没有脱欧，态度依然强硬。但是，梅姨没有承认英国脱欧会带来损耗，而强硬的脱欧方式只会让事情更加难做。一项英国国内的民意调查显示，那些吵着要脱欧的这帮人士，也都没有准备好为移民管控而去面对一个每况愈下的经济环境。
看来梅姨这个首相做的真是不易啊！
Mrs May’s response that the economy has done better since the referendum than economists forecast is disingenuous. Not only have easier monetary and fiscal policy and the fall in sterling cushioned the impact but Brexit has not yet happened—and until recently many firms hoped to stay in the single market. Nor did Mrs May offer any solution to the problems that leaving the single market and customs union will cause for the border with Ireland, where there are currently no customs checks.
词
汇
disingenuous：虚伪的
easier monetary and fiscal policy：更宽松的（其对应的紧缩是tight），这里是金融术语：更宽松货币和财政政策
cushion：源自拉丁文，是“腰，臀部”的意思，后来演化为坐垫，而作动词讲则是缓冲的意思
解
析
梅姨说，自公投以来，英国的经济现状是要比经济学家们预测的好很多。这种说法是虚伪的。不光更宽松的货币和财政政策以及英镑的下跌都没能缓冲影响，而且脱欧现在也未实现，体现在哪里呢？很多的公司都想要留在单一市场中。并且直到现在梅相也没有针对英国离开单一市场之后与爱尔兰之间产生的边境问题给出解决方案。为什么那里会出现问题？因为目前英国和爱尔兰之间是没有海关检查的。
Negotiating free-trade agreements will be harder and more time-consuming than Mrs May suggests. She expressed hope that a comprehensive deal with the EU could be done in two years. But experience suggests this is highly unlikely. Many EU countries say they need to settle divorce terms (dividing up property, pensions and so on) before even talking about trade. Canada’s free-trade deal with the EU has taken seven years and is not yet in force. For Britain to replicate the EU’s trade deals with 53 third countries will be more testing than today’s enthusiastic talk of an early agreement with America suggests (see next story). And ratification is always tricky: a recent ECJ ruling makes a free-trade deal with Britain a “mixed” agreement that must be approved by every parliament in the EU, including regional ones.
解
析
依然是在说梅姨面对的艰难险阻：脱欧之后，之前和欧盟爸爸定下的家规都作废了，得一条条的重新来过，梅姨曾说2年之内cover掉所有协议的制作，但是现在看来是不可能了。很多的欧盟成员国说，在涉及到贸易协定之前，我们得先把其他一些离婚条款捋捋清楚，比如财产分割啦，赡养费啥的，爸爸老了，把哥几个都养大了，该孝顺的时候，你丫倒跑了，赡养费得继续给不是~加拿大和欧盟之间的自由贸易协定嗷嗷了七年都没有最后敲定，别说你英国脱离欧盟后，要处理重新处理哦53个国家的贸易协定了，而且欧盟爸爸很不开心，于是就设置了关卡，你不是要走么？好，所有你要签订的自由贸易协定必须要经过所有的欧盟议会的同意，这时候同学们再想想上文梅姨提出的诉求，要求退出ECJ并获得中立裁定，就更加理解了吧~
The truth is that when Mrs May formally triggers Brexit she will find the cards stacked against her. Subject to an imminent Supreme Court ruling on needing parliamentary approval, she plans to initiate the process in March. The divorce proceedings then have an extremely tight two-year deadline. Mrs May acknowledged the need for transition, but only as an implementation process towards a final deal. As she conceded, the other 27 EU countries have been impressively united over Brexit. They may welcome her new clarity, but for them the preservation of the union is more pressing than all else. As several leaders have said, Britain cannot have a better deal outside than inside the club.
词
汇
the cards stacked against sb：所有的事情都在背道而驰，相当于成语“四处碰壁”，重要短语
解
析
而真相呢，就是梅姨正式宣布退欧之后，发现自己四处碰壁。英国脱欧必须要经过议会的同意，【当然现在的确是通过了，于2月8号的议会上通过，但是在这篇文章出版的时候，还没有】而且还面临着仅仅两年截止时间。梅姨很明确的指出需要一个过渡时期，但是过渡时期也是实现最终目标的一部分。而且她承认，对于英国脱欧这一事件，欧盟27个成员国及其团结一致。【为啥，有人能跑成功，有了先例，就会有其他蠢蠢欲动的小弟，也想离家出走】因此，对于欧盟来说，目前对于the preservation of the union对联盟的保护是更重要的，有些成员国的领导人说了，英国既然走了，就别想得到一个比之前还好的协议。【人家都不和我们玩了，我们干嘛还要跪舔】
Mrs May made helpful noises about not wishing to see the EU unravel, unlike Donald Trump. She stressed the need to retain co-operation on foreign policy and security. And she said Britain might pay modestly into the EU budget (though no longer “vast contributions”, so talk in Brussels of an initial Brexit bill of upwards of €50bn, or $53bn, may not go down well). But she also threatened her partners, calling it an act of “calamitous self-harm” if they pushed for a punitive settlement; Britain could retaliate by slashing taxes, she said. She believes her predecessor, David Cameron, made a mistake by not being ready to walk out rather than accept inadequate new membership terms. In her speech, indeed, she insisted that no deal was better than a bad deal.
词
汇
calamitous self-harm：calamitous意为灾难的，悲惨的，即自杀式行动
slash：大幅削减
no deal for Britain is better than a bad deal： 谈不拢就别谈了
解
析
但是梅姨说了不希望看到欧盟解体，不像某国刚上任的满嘴跑火车的总统，一直想看热闹，盼着别人家里鸡犬不宁。她特别强调了保持与欧盟之间在外交政策和安全措施上合作的重要性，并且我们还是会支付一定的赡养费的。（虽然不是vast contribution，要知道之前英国大哥每天都会给欧盟爸爸5000万英镑啊。因此，在布鲁塞尔关于英国500亿英镑的脱欧账单进展的不太顺利）但是梅姨还说了，如果你们太狠的话，我们就采取自杀式行动，我们会大幅削减关税，转而把英国转型为一个低税收和宽松监管的经济体，让英国成为避税天堂。May说了，谈不拢我们就不谈了。
果然英国第二个铁娘子，不是浪得虚名的~
As Malcolm Barr of J.P. Morgan points out, this is a dangerous line. No deal would mean falling back on WTO terms, implying not just non-tariff barriers and lost access to the single market but actual tariffs on exports of cars, pharmaceuticals, processed foods and much else. The EU would suffer too, but its goods exports to Britain are worth only3% of its GDP; Britain’s to the EU are worth 12% of its own GDP. Mrs May has made a powerful case for her version of a hard Brexit. But it is Britain, not the 27, that is the demandeur in these negotiations. And that will make securing a good outcome hard in every sense.
词
汇
non-tariff barriers：非关税壁垒制度，指除了关税之外的其他限制进口的各种措施
Demandeur：demander的法语表达，英语中有时候这样用会增加语言的趣味性
解
析
至此，梅相采取的措施以及面临的困难，国内亦或是国外，大家应该很清楚了。
最后作者通过引用MB的观点，指出这是个危险线。放弃协议就意味着大家都遵守世贸组织的规定，也就是必须遵守非关税壁垒制度，并且还不能够进入单一市场，而且会对于汽车医药加工食品以及其他很多商品征收关税。不仅英国会蒙受损失，欧盟也不能够全身而退，但是英国对欧盟的依赖要更大一些。梅相明确的指出了一个强硬的退欧道路，但是要知道在这件事情中，英国是索求方，态度还如此强硬，以后的路应该更不好走。
最后一句的hard，再次照应标题，这回变成了另一个意思：艰难
政治就是不断地多方博弈，谁胜谁负，谁赚的盆满钵满，谁打落了牙往肚里咽，都得看历史的裁决。
英文来源：Economist.com/britain
讲解：霞姐 / Tiassa
编辑 / 校正 : 魔力校花
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