简析那段刷爆你朋友圈的英文
先读一则《纽约时报》的简短报道:
WASHINGTON — In a long-sought victory for the gay rights movement, the Supreme Court ruled by a 5-to-4 vote on Friday that the Constitution guarantees a right to same-sex marriage.
“No longer may this liberty be denied,” Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote for the majority in the historic decision. “No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were.”
The decision, which was the culmination of decades of litigation and activism, set off jubilation and tearful embraces across the country, the first same-sex marriages in several states, and signs of resistance — or at least stalling — in others. It came against the backdrop of fast-moving changes in public opinion, with polls indicating that most Americans now approve of the unions.
The court’s four more liberal justices joined Justice Kennedy’s majority opinion. Each member of the court’s conservative wing filed a separate dissent, in tones ranging from resigned dismay to bitter scorn.
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再来说一说或许早就刷爆你朋友圈的那段感人的“结尾宣言”。
Justice Anthony Kennedy, who authored today’s ruling legalizing same-sex marriage throughout the United States, is sometimes made fun of for his notoriously purple prose. But today he managed to close his opinion with one of the most beautiful passages you’ll likely read in a court case.
Anthony Kenndy以 purple prose 而闻名-- 在法庭上卖梦卖风骚? 值得一提的是Kenndy还有一外号, 叫"huamn jump ball" -- as unpredictable as a basketball game tip-off, Kennedy’s reputation as the Court’s swing voter is well earned.
这段文字好在哪了? 感人在哪里? 以下是我个人浅薄的赏析。
1. 结构和“意象"，还有人情味
这段的结构很简单: 2个“论点”－union & euality，若干论据.
No...is more...than...for...; It would misunderstand... to say...; 这样简单直接的抛出观点很容易把读者hook住，然后用“实例”来加以“感染” -- love, marital union, euqal dignity, loneliness, civilization, right, 相信这是每个人都会感同身受的意向-- there is humanity in this passage.
2. Beauty of simplicity
全文没有一个所谓的“大词”。看看作者选用的这些词吧, 哪一个不是简单直接准确，没废话，全干货。
动词：embody,form, seek, respect, endure, condemn, ask for, grant, reserve;
形容词：profound, highest, greater,marital, old
名词: union, marriage, love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, family, plea, fulfillment, diginity...
再看看ly的副词吧: 可怜的只有一个"so deeply"
Purple prose或许在法庭上让人难免生厌，但是在这个特别的时刻，这样简洁，有人情味的语言成为了historic. 然而，这样的语言也遭到许多批评。
投反对票的法官之一Antonin Scalia说:
“The opinion is couched in a style that is as pretentious as its content is egotistic,” Justice Scalia wrote of his colleague’s work. “Of course the opinion’s showy profundities are often profoundly incoherent.”
In a footnote, he compares his colleague’s words to “the mystical aphorisms of a fortune cookie.”
最后说个好玩的事，如果你google “gay marriage”的话，页面是这样的:
Google is celebrating the Supreme Court’s Friday ruling legalizing gay marriage across the U.S. Type “gay marriage” into the search engine and you’ll see a string of cartoon couples holding hands across the top of the screen with rainbow colors that represent the gay pride flag.