問:政府財政困難,往往會厲行節約,那些節約措施,英文為什麼叫austerity measures而不叫austere measures?
答:請讀者先答以下兩條選擇題:(1)Chou Yu would have lived longer if he had learned anger / angry management(周瑜假如學過控制怒氣,會長壽一點)。(2)The police cadets had to take a violence / violent prevention course(那些警校學生,須修習防暴課程)。讀者大概都不會選擇angry、violent這兩個形容詞,因為angry management不是「怒氣控制」,而是「以憤怒的方式控制」;violent prevention也不是「防暴」,而是「用暴力方式防止」。Austerity measures和anger management、violence prevention等,文法結構相同,即「名詞+名詞」,英文稱為compound noun。
不過,「節約措施」除了叫austerity measures,叫austere measures其實也可以,只是較為少見而已。查牛津字典 The New Oxford Dictionary of English ,austere可以有兩個意思,一是severe or strict in manner, attitude, or appearance〔(方式、態度或外表)嚴厲〕,一是(of an economic policy or measures)designed to reduce a budget deficit〔旨在削減赤字的(經濟政策或措施)〕。所以,austere measures既可指「嚴厲的措施」,也可以指「節約措施」,例如:(1)Austere measures must be taken to protect the environment(要保護環境,必須實行嚴厲的措施)。(2)The austerity measures introduced by the government included cutbacks in welfare expenditures(政府推行的節約措施,包括削減福利開支)。