1. 1官腔、公文體、官樣文章

    Officialese is the stiff, heavy way some government people write and talk — long sentences, nouns, and words that hide a simple idea. Forms, office letters, and rules are often full of it.

    Officialese officialese is the stiff, heavy way指的是那種生硬、沉重的方式 some government people write and talk有些政府人員說話寫東西的方式——long sentences, foggy nouns, and words that hide a simple idea長句子、模糊的名詞,還有把簡單意思藏起來的用字。Forms, office letters, and rules表格、公文信件,和法規 are often full of it常常滿滿都是這種東西。

    People use the word as a complaint: you could have said this in a few clear words, but you wrapped it in official language instead.

    People大家 use the word as a complaint用這個字來抱怨:you could have said this in a few clear words明明可以用幾個清楚的字說完,but you wrapped it in official language instead卻硬是包上一層官方語言。

    The ending -ese here is a little ; it means “the language of that group,” the way legalese is the tangled language of lawyers.

    The ending -ese here這裡的字尾-ese is a little unkind帶點不客氣的意思;it它 means "the language of that group"意思是「那個群體的語言」,the way legalese is the tangled language of lawyers就像legalese是律師那套糾結的語言一樣。

    You will meet officialese in newspapers and in jokes about paperwork more than in street talk.

    You你 will meet officialese會遇到officialese in newspapers and in jokes about paperwork更常出現在報紙和拿公文開的玩笑裡,more than in street talk而不是在街頭閒聊裡。

    Though actually, not every official this way. The word names the bad habit, not every sentence that comes from an office.

    Though actually不過其實,not every official writes this way不是每個官員都這樣寫。The word這個字 names the bad habit指的是這個壞習慣,not every sentence that comes from an office而不是每一句出自公家機關的話。

core核心畫面

組成official + -ese. Here -ese means “the language of a group,” often said with a sigh.

同家族的字

  • officialthe people whose stiff language this names
  • legalesesame -ese: the hard-to-read language of lawyers

原始詞典資料1 筆記錄

以下是外部詞典記錄的用法,摘錄並精簡格式,我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的;有些用法可能上面已經講過了。

officialesenoun/ə.fɪ.ʃəˈliːz/

  • 1

    The typical language of officials or official documents; legalistic and pompous language.

    • These were men, the chronicler continued, who ‘spoke pleasantly’, in the smooth officialese that most of Henry's counsellors were accustomed to deploy […]
    • But while using officialese might give your writing the outward appearance of being thorough and correct, that doesn't mean there's anything happening underneath. Officialese is a kind of defense mechanism. It's rooted in the fear of getting something wrong, or leaving something out, or looking stupid.

摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary,已精簡格式;依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用,改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。