Severe and harsh — used about cuts, taxes, fines, and penalties that hurt because they are so large. 'Swingeing cuts to the education budget' means cuts deep enough to do real damage.

Severe and harsh嚴厲又猛烈——used about cuts, taxes, fines, and penalties that hurt because they are so large用來形容削減、稅金、罰款、處罰，因為力道大到會造成傷害。'Swingeing cuts to the education budget' means cuts deep enough to do real damage'Swingeing cuts to the education budget'(對教育預算的重大削減)意思是刪得深到會造成實質傷害。

It is strongly British, and it belongs to newspapers and politics; an American reader may not know it at all, and would say sweeping, drastic, or severe instead. The word always carries criticism. Nobody calls their own policy swingeing — it is what the people being cut call it.

It is strongly British這個字很英式，and it belongs to newspapers and politics屬於新聞和政治的語言；an American reader may not know it at all美國讀者可能完全不認識它，and would say sweeping, drastic, or severe instead會改說sweeping、drastic或severe。The word always carries criticism這個字永遠帶著批評意味：Nobody calls their own policy swingeing沒有人會說自己的政策是swingeing——it is what the people being cut call it那是被削減的人拿來罵的說法。

Two warnings, and they matter more than the meaning.

Two warnings有兩個提醒，and they matter more than the meaning而且比意思本身還重要。

First, the spelling: swingeing keeps the 'e' from 'swinge', an old word meaning to strike hard, and it is a completely different word from swinging.

First, the spelling第一，拼法：swingeing keeps the 'e' from 'swinge'swingeing保留了'swinge'裡的那個'e'，an old word meaning to strike hardswinge是一個古字，意思是重擊，and it is a completely different word from swinging所以它跟swinging(擺動)是完全不同的兩個字。

Second, the sound: it rhymes with 'hinging', with a soft j sound, not with 'singing'. Because the spelling looks so close to 'swinging', even native speakers mix the two up in writing, and editors quietly fix it.

Second, the sound第二，發音：it rhymes with 'hinging'它跟'hinging'押韻，with a soft j sound是軟軟的j音，not with 'singing'不跟'singing'押韻。Because the spelling looks so close to 'swinging'因為拼法跟'swinging'太像了，even native speakers mix the two up in writing連母語者寫的時候都會搞混，and editors quietly fix it編輯就默默把它改過來。