又中又英｜Dollars to doughnuts

January 20 will be a day that makes headlines around the world. That is the day Donald Trump will be sworn in as the next American president. He promised during the election campaign to issue many headline-making orders on his first day as president. These include closing the border with Mexico, beginning mass deportations of illegal immigrants, and pardoning some of those who broke into the US Congress in January 2021 to support Trump’s claim that Joe Biden cheated to win the election. Trump also said he could end the Russia-Ukraine war “in a day”.

I heard a political commentator say on social media he would bet dollars to doughnuts that Trump couldn’t do all those things on his first day as president. A doughnut is a fried and sweet pastry. Americans sometimes spell it “donut”. If you use the American expression “dollars to doughnuts”, it means you are so confident about winning or being right that you will use dollars to bet against someone who uses doughnuts in the bet. One American dollar is, of course, worth more than one doughnut. Some people believe many of Trump’s campaign promises were made on the spur of the moment.

If you say something on the spur of the moment, it means you say it suddenly without thinking or planning. It is impossible to carry out mass deportations in one day or to end the Russia-Ukraine war in a day, but I think Trump is determined to keep many of his campaign promises during his presidency. He will deport illegal immigrants convicted of crimes as a first step. He will raise trade tariffs. And he will tighten the US-Mexico border.

1月20日将会成为全球头条的一日，在这一天，唐纳德‧特朗普将会宣誓成为下一任美国总统。他在竞选期间承诺，首天就任总统便会发布许多足以成为头条的命令。这些命令包括，关闭与墨西哥的边境，开始大规模驱逐非法移民，以及特赦其中一些于2021年1月闯入国会大楼，支持特朗普指控祖‧拜登以欺诈手段去胜选的示威者。特朗普也说他可以在「一天之内」完结俄乌战争。

我在社交媒体上听过一个政治评论人说，他敢bet dollars to doughnuts，特朗普不能在就任总统的第一天之内就把所有那些事都完成。A doughnut就是炸甜圈圈，美国人有时会把它串成donut。若你用上美式俚语dollars to doughnuts，意即你非常有信心会赢，或者坚信自己是对的，即使对方只是用冬甩（doughnuts）来打赌，你也会用真金白银来对赌。一美元当然要比一个冬甩（doughnut）昂贵。一些人相信，特朗普在竞选期间的承诺，都只是on the spur of the moment许下的。

若你say something on the spur of the moment，那即是指你一时冲动，没有经过三思或计划而随口说出的。要在一天之内实行大规模驱逐计划，又或在一天内结束俄乌战争，是不可能的，但我认为特朗普会在任内履行他许多的竞选承诺。第一步他将会驱逐那些被判有罪的非法移民。他会加徵关税。而且他也会收紧美墨边境的管制。

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Michael Chugani褚简宁
中译：七刻