听说学英语第36期翻译

【翻译作业】

Tom was a typical fence sitter in the debate-he was always up with those who had more supporters.

【解释】Someone who won't take sides in a controversy is a fence sitter. fence sitter 的字面意思是骑墙者，坐在篱笆上的人。它本是个政治术语，最早出现在19世纪初的美国国会，原指一个人既不支持共和党，也不支持民主党，而是保持中立。后来引申指那些立场不坚定的'投机分子，见风使舵的墙头草。比如说That guy's a fence sitter, he fits in everywhere.

那个人是个见风使舵的家伙，所以到处都吃得开。类似的也有短语a Jack of both sides 来表达这个意思，如Ray is a Jack of both sides。Ray是个见风使舵的人，两面派。

同时我们也需要知道这一点，fence-sitter不总是贬义词，有些时候他作为一个中性的词，用来表示"中立者"，采取观望态度的人。在这个意思上，我们还有其他一些相关的短语：比如be on the fence，sit on the rail

【翻译】Tom was a typical fence sitter in the debate-he was always up with those who had more supporters.

翻译：汤姆在辩论中就知道见风使舵，他总是站在支持者多的一边。