看時事學英文》金蟬脫殼

■ 朱文章
throw them off the scent
國華、太電及博達三大掏空案合計掏空資金300億元以上，法院裁定胡洪九及葉素菲分別以1.2億元及8,000萬元交保，創下歷史紀錄。為避免兩人棄保潛逃海外，檢方提出抗告，期盼撤銷兩人的交保裁定。
如果兩人棄保潛逃無蹤，這種行為英文稱之為"throw somebody off the scent"，也就是派出獵犬，也追蹤不到出處；也可形容為"put up a smokescreen"或"putting up a brave facade"，亦即背地裏「暗藏玄機」。
例："The competition seemed like they were suspicious of our new research so the boss asked the PR department to release some information that might throw them off of the scent." 「我們的新研發似乎讓對手警覺，因此老闆要公關部門發出煙幕，以茲遮掩。」
打煙霧彈 混淆視聽
"We put up a smokescreen to cover our new product development." 「我們發出錯誤訊息，以掩飾新產品進度。」
"We knew that when our product flopped we were in trouble, but we were instructed to put up a brave facade." 「產品銷售不佳，大家都要倒楣，但上級要我們製造假象，粉飾太平。」
善於脫逃的人，英文稱之為"slippery as an eel"。已故美國藝人胡迪尼，擅長表演掙脫束縛。他曾雙手被手銬扣住，放到注滿水的鐵箱，在滿場觀眾驚呼聲中，及時解開手銬逃生，因此他的名字（Houdini）被用來形容「善於脫逃的人」。
例：" We thought we had captured the spy, but he is slippery as an eel." 「那個間諜實在太狡猾，我們差一點就逮到他。」
"He pulled a Houdini and wiggled out of our trap." 「他身子一閃，避開我們設下的陷阱。」
好萊塢電影「搶錢大作戰」（The Boiler Room），描寫公司在一夜之間金蟬脫殼，搬離原址另起爐灶，因此這種詐騙公司也叫做"boiler room operations"或"fly by night operations"，取其承租或棄置都很方便，以及夜間落跑的特性。這種坑殺投資人金錢，掏空公司資產等事先炮製的方案（plan B），都以受害人不知情的方法行騙，進而得逞。
詐騙公司 掏空資產
例：" We tried to track down the company, but they turned out to be a fly by night operation and all we found was a vacant building." 「那是一家操短線的不法公司，我們想搗毀它，它卻搬到另一個地方另起爐灶。」
" When the new product fell flat we knew that we were going to have to switch to plan B quickly." 「如果新產品推出不順利，我們就要儘快改弦更張，另起爐灶。」
投資人花大錢購買股票，買到的卻是「紙上財富」(a bill of goods)，根本不能兌現，因為推銷者早已金蟬脫殼。苦主求訴無門，只能忍痛接受事實（accept the inevitable或bite the bullet），或者祈禱歹徒夜路走多終遇鬼，「作法自斃」（a prison of one's own making），受到法律的制裁。
例："He thought he was getting a great deal, but what he got was a bill of goods." 「他以為占了便宜，沒想到他買進的是一堆廢紙。」
"We hated to have to close our Hong Kong office and lay off most of the employees there, but we knew we had to bite the bullet and stop the losses." 「公司不想關閉香港辦事處，資遣那些員工，但我們要忍痛認賠殺出。」 "We found ourselves working against the specifications that we had earlier set and thought we were in a prison of our own making." 「先前訂下的規格和尺寸，讓我們現在作業時吃盡苦頭，簡直是作法自斃。」
（作者是陸軍官校語言中心主任）
【2005/08/14 經濟日報】