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America has two main political parties, the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. Britain’s two main political parties are the Conservative Party and the Labour Party. Is there a Leopards Eating People’s Faces Party? Yes, but it is an imaginary party. The Leopards Eating People’s Faces Party has an interesting background. This fictional party was born in 2015 when writer Adrian Bott tweeted something that went viral. He tweeted “I never thought leopards would eat MY face!” quoting a sobbing woman. The expression is used to mock people who supported unjust or cruel policies and later become surprised when the policies they supported hurt their own lives.
The fictional Leopards Eating People’s Faces Party describes voters who later regretted their votes. The expression was used to describe voters who voted for Brexit and for Donald Trump’s first term as US president and later regretted it. I heard the expression “leopards eating people’s faces” for the first time recently when a US political commentator used it to say some Trump voters now regret supporting Trump for a second term. He may have been gaslighting or trolling Trump voters. To gaslight means to use psychological methods to manipulate people, making them question their own thinking. To troll means to use the internet to deliberately provoke people into an argument or emotional reaction online.
Some constituents who attended meetings in districts that support Trump, a Republican, have recently criticized Republican Congressmen representing those districts for saying nothing about Trump policies they say are hurting them. But there is no growing opposition to Trump among Republican voters as of now.
美國有兩大政黨:共和黨和民主黨。英國的兩大政黨為保守黨和工黨。那麼,世上可有一個「豹吃人臉黨」(Leopards Eating People’s Faces Party)?有的,但那只是一個虛構的政黨。這個「豹吃人臉黨」(Leopards Eating People’s Faces Party)有個有趣的背景。這一虛構政黨誕生於二零一五年,阿德里安‧博特當時發了一條推特,在網絡爆紅。他寫的推特引述一名啜泣的女人道:「我從沒想過豹子會吃掉我的臉(leopards would eat MY face)!」這句話是用來嘲諷那些支持不公或殘酷政綱的人,後來卻驚訝於自己所支持的政黨反過來傷害到他們自己的生命。
此一虛構的豹吃人臉黨(Leopards Eating People’s Faces Party)描述了那些後悔自己投票取向的選民。這個習語是用來形容那些投了英國脫歐,以及第一次選了唐納德‧特朗普做美國總統,其後又悔不當初的選民。我最近首次聽到習語“leopards eating people’s faces”,是當一個美國政治評論員,用它來說一些投票給特朗普的選民,現在後悔支持了特朗普當選他第二個任期的總統。他或許有在 gaslighting或trolling特朗普的選民。To gaslight是指用心理方法去情緒操控別人,令他們質疑自己的想法;to troll是指去用網絡刻意挑釁人在網上掀起罵戰或出現情緒反應。
一些出席地區會議並支持共和黨人特朗普的選舉人,最近有批評代表他們選區的共和黨國會議員,並沒有就着那些他們聲稱特朗普有損害到他們的政策去發聲。然而,現時在共和黨選民之中,並無上升的反對聲音。
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Michael Chugani褚簡寧
中譯:七刻