儒琴英语词汇选自欧美报刊文章以及英语原文小说。坚持学习英语今日词汇，有助于阅读和理解当今欧美主流媒体的新闻时事报道和英语文学作品。
儒琴英语词汇（English Words and Phrases of the Day）
electability
electable
unelectable
Meaning （ electability ）
the degree to which a candidate is likely to be elected or the quality of being likely to be elected (macmillandictionary.com)
‘electability’一词国内媒体目前主要翻译成： 当选性，可选性， 有胜选性， 候选资格，胜选可能性，参选能力，有胜选性等。
‘electability’指的是被一党或特定地理区域看好的候选人，而且必须在全国范围内有被选上的良好机会。选民有时会过多考量候选人抗衡竞争对手的electability能力，反而忽视了该候选人做选举纲领或总统的能力。
下面这句话反映出当今美国民主党选民对候选人的electability 纠结心态：
And with stakes this high, Democratic voters appear to be grappling with their own dilemma: vote for a candidate who best exemplifies their visceral loathing for Donald Trump or vote for the candidate who is most likely to beat him? (CNN Sun September 22, 2019)
Examples
We’ve got a long way to go in this race, but the growing partisan divide around Donald Trump and the fear of losing to him in 2020 means electability will only grow in importance to Democratic primary voters. And that’s bad news right now for every candidate whose name doesn’t rhyme with Schmiden. (CNN Sep 22, 2019)
A series of think-pieces came out within hours of Warren’s announcement. “Elizabeth Warren and the Democrats’ Electability Dilemma,” was New York’s response. CNN’s Harry Enten noted Warren’s midterm re-election performance showed she is a “below-par candidate.” (rollingstone.com)
In our current era, it should be buried permanently, as the 2016 victory of Donald Trump – the most “unelectable” politician to ever run for president after David Duke (I’m including “free ponies for all” candidate Vermin Supreme) – exploded what Bloomberg View called “everything we know” about who is and is not electable. (rollingstone.com)
in the rear-view mirror.
Meaning
figuratively the phrase means “in the past”.
已成过去，已成往事
A rearview mirror is for looking behind you when you’re driving a car. So to say something is “in the rearview mirror” means that it’s behind you – in this context, in the past.
— English.stockexchabge
Examples
In “Finders Keepers” by Stephen King, there is a character named Andy Halliday and he says his lovelife has been in the rearview mirror for over 15 years.
— English.stockexchabge
This moment was always going to be a turning point in the campaign. The Democratic National Committee promised six presidential primary debates this year, and half are now officially in the rear-view mirror. (CNN) Sep 13, 2029
jawbone
verb & noun [ˈdʒɔː.bəʊn] US slang
Meaning
1. to talk to someone, especially to try to persuade them to do something
强烈呼吁；磨嘴皮子说服 ( Cambridge)
2. Using diplomacy and negotiation instead of force to get things done. The carrot end of the carrot and stick analogy. (dailykos.com)
使用外交谈判手段，不用武力
Examples
Congresswoman Weintrob jawboned local officials about their responsibilities toward the immigrant community. 国会议员温特罗布女士强烈呼吁当地官员要关注移民社区。（Cambridge）
Dollar rises again despite Trump trying to ‘jawbone’ the US currency lower. ( cnbc news Mar 4 2019)
President Donald Trump wrapped up the weekend as he started it, jawboning the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates at a time when he may be sizing up his two latest picks for Fed governor as successors to Chairman Jerome Powell. (Bloomberg July 7, 2019)
In either case, it’s surely odd for Trump to try to jawbone Europe into paying more while simultaneously shoveling more of the American taxpayer’s money into the U.S. Defense Department’s gullet. Pro tip: If you want your allies to spend a bit more on their own defense, try spending a bit less to subsidize them.
the Pied Piper (of Hamelin)
[ˌpaɪd ˌpaɪ.pər əv ˈhæm.lɪn] noun
Meaning
A Pied Piper is someone who entices others to follow him, often through outrageous promises and personal charisma. The term is often used in politics. (collinsdictionary.com)
花衣吹笛手: 通过大胆的许愿和个人魅力，诱惑其他人跟他走。
这是经常使用的政治术语。
Origin
Pied Piper comes from the German legend that has existed at least since around 1300. In the story, the Pied Piper comes to a town that is plagued with rats. The Pied Piper promises to rid the town of the rats for a fee. He successfully lures the rats out of town with the music from his pipe, but the townsfolk refuse to pay his fee. As retribution, the piper then lures the children out of the town and into the mountains, and they are never heard from again. (Grammarist)
吹笛手；花衣吹笛手（一个儿童小说中的人物；他消除了哈默林镇的所有老鼠，但镇上的官员拒绝给他承诺的报酬，他就吹着美丽的音乐，把所有孩子带出哈默林镇） ( Cambridge)
Examples
“Here’s what’s going on: I think Donald Trump knows how to play the media like a master,” Fiorina said. “I think he’s a Pied Piper. … When he stops dominating the news coverage, he makes an outrageous statement so that he dominates it once again.” (CNN)
In its self-described “pied piper” strategy, the Clinton campaign proposed intentionally cultivating extreme right-wing presidential candidates, hoping to turn them into the new “mainstream of the Republican Party” in order to try to increase Clinton’s chances of winning. (salon.com)
This is not to say Elizabeth Warren would be a good candidate against Trump, or Sherrod Brown would be a bad one. But after 2016, when cliché notions like “electability” led to catastrophic conceptual mistakes by Democrats — not the least of which being the Clinton campaign’s instinct to want to “elevate” the unelectable “pied piper candidates” like Trump — we should start digging a mass grave for such ideas. Barring a sharp change in the political winds (or Trump’s removal from office), Democratic voters should ignore such punditry, and simply vote for whichever candidate they would most like to be president. (foreignpolicy.com)
