儒琴英语词组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组，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。
儒琴英语词组（English Phrase of the Day）
copycat
noun [ C ]/ˈkɑː.pi.kæt/
copycat 解释
one who imitates or adopts the behavior or practices of another 指缺乏主见的）模仿者；好跟人学的人；抄袭者
copycat 原文举例
Days before the so-called Freedom Convoy reached Ottawa, starting a weeks-long occupation of Canada’s capital and triggering a string of copy-cat blockades, the federal government was warned that violent extremist groups were deeply involved in the protest movement. （The Guardian/Feb 17, 2022)
La Meute
La Meute 解释
La Meute(法语，意为“The Pack”)。La Meute目前是加拿大魁北克（Québe）一个主要极右翼组织，从事魁北克民族主义身份认同运动，旨在打击非法移民和极端伊斯兰教。最初由两名退役士兵Éric Venne(别名Éric“Corvus”)和Patrick Beaudry于2015年10月6日成立。
La Meute 原文举例
Itac （加拿大联邦综合威胁评估中心） also drew attention to a constellation of other demonstrations across the country, including in Quebec City where “the QAnon flag was observed, and the extremist group La Meute stated that approximately 100 members participated in the protest.” La Meute, or The Pack is one of the most visible and influential far-right, anti-Islam organizations in Quebec. It also claimed to have sent supporters to the Ottawa protests, the report said. （The Guardian/Feb 17, 2022)
false flag
false flag 解释
a hostile or harmful action (such as an attack) that is designed to look like it was perpetrated by someone other than the person or group responsible for it；a deliberate misrepresentation of motives or identity
false-flag 原意指“假旗”， 源于军事上为了欺骗敌对的一方，故意悬挂别国的国旗。False flag operation (假旗行动) 是指为了掩盖实际的责任来源，将责任推给对方而实施的军事行动。false flag 一词隐喻在企业和其他领域也在使用。
false flag 原文举例
The US president, speaking shortly after the expulsion of his country’s deputy ambassador to Moscow, said his administration had “reason to believe” that Russia was “engaged in a false-flag operation to have an excuse to go in”. He told reporters: “Every indication we have is they’re prepared to go into Ukraine, attack Ukraine … My sense is it will happen in the next several days.” （The Guardian/Feb 17, 2022)
fait accompli
noun [ C ]/ˌfeɪt ə.kɑːmˈpliː/
fait accompli 解释
a thing accomplished and presumably irreversible 既成事实
fait accompli 原文举例
The Queen should abdicate: this is the right time. Not because another scandal has broken out, with police probing allegations of Saudi cash-for-honours donations to the Prince of Wales’s charity. Not because of Prince Andrew’s disgrace.
Nor should she abdicate for the reason given this week by my friend and colleague Simon Jenkins: he calls for her to withdraw gently from public life to spend her declining years in dignified tranquillity, and allow a “planned transfer” to Charles. In other words, let there be no perilous moment when people ask themselves why no one asked them first. Allow no possible pause for thought between her last breath and the shout of “vivat rex”. Make sure it’s a fait accompli with his royal posterior already cemented to the throne. （The Guardian/Feb 17, 2022)
folderol
noun [ U ]/ˈfɑːl.də.rɑːl/
folderol 解释
a useless ornament or accessory 废物；无用的附件
folderol 原文举例
This jubilee would make a cheerful ending to all the royal folderol. What better time to return the sovereignty promised in Brexit to the people to whom it belongs. Elizabeth the Last should get a historic send-off, her golden coach and crown retired and her six palaces opened as fine museums. (No, tourism is no excuse for monarchy: Versailles gets many more visitors, and so does Legoland down the road from Windsor Castle). （The Guardian/Feb 17, 2022)
lèse-majesté
noun /lāz-ˈma-jə-stē/
lèse-majesté 解释
1） crime (such as treason) committed against a sovereign power ；2） : an offense violating the dignity of a ruler as the representative of a sovereign power （merriam-webster）亵渎君主罪, 危害王权罪;大逆不道
lèse-majesté 原文举例
In death or abdication, her passing will be an emotive memory marker in every family, the last link to the second world war, to remnants of empire and to that old black and white world of Pathé newsreels with their jolly jingo voices. “Thank God for the Queen”, proclaims the Sun’s front page today, absurdly. It’s doubtful she returns any thanks to Rupert Murdoch, whose lèse-majesté arrival here shattered that old reverence for royal mystique. （The Guardian/Feb 17, 2022)
prorogue
verb [ T ] /proʊˈroʊɡ/
prorogue 解释
to terminate a session of (something, such as a British parliament) by royal prerogative 使（议会）休会
prorogue 原文举例
Until now, monarchy was defended as dignified and powerless, a harmless decoration that never interferes with parliament. Embarrassing lapses – the Guardian’s revelations of the Queen’s consent preventing laws that may reveal her wealth or Charles’s “spider letters” leaning on ministers – are relatively trivial. The constitutional problem is not the monarch’s power, but powerlessness. Presidents around Europe protect constitutions and guard against overmighty politicians breaking basic law. A president would have stopped Johnson illegally proroguing parliament: it takes the authority of election to take action as a vital backstop in a constitutional emergency. （The Guardian/Feb 17, 2022)
