（附音效檔) CY Leung hits below the belt.

Audio Clip by reader : www.zello.me/QYW

added on 13/Jan/2013 @1700 Hr

(Headline daily P.40  10 Jan 2013) Henry Tang Ying-yen has finally broken his silence (打破緘默) about his own illegal structure and those of Leung Chun-ying, who defeated (擊敗) him in the chief executive election. He accused (指控) Leung of hitting below the belt (不公道的) because Leung had covered up (掩飾) his illegal structures during the election yet criticized (批評) Tang for his illegal basement. And Tang also accused the buildings department of double standards (雙重標準) by throwing the book at him (執法嚴苛) for his illegal basement while giving Leung an easy ride (鬆手). By breaking his silence Tang has made many people wonder if Leung had won the election under false pretenses (隱瞞事實).

There are several ways to use the expression "break silence" but used this way it means to finally talk about something you have refused to talk about before. For example, you can say: "My husband finally broke his silence by admitting he had a young mistress (情婦)." In boxing, it is against the rules to hit your opponent below the waist or belt. But the expression also means to behave very unfairly. A similar expression is "play dirty"(不公道). Tang accused Leung of being very unfair or playing dirty for criticizing him for his illegal basement.

It is double standards to use the same rules differently for different people. For example, it is double standards to use the illegal structure rules very strictly (嚴格地) against Tang but leniently (寬大地) against Leung. The expression "throw the book at someone" means to punish that person as severely as possible. The expression "give someone an easy ride" (方便某人) means to make things easy for that person. The opposite is "give someone a rough ride "(令那人路路受阻), which means to make things difficult for that person. To win under false pretenses means to win by hiding the facts, changing the facts, or by not telling the whole truth. Did Leung win the chief executive election under false pretenses? Did the buildings department use double standards by throwing the book (執法嚴苛) at Tang but giving Leung an easy ride (鬆手)? We must all decide by ourselves.

*** 唐英年終於打破緘默（broken his silence），開腔談及他自己以及梁振英的僭建事件，梁於特首選舉中擊敗了他。他指控梁於選舉期間，隱瞞自己僭建，卻批評唐的非法地庫是不公道的（hitting below the belt）。唐亦指責屋宇署雙重標準（double standards），對他的非法地庫執法嚴苛（throwing the book at him），卻對梁鬆手（easy ride）。唐打破沉默（breaking his silence），令許多人質疑梁是否透過蒙騙（false pretenses）勝出選舉。

　　習語break silence可以有幾種用法，但這裏的意思是以往拒絕談及的事情，現在終於開腔。例如，你可以說：「我的丈夫終於打破沉默（broke his silence），承認他有情婦（young mistress）。」在拳擊中，攻擊對手腰或腰帶以下（below the waist or belt）的部位是犯規的，但這個習語也解作非常不公平的行徑。類近的習語是play dirty。唐指控梁攻擊他的非法地庫是不公道或作弊（playing dirty）。

　　在同一條規例上對不同的人做法相異，就是double standards。例如就非法僭建條例，對唐執法嚴謹對梁卻寬鬆，就是雙重標準（double standards）。習語throw the book at someone就是重罰某人。Give someone an easy ride即是方便某人，反義是give someone a rough ride，令那人路路受阻。以false pretenses勝出，即是以隱瞞事實、扭曲事實或沒有和盤托出全部真相以獲勝。屋宇署是否雙重標準（double standards），重罰（throwing the book at）唐卻讓梁輕易過關（easy ride）？那就由大家自行決定了。

中譯:七刻
Michael Chugani 褚簡寧