’I’m not talking Britain down’, Cameron insists.「我不是在貶低英國」，卡麥隆堅稱。

 ◎管淑平
’I’m not talking Britain down’, Cameron insists.
「我不是在貶低英國」，卡麥隆堅稱。
David Cameron refused to apologise over his declaration that Britain should show ’humility’ to India. The Prime Minister insisted he was not talking down the UK but argued it was right to be ’realistic’ about Britain’s place in the modern world.
卡麥隆拒絕為他宣稱英國應該向印度展現「謙遜」這番話道歉。這名首相堅稱他不是在貶低英國，而稱「務實」面對英國在現今世界的地位是正確的。
Mr. Cameron tried to quell a row over his suggestion as he arrived in India on 28th. July that the UK should bend its knee to its former colony. He has raised eyebrows by being so trenchant during his
first spate of international visits since taking power in May.
卡麥隆在7月28日抵達印度之際，試圖平息有關他暗示英國應向前殖民地卑躬屈膝的爭議。他已因為在5月上任後首次出訪展現的尖酸刻薄而令人側目。
He wrote in The Hindu newspaper that he came ’in a spirit of humility’. ’I know that Britain cannot rely on sentiment and shared history for a place in India’s future. Your country has the whole world beating a path to its door,’ he said.
他在印度報撰文表示，他是「抱著謙遜的精神」來的。「我知道在參與印度的未來上，英國不能靠感情和對一個地方的共同歷史。全世界都爭相前來貴國敲門。」他說。
The PM stood by his comments and said： ’I’m not in any way talking Britain down... We do still punch above our weight in the world.... But at the same time, if you want to win strong relationships with countries like India and China, you have got to talk about the future. Taking a realistic view of our position and place in the world and how we are going to build those relationships, I think, is a very sensible thing to do.’
這位首相堅持他的論點表示，「我並未有任何貶低英國之意…我們的確仍對世界有超過外界預期的影響力…但在此同時，若你想贏得與像 印度、中國這樣的國家有堅強的關係，你得著眼未來。務實看待我們在世界上的地位和處境，以及我們要如何建立那些關係，我想，這是非常合理的事情。」

◎新聞辭典：
talk down：動詞片語，用言詞貶損某件事或某人。例句：The mayor’s political opponents tried to talk down his achievements during the election campaign.（市長的政治對手在選戰期間試圖貶低他的政績。）
trenchant：形容詞，（言語上）尖銳的、刻薄的。例句：He is famous for trenchant critics/criticisms.（他以辛辣的批判出名。）
punch above one’s weight：動詞片語，發揮超過預期的影響力，自不量力。例句：Do not punch above your weight.（你別自不量力！）