[英文] Mexican standoff
在新聞中看到這個詞，
馬上聯想到前晚看影集 Castle 時，一群人去墓園挖寶藏（the jewelry from a heist 20 years ago is possibly buried "under the gun")，相互拿槍對峙的畫面
有趣的是，有人說 a Mexican standoff 是雙方對峙即可，有人說至少要三個人，有的則說最標準、最吻合的情況是三方對峙。
我個人覺得，越多人越符合這種僵持，
畢竟，這個詞說的是「難解的（no easy way out）的對峙」
愈複雜，自然就愈難解囉！
以下為網路文章例句及釋義：
新聞出處：WSJ
（美國的財政懸崖僵局，用這個俚語來形容還蠻恰當的。因為，一說此詞的來源是美墨戰爭，有意思吧！）
此外，上週（11/3-5）甫於Mexico舉行的G20財長/央行行長高峰會，因為也沒啥進展，所以，有人便以Mexican standoff形容之。（此人曾任澳洲央行副總裁）
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那就來看看這個片語的釋義及語源吧（有的人可能會覺得這部份無聊，我倒覺得挺有意思的，看看字典對同一詞語的不同說法，其實頗有趣）：
＊ 先來看字典怎麼說：
＊ 不過，究竟這俚語為何前面會有個Mexican呢？
＊ 戰略思考 ---
什麼戰略？ ？？
當然是跳脫這種完全僵局的方法囉！但是，真有這種方法嗎？
<TV Trope>的文章很直接地點破：
The logic behind this is shaky at best; when your gun is right in your enemy's face, the rational move is to pull the damn trigger right now. By the time your enemy realizes they've been shot, the bullet will have exited the back of their head, taking their motor cortex (and thus the capacity to shoot back) with it. However, that wouldn't be nearly as tense and exciting.
Wikipedia文章也說，從戰略而言，處於此種僵局之下，最先出手的人佔有優勢
→→ 但我覺得不一定：只要其中一人出手，另一人可能也跟著出手，很可能兩敗俱傷，因此無人敢貿然出手，這才形成所謂的Mexican standoff啊 --- 當然，後出手的人可能射不準，則先出手者確實佔了一點點上風
補充====================
馬上聯想到前晚看影集 Castle 時，一群人去墓園挖寶藏（the jewelry from a heist 20 years ago is possibly buried "under the gun")，相互拿槍對峙的畫面
有趣的是，有人說 a Mexican standoff 是雙方對峙即可，有人說至少要三個人，有的則說最標準、最吻合的情況是三方對峙。
我個人覺得，越多人越符合這種僵持，
畢竟，這個詞說的是「難解的（no easy way out）的對峙」
愈複雜，自然就愈難解囉！
以下為網路文章例句及釋義：
新聞出處：WSJ
Backing Away From the Cliff （點選本部落格文章內之超連結均 另開視窗）
President Obama and GOP congressional leaders appear to be locked in a
Mexican standoff over raising tax rates on the rich, especially after the
president insisted in his press conference on Tuesday that he wouldn't sign any
tax bill that extends the tax rates on the richest two percent.
（美國的財政懸崖僵局，用這個俚語來形容還蠻恰當的。因為，一說此詞的來源是美墨戰爭，有意思吧！）
此外，上週（11/3-5）甫於Mexico舉行的G20財長/央行行長高峰會，因為也沒啥進展，所以，有人便以Mexican standoff形容之。（此人曾任澳洲央行副總裁）
G20 finance meeting: Mexican stand-off
6 十一月 2012 11:32上午
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那就來看看這個片語的釋義及語源吧（有的人可能會覺得這部份無聊，我倒覺得挺有意思的，看看字典對同一詞語的不同說法，其實頗有趣）：
＊ 先來看字典怎麼說：
- M-W: a situation in which no one emerges a clear winner; also :deadlock
- M-W這例句好生活化啊！
- <in the battle over bedtime the parents and their son are at a Mexican standoff>
- The OED defines “Mexican standoff” as “A deadlock, stalemate, impasse; a roughly equal (and frequently unsatisfactory) outcome to a conflict in which there is no clear winner or loser,” and
- The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English defines the term as “A situation in which nobody clearly has the advantage or emerges a clear winner.” （註：此俚語字典無網路版，跟上面那段牛津字典OED的定義，應該都是字彙偵探博客查閱紙本而得）
- Wikipedia說：
- A Mexican standoff is most precisely a confrontation among three opponents. The tactics for such a confrontation are substantially different than for a duel, where the first to shoot has the advantage.
- Cambridge dictionary 的定義有點不同：
noun
[C] Australian(啥米？有墨西哥這個字的片語語源竟然來自澳洲？？？）Definition
a situation in which people on opposite sides threaten each other but neither tries to come to an agreement
- 字彙偵探網站(The Word Detective)認為：
- The key difference between a “Mexican standoff” and a garden variety “standoff” seems to be the equal strength of the two parties and thus the lack of a clear result.
- A regular standoff may be a temporary roadblock or impasse, in negotiations, for example, that eventually ends in either a surrender or an agreement, albeit grudgingly. A “Mexican standoff,” however, is a complete stalemate, and both sides lose by being forced to walk away without a victory.（難怪此篇標題為Lose/Lose）
Word Detective的解釋我不是很喜歡（何苦貶損墨西哥文化？），也覺得有點牽強 --- 既然要跟墨西哥有關，以下說法還比較可能：
<來自對Word Detective該文的回應>
Fred B: I speculate that the Mexican was intended to denote a slightly exotic origin or experience for the person using the term, “You know what they call this down Mexico way” or to incorporate the historically accurate background of Mexico as a corrupt and violent country. In other times and places this might have been called a Turkish, Italian, Slavic or Spanish stand-off.
Ben: Well some of you seem to forget history a little. Back in the day in the era of the wild west, cowboys, and bandits, mexicans road the wild west from texas to california and northern mexico. A lot of gun fights and confrontations probably lead to standoffs and it probably became famous becasue mexicans and their six shooters ended up in these situations like “mexican standoffs.”
＊ 戰略思考 ---
什麼戰略？ ？？
當然是跳脫這種完全僵局的方法囉！但是，真有這種方法嗎？
<TV Trope>的文章很直接地點破：
The logic behind this is shaky at best; when your gun is right in your enemy's face, the rational move is to pull the damn trigger right now. By the time your enemy realizes they've been shot, the bullet will have exited the back of their head, taking their motor cortex (and thus the capacity to shoot back) with it. However, that wouldn't be nearly as tense and exciting.
Wikipedia文章也說，從戰略而言，處於此種僵局之下，最先出手的人佔有優勢
→→ 但我覺得不一定：只要其中一人出手，另一人可能也跟著出手，很可能兩敗俱傷，因此無人敢貿然出手，這才形成所謂的Mexican standoff啊 --- 當然，後出手的人可能射不準，則先出手者確實佔了一點點上風
補充====================
Idiom Quiz No. 21 ~ country and nationality idioms: Answers
英國文化協會 British Council Taiwan 寫於 2011年7月19日23:00 ·
Check out our animated idioms page:
- It's all Greek to me. - An expression to show you don't understand somethingAstrophysics is all Greek to me.
- To go Dutch. - To split the cost of something When we eat out tonight let's go Dutch.
- Not for all the tea in China. - An expression to show you are unwilling to do something I wouldn't like to be a politician for all the tea in China.
- Pardon my French. - An expression to excuse bad language (no example sentence here as I don't want to include bad language!)
- Mexican standoff - When two (usually opposing) cannot decide what to do nextThere was a Mexican standoff in the meeting between the management and the shareholders.
請問這是Castle第幾季第幾集？
回覆刪除抱歉回覆的晚。這應該是Castle第三季第三集 "Under the gun" (就是我上面本文第一段括弧中所寫的)。你也可以參考imdb的介紹: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1628170/?ref_=tt_ch
刪除Castle是我心目中的crime tv 經典，常常有特殊劇情的亮點。
＊題外話: 男主角Nathan Fillion 最近的新影集The Rookie也不錯。而Castle編劇前陣子的新影集Take Two其實也不賴，漸入佳境(我最喜歡第7、10集)，可惜個人覺得女主角選錯了 ---- Rachel Bilson其實演得很好，但總覺得不是很適合該影集的設定，與男主角之間也較感受不到火花。總之，收視不佳、僅1季就下台一鞠躬(還留下了討厭的cliffhanger....)。