文/王逢鑫
谈“匿名”
文/王逢鑫
“匿名”这个词使用越来越广泛。与“实名”的意思相反,“匿名”的意思是“不署名或不署真实姓名,以隐瞒真实姓名或身份”。英语形容词anonymous、副词anonymously、名词anonymity都有“匿名”的意思。例如:
1. You can remain anonymous if you wish. 如果你愿意,可以不透露姓名。
2. These photographs were sent anonymously to the magazine’s headquarters. 这些照片以匿名方式被送到了该杂志的总部。
3. The expert thinks that there is no way to truly rid the Internet of anonymity. 这位专家认为,没有办法可以真正使互联网摆脱匿名的特点。
人们为了不同的目的而“匿名”,或出于善意,或出于恶意。anonymous 等词在不同语境中既有褒义,也有贬义。
anonymous的第一个含义是表示当事者在投票、评审和调查等活动中维护公平原则,即 for the sake of fairness。例如:
4. Five professors made anonymous assessment of the PhD candidate’s dissertation. 五位教授匿名评审了这名博士生的学位论文。
anonymous的第二个含义是表示当事者帮助人做好事不留名,即 for the sake of bene fi t。例如:
5. Thanks to an anonymous donor, the school for children of migrant workers was able to purchase some blackboards, a table-tennis table and a computer. 多亏了一位匿名捐赠者,这个打工子弟学校才能购买一些黑板、一张乒乓球桌和一台电脑。
anonymous的第三个含义是表示当事者为了自身安全而做事(如举报)不留名,即 for the sake of safety。例如:
6. The drug dealer was arrested by the police after an anonymous tip-off. 有人匿名举报后,这个毒品贩子被警方逮捕。
anonymous的第四个含义是表示当事者不愿暴露或不便透露姓名或身份,即 due to reluctance。例如:
7. The money was donated to the orphan by a local businessman who wished to remain anonymous. 这笔钱是一位不希望透露姓名的本地商人捐给这个孤儿的。
anonymous的第五个含义是表示对当事者的情况不了解,即 due to ignorance。例如:
8. On the morning of his birthday, the young man received an anonymous gift.生日那天早晨,这个年青人收到一份匿名的礼物。
unnamed或unknown也有“匿名”的含义。
unnamed 的意思是“未提及名字的”。例如:
9.The reporter had an interview with an unnamed of fi cial. 这位记者采访了一位不愿透露姓名的官员。
unknown 的意思是“不知姓名的”。例如:
10. The visiting president laid a wreath at the monument to the unknown hero. 这位来访的总统向无名英雄纪念碑敬献了花圈。
“匿名”也可以用 to ask not to be named(要求不透露姓名),not to want to be named(不想透露姓名),to decline to name sb(拒绝点出名字),to decline to be named(拒绝透露姓名),to decline to be identi fi ed(拒绝暴露身份)等方法表示。 □