The Swiss army will keep getting its Swiss army knives from a Swiss manufacturer, after Victorinox beat foreign rivals to keep the contract.
“Victorinox will produce the new soldier’s knife for the Swiss armed forces after offering taxpayers the best deal,” the Swiss defense ministry said in a statement.
The right to supply Swiss army knives — standard issue to all Swiss soldiers since 1961, and perhaps the most famous pocket knife in the world — was opened to tender in February, in a move that stunned many Swiss.
PHOTO: EPA
They felt that such a national symbol must not be made outside Switzerland, and Alois Kessler, a politician from Canton Schwyz where Victorinox is headquartered, launched a petition to keep manufacturing local.
In the end, seven manufacturers in Switzerland and abroad, including China, submitted bids.
The Swiss military favors a version with a large blade, can opener-cum-screwdriver, leather punch and bottle opener. The order for 75,000 knives is worth 1.38 million Swiss francs (NT$39 million).(AFP)
瑞士Victorinox公司打敗外國競爭對手，保住繼續為瑞士軍方生產瑞士軍用小刀的合約。
瑞士國防部在一項聲明中表示，「Victorinox將以最優惠的價格，為瑞士軍方生產新的軍用小刀。」
自一九六一年起，瑞士刀就一直是瑞士全體士兵的標準配備，這種軍刀或許是全球最知名的口袋小刀。今年二月，軍方將瑞士軍刀的供應權開放投標；消息一出，讓許多瑞士人大吃一驚。
這些人認為，這類代表瑞士的象徵不該由瑞士以外的廠商生產。Victorinox公司總部所在的什威茲邦的政治人物艾洛伊斯．凱斯勒於是發起連署請願，希望能繼續由當地廠商負責製造。
結果，共有瑞士及包括中國在內的七家各國廠商參與競標。
瑞士軍方偏好有大刀片、開罐器兼螺絲起子、皮革穿孔器及開瓶器等功能的刀款。這筆七萬五千把小刀的訂單，價值一百三十八萬瑞士法郎（新台幣三千九百萬元）。（法新社�翻譯：袁星塵）
Street lights are often taken for granted until a power outage plunges the world into darkness. When that happens, the value of these lighting installations becomes evident as the world turns into a more dangerous place for pedestrians and motorists alike. The Chinese could claim to be the first to have constructed a crude type of street light. Around 500 BC, residents of Beijing employed a type of street lamp that used hollow bamboo pipes and natural gas vents to create burning torches. Later, ancient Romans adopted lamps fueled by vegetable oil, which relied on slaves to light and
A: Who else is on Billboard’s list: “The 25 greatest pop stars of the 21st Century?” B: No. 15 to 6 are: Miley Cyrus, Justin Timberlake, Nicki Minaj, Eminem, Usher, Adele, Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Kanye West and Britney Spears. A: I can’t believe that Adele’s only at No. 10. B: No. 5 to 1 are: Lady Gaga, Drake, Rihanna, Taylor Swift and Beyonce. A: Well, they surely deserve the honor. A: 《告示牌》雜誌的「21世紀最偉大的25位流行歌手」，還有誰上榜啊？ B: 第15至6名是：麥莉希拉、大賈斯汀、妮姬米娜、阿姆、亞瑟小子、愛黛兒、亞莉安娜、小賈斯汀、肯伊威斯特、小甜甜布蘭妮。 A: 真不敢相信愛黛兒只排第10名。 B: 第5至1名是：女神卡卡、德瑞克、蕾哈娜、泰勒絲、碧昂絲。 A: 這幾位真是實至名歸！ （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張聖恩）
A: The 21st Century is now entering its 25th year. B: So Billboard has released a list: “The 25 greatest pop stars of the 21st Century.” A: Who are the greatest pop singers? B: No. 25 to 16 are: Katy Perry, Ed Sheeran, Bad Bunny, One Direction, Lil Wayne, Bruno Mars, BTS, The Weeknd, Shakira and Jay-Z. A: Wow, my favorite K-pop supergroup BTS has made it to the list. A: 21世紀正在邁入第25個年頭了。 B: 《告示牌》雜誌特別公布：「21世紀最偉大的25位流行歌手」。 A: 最偉大的歌手有哪些？ B: 第25至16名是：凱蒂佩芮、紅髮艾德、壞痞兔、1世代、小韋恩、火星人布魯諾、防彈少年團（BTS）、威肯、夏奇拉、Jay-Z。 A: 哇，我最愛的韓流天團BTS也上榜了！ （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張聖恩）
Spoiler alert and shift blame 破梗&甩鍋 在新冠疫情期間，無論是因為封城 (lockdown) 還是居家隔離 (self-isolation at home)，人們關在家中使用網路的時間大增。這也讓一些原本只存在於網路論壇的用語廣為普及。我們來談一下破梗 (spoiler alert) 與甩鍋 (shift blame) 這兩個用語。 有位古典文學教授 Joel Christensen 針對領導統御與疫情控制寫了一篇以古喻今、相當深入的文章：“Plagues follow bad leadership in ancient Greek tales”，文中出現一些講法，可用來翻譯上述的流行語： In the 5th century B.C., the playwright Sophocles begins Oedipus Tyrannos with the title character struggling to identify the cause of a plague striking his city, Thebes. (Spoiler alert: It’s his own bad leadership.) (Joel Christensen, “Plagues follow bad leadership in ancient Greek tales,” The Conversation, March 12, 2020) 作者提到 Oedipus（伊底帕斯）想找出瘟疫何以降臨他的城邦的緣由，加了一句：Spoiler alert: It’s his own bad leadership.（破梗：領導無方）。Spoiler alert 就是「破梗」，如果用在有人洩漏電影劇情的情境中，也可以翻作「小心爆雷」或「劇透警告」。疫情之下，在家看影集、電影成了很多人的娛樂，但要小心劇透 (spoilers)，很多 YouTube 上的影評在開頭也都會說 Spoiler alert!，警告還沒看過電影的觀眾小心爆雷、劇透。 至於「甩鍋」，源自大陸網民用語，通常意指某人犯了錯之後想推卸責任、轉移焦點、甚至讓別人背黑鍋的做法。疫情爆發後，相關網路資訊量爆增，許多中國網民也想找人為這場疫情負責，紛紛呼籲地方政府首長、地方黨書記不要「甩鍋」。 其實，在古代文學《奧德賽》中，就有「將自己的責任怪罪眾神」的說法，試用時下流行的「甩鍋」來重新翻譯： Humans are always blaming the gods for their suffering, but they experience
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