simple&Life

之前在wsj看到一篇关于John McCain的采访文章，题目叫“Pulling No Punches”. Google了才知道pull no punches这个词的意思：是用来形容一种毫无保留的态度。UsingEnglish.com上面有最简洁的解释：

If you pull no punches, you hold nothing back.

FreeDicionary上的解释稍微详细些：

to deal with something honestly without hiding anything. Example: One congressional leader pulled no punches, saying we have a recession. The 20-minute training video pulls no punches, showing chilling pictures of accident victims.
Usage notes: often used in the form not pull any punches: The television network isn’t pulling any punches with the subject matter on its new show.

上面的解释还指出了pull no punches的另一个常用的形式：not pull any punches. 这个词的反义词很明显，就是pull one’s punches. 中文的意思为做事的时候有所保留。Freedictionary上同样有解释：

1. [for a boxer] to strike with light blows to enable the other boxer to win. Example: Bill has been barred from the boxing ring for pulling his punches. “I never pulled punches in my life!” cried Tom.
2. Fig. to hold back in one’s criticism. (Usually in the negative. The one’s can be replaced with any in the negative.) Example: I didn’t pull any punches. I told her exactly what I thought of her. The teacher doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to discipline.

上面解释的第二点侧重提到了“批评”，感觉涉及到批评是这个短语用的很多的地方之一，具体的意思就是批评时毫不留情面，毫无保留。在这种语境下， pull one’s punches 里面的one’s 可以用any来取代而意思不变，具体参见上边的例句。

至于这个词的来历，应该不难猜测。面对对手没有尽全力出击，而把拳头缩了回来，很形象的解释了“有所保留”这个意思。具体的词源解释如下：

This is mentioned in the Archives, but I’ll give it to you straight, without pulling any punches. This is a boxing term. When you pull a punch, you pull back or hold back, so that your punch doesn’t land with all possible force. The transferred meaning of the phrase is similar. If you criticize, but politely and as painlessly as you can, watering your criticism down, you are pulling your punch or punches. But if you really blast someone, you’re pulling no punches.

时间过的真快，想起去年11月在Santa Babara开会时，见证了Obama赢得大选的历史时刻，也同样被McCain的失败演讲深深感动。一晃大半年已经过去，Obama的蜜月期也随着他兜售的政府健康保险计划悄悄结束。John McCain这位年逾古稀富有传奇色彩的斗士，并没有被大选的失败击倒。对Obama表现着足够的个人尊敬，但涉及到执政理念的不同时却又丝毫不保留任何批评，Pull no puches！和与他信念相左的Obamanomics继续着顽强的政治斗争。

有信念并为之坦荡努力一生，这就足以赢得我的敬佩。