教育部《重編國語辭典修訂本》將「白手套」定義為——「替行賄者與受賄者充當中介的人。」
https://dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/dictView.jsp?ID=13943
📌 然而,據《中華民國刑法》第 122 條,此係非法行為:
「公務員或仲裁人對於違背職務之行為,要求、期約或收受賄賂或其他不正利益者,處三年以上十年以下有期徒刑,得併科二百萬元以下罰金。因而為違背職務之行為者,處無期徒刑或五年以上有期徒刑,得併科四百萬元以下罰金。」
Article 122
A public official or an arbitrator who demands, agrees to accept, or accepts a bribe or other improper benefits for a breach of his official duties shall be sentenced to imprisonment for not less than three years but not more than ten years; in addition thereto, a fine of not more than two million yuan may be imposed. A breach of official duties shall be sentenced to life imprisonment or with imprisonment for not less than five years; in addition thereto, a fine not more than four million yuan may be imposed.
全國法規資料庫:https://bit.ly/2Dk8Ia4
關鍵詞彙:
•public official 公務員
•arbitrator 仲裁人
•accept a bribe 收受賄賂
•a breach of official duties 違背職務
bribery 賄賂;收買
•breach (n./v.) 破壞,違犯;違反,不履行
•be sentenced 判處
•imprisonment 監禁;關押
•a fine 罰金
•impose 強制實行
★★★★★★★★★★★★
那「白手套」的英文到底怎麼說呢?應該不是「white gloves」吧? 在英文中「white-glove」通常用作形容詞。表示提供非常高的服務水準,或與諸多的照護細節有關:
➣The cruise company does not want to risk alienating the other passengers who don’t get the white-glove treatment.
郵輪公司不想冒險讓其他未接受白手套待遇的乘客變得疏遠。
➣We know that when extra attention is required, our white-glove delivery service will not disappoint.
當您有特殊要求,我們的白手套配送服務一定不會讓您失望。
——Cambridge Dictionary
https://bit.ly/3hZTw0r
但此一定義與收受賄賂或其他不正當利益完全無關⋯⋯
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據《南華早報》的報導,「白手套」作為名詞的用法,首見於臺灣: 「聽起來無害的委婉用語『白手套』通常是指中間人或公司,他們在看似合法的地帶清洗髒錢或賄款——髒手則藏於白手套當中。這種由臺灣人首創的表達方式,正在中國迅速傳開,因為猖獗的腐敗現象已於官僚體制的各個層面暴露出來。」
According to the South China Morning Post, the expression “white gloves,” when used as a noun, was coined in Taiwan! “The innocuous-sounding euphemism ‘white gloves’ generally refers to a middleman that launders dirty or corrupt money under a seemingly legitimate front – dirty hands concealed by a pair of white gloves. The expression, coined by the Taiwanese, is catching up fast on the mainland as rampant corruption is exposed at all levels of the bureaucracy.”
詳見《SCMP》:https://bit.ly/3i2cqUA
關鍵詞彙:
•coin (v.) 創造(新詞或新的表達方式);首次使用(某一詞語)
•innocuous-sounding 聽起來無害的
•launder (v.) 洗(贓款) ; money laundering 洗錢
•legitimate front 合法的地帶; 僞裝(人或機構的)僞裝;假裝的樣子
•conceal 隱藏
•catch up 了解(或討論)最新情況
•rampant 猖獗的;蔓延的
•bureaucracy 官僚體制;官僚主義
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📌 若需以名詞的形式表達「替行賄者與受賄者充當中介的人」,我個人則會使用「middleman」、「go-between」或「bagman」。
請注意,「middleman」是指批貨後轉售他人者,或協助他人安排商業交易者。該詞本身並不具有任何犯罪或不法行為等負面意涵(negative connotations),亦須有上下文才足以呈現「白手套」的概念。
另一方面,「go-between」是在雙方無法見面或不想見面時,將消息從一方(或一個團隊)傳給另一方(或另一個團隊)的人。例如,聯合國代表將充當兩國領導人的中間人(或掮客)——「go-between」,而你可以用「act/serve as a go-between」來搭配。「go-between」的同義詞是「intermediary」。再次提醒各位,在缺乏前後文的情況下,這些用語就不具備「白手套」的意涵。
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📌最接近「白手套」的英文詞彙應該是「bagman」:
someone who collects or delivers illegal payments or illegally earned money for someone else(收送非法錢財的)經手人,中間人
➣He was alleged to have been a bagman for the Mafia.
有指控稱,他曾作為中間人為黑手黨收送非法錢財。
➣
He was the corrupt politician’s trusted bagman.
他曾是這名腐敗政客最信賴的財務經手人。
——Cambridge Dictionary
https://bit.ly/3Mk8Cgk