評論
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The simplest example of this is in the polite request.
最簡單的例子出自于禮貌的要求
If you express your request as a conditional -- "if you could open the window, that would be great"
倘若你用一個條件句表達(dá)請求：“您要是能開一下窗子就太好了，”
even though the content is an imperative, the fact that you're not using the imperative voice
盡管內(nèi)容是祈使句，僅僅因為你沒有用祈使語態(tài)
means that you're not acting as if you're in a relationship of dominance,
就顯示出你并沒有按照一種支配的人際關(guān)系行事
where you could presuppose the compliance of the other person.
你并沒有假設(shè)他人必須服從
On the other hand, you want the damn guacamole.
可另一方面，你想要那個該死的鱷梨沙拉醬
By expressing it as an if-then statement,
用一個“如果—那么”巨型，
you can get the message across without appearing to boss another person around.
你把意思說清楚了，卻不會讓人覺得你在指使他
And in a more subtle way, I think, this works for all of the veiled speech acts involving plausible deniability:
我認(rèn)為這樣挺微妙，效果也不錯，種種含蓄的言行保留了拒絕的可能：
the bribes, threats, propositions, solicitations and so on.
賄賂、威脅、提議、懇請等等
One way of thinking about it is to imagine what it would be like
有一種理解方式就是想象
if language -- where it could only be used literally.
當(dāng)語言只能表達(dá)字面義
And you can think of it in terms of a game-theoretic payoff matrix.
你可以把它當(dāng)作博弈論中的得失矩陣來思考
Put yourself in the position of the kidnapper wanting to bribe the officer.
把你放在那個想賄賂警官的綁匪的位置上
There's a high stakes in the two possibilities of having a dishonest officer or an honest officer.
全部的賭注都壓在這兩種可能性上：警官不老實或者他是老實人
If you don't bribe the officer, then you will get a traffic ticket
假如你不賄賂他，你得吃罰單
or, as is the case of "Fargo," worse -- whether the honest officer is honest or dishonest.
或者，就像《冰風(fēng)血》中的情況一樣，那更糟。不管那個警官到底老實不老實。
Nothing ventured, nothing gained. In that case, the consequences are rather severe.
愛拼才會贏。這種情況下，后果很嚴(yán)重
On the other hand, if you extend the bribe, if the officer is dishonest, you get a huge payoff of going free.
換一方面，你要是掏出錢來，如果警官吃賄賂，你全身而退，討了個大巧。
