Fiona的新聞英語：Why is the pound so twitchy about Brexit?

2017年一月17號，英國首相Theresa May會針對英國脫歐發表聲明。星期日開始，英磅再度跌值。

這篇文章的作者問，為什麼每一次有脫歐的新聞，英磅就會貶一下？有什麼好「挫」的？因為May提到的內容並沒有改變啊。

文章中有訪問幾位財金專家，最後一位是 HSBC 的Dominic Bunning。他說，英國政府從公投以來，就沒有很明確的說過脫歐到底會是用什麼形式脫。May提到的 we want the best possible deal實在有夠模糊的，怎麼解讀都可以。

公投之後，市場大致上是解讀為，英國不會用hard Brexit的方式脫歐。所以英磅現在的價格並沒有考量到萬一是用hard Brexit方式脫歐，會有什麼樣的影響。但是最近市場是偏向預期英國會往hard Brexit方向前進。

所以接下來英磅走趨跟脫歐怎麼脫有直接的關係。

難句講解：

it's only gone and done it again: 這裡 it 是虛主詞， 整句是 it has only gone and done it again，go and do it again是再度做某件事，通常是指不好的事情，像是某個人有很不好的習慣，就可以說 he went and did it again

like an unworldly maiden, sterling has fallen into a swoon: unworldly means 不食人間煙火的， maiden 是少女，所謂 unworldly maiden 是指古時候貴族家的少女不通世事，一點點事情就會驚嚇過度而昏倒，swoon means to faint 昏倒

aiming for: with a goal in mind

hard Brexit: the opposite of a hard Brexit is a soft Brexit; the two refer to potential scenarios of Britain's negotiations in leaving the EU; hard Brexit 是指英國用很強硬的方式跟歐盟協商，soft Brexit則是指比較軟性的協調方式，主要爭論點為歐盟的人在英國居住、工作的權利，以及英國以及歐盟間的自由貿易

to swap (the UK's free movement of goods and services with Europe) in return for (controls over immigration): to swap A in return for B, to exchange A for B

red line: a boundary that should not be crossed 最後底限

let alone: 更不用說

so why does the pound keep falling given the message has largely stayed the same: 英磅為什麼一直跌？Theresa May釋放出來的訊息並沒有改變

spooks the markets: to spook means to scare

sterling, pound, pound sterling: 三個都是指英磅，注意很少說 sterling pound，如果前面有一個數字的話，像是200磅，要講200 pounds，sterling或是pound sterling通常是用在財金新聞、外匯新聞上，一般口語說某某東西多少錢，多少磅，只用pound，另外注意sterling 不加s

in thin overnight trading: 'thin' here refers to trading volume, the trading volume was very low, thus it was 'thin'

help sterling to a less febrile state: febrile means 'related to fever' or 'feverish'; 'state' means 'condition'; this refers to the strong depreciation of the pound, thus it is 'febrile'

living in Groundhog Day: this refers to the movie Groundhog Day in which the main character relives the same day again and again; this is a reference to how the pound would drop each time some news about Brexit appears, as if the same day is relived again

ingrained: if something is 'ingrained' it is firmly a part of something, or it is fixed, usually it refers to an ingrained idea

be on the cards: one of the possibilities, this refers to people playing cards, you do not know what cards your opponent has, if something is 'on the cards,' it is a possible scenario

shorting the pound: the opposite of 'longing' the pound; 'short' and 'long' are used as verbs, they mean 放空 and 做多

critical mass: 足夠的質量, 這裡指的是跟脫歐有關的新聞，一則一則出現，只要累積夠「質量」或「威力」了，就會引發下一波的「賣潮」

material drop: 實質上的decrease

call the market's bluff: if someone threatens you, and you 'call his bluff,' it means that you think he would not actually carry out the threat

an outside chance: a slight chance

tonic: a medicinal substance (usually in liquid form) that can invigorate people

never fully prices something in: price (V.) means to 'include the price of something in one's consideration,' for example, a person might never price his electricity bills in when he calculates how much he spends per month

customs union: customs means 關稅

higher yields: yields 為收獲，可以指投資上的報酬，或是指農業栽種的收成

it has thrown up its breakfast: 把早餐吐出來, this means there is a very strong reaction, as if someone is throwing up 

the markets are pricing in bad news in case: 'in case' means 'just in case' 以防萬一

We haven't been able to sustain the move below $1.20 and considering the lurid headlines that's a surprise. = We haven't been able to sustain the move below $1.20. Considering the lurid headlines, that is a surprise. Considering為分詞構句。

a diamond hard Brexit: Brexit依照協商的強硬度分為 soft Brexit and hard Brexit，如果是diamond hard Brexit那就是硬到像鑽石一樣，意思是兩邊不歡而散，英國用很強硬的手段脫歐