tailspin n.
释义:an occasion when something or someone suddenly gets into a very bad state
“tailspin” 是个名词,字面意思是“尾巴旋转”,表示飞机失控坠落时的情况。也常用来表示“突然变得糟糕”,是个很形象的表达,有急速下降、“一落千丈”的画面感。
最常见的表达是 XX goes into a tailspin。 如:“全球经济低迷“
The world economy goes into a tailspin.
XX goes into a tailspin 也是《经济学人》中的常客,如:
The global economy had an inauspicious start to 2019. Markets went into a tailspin and America’s government was locked in a seemingly interminable shutdown.
tailspin 的另一个常见用法是 A sends B into a tailspin,表示“A使得B急剧下落、陷入困境”。
如: 最近韩国顶级男团成员胜利(Seungri)因为性丑闻而身陷困境。
The sex scandal sent Seungri, a K-pop star, into a tailspin.
米歇尔·奥巴马在回忆录 Becoming 中也用到了这个表达:
The economic crisis in the United States had created devastating ripples across the globe, sending world financial markets into a tailspin.
翻译: 丑闻曝出后,股价急剧下跌。
The scandal sent the share price into a tailspin.
(参考翻译:Share prices went into a tailspin after the scandal broke. 或者 The scandal sent share prices into a tailspin. 或者 The scandal erupted, sending share prices into a tailspin.)