经济学人商业 | 昔日牛夫人 今朝小甜甜(上)
发布于 2022-05-19 05:46
英文部分选自经济学人20220514期商业版块
Business | Schumpeter
Activist investors arebecoming tamer
They must not become extinct
“When we go at ’em,” CarlIcahn growls, proudly, “we go at ’em.” After decades as chief executives’number-one tormentor, the 86-year-old’s disdain for them has softened only a tad. “I wouldn’t callthem buffoons,” hetold Schumpeter recently, “but, with many exceptions, they are in way overtheir heads.” Mr Icahn continues to browbeat managers for poor performance. AsThe Economist went to press he was in the final throes of a fight withSouthwest Gas, a utility. His gripes are broadening, too. This month and nexthe will seek to oust directors at McDonald’s and Kroger over the treatment ofsows. Yet Mr Icahn also considers himself a vanishing breed. “Activism isdying,” he laments.
Not on paper. In the firstquarter of the year activists launched 73 campaigns, the busiest three monthssince Lazard, an advisory firm, began keeping track in 2014. This weekBluebell, a newish activist fund based in London that made its name last year byousting the boss of Danone, a struggling French yogurt-maker, set its sights onSaint-Gobain, another icon of France sa. Still, Mr Icahn has a point. Activismisn’t what it used to be.
Activist investing, simplydefined, involves buying a stake in a company, then pushing for change. Activistsmight urge a firm to bootout its boss or sell a subsidiary, say, in the hope of driving up the share price. MrIcahn became an activist to correct what he deems a broad failing of corporateboards to oversee management. “I’m no genius,” he says, “but I made billionsand billions of dollars from this crazy system.”
In making their billions andbillions, activists would pair financial acumen with ferocious insults, hurled mostly atcompanies but sometimes also at each other. After Bill Ackman of PershingSquare, a hedge fund, bet against Herbalife, Mr Icahn invested in themultilevel marketing firm. In a notorious televised spat between the two of them in 2013, MrIcahn called Mr Ackman a “crybaby” and declared, “I wouldn’t invest with you ifyou were the last man on Earth.” Activists’ open letters to firms are onlyslightly more temperate. “Years of value destruction and strategic blunders”, Daniel Loeb ofThird Point, another fund, wrote to one boss in 2005, “have led us to dub youone of the most dangerous and incompetent executives in America.” In 2018 ThirdPoint’s quest to sack the board of CampbellSoup included a video in which the company’s famous jingle morphed from “mmm, mmm, good” to “mmm, mmm, BAD”.
Business | Schumpeter
Activist investors arebecoming tamer
They must not become extinct
“Whenwe go at ’em,” Carl Icahn growls, proudly, “we go at ’em.” After decades aschief executives’ number-one tormentor, the 86-year-old’s disdain for them hassoftened only a tad.“I wouldn’t call them buffoons,”he told Schumpeter recently, “but, with many exceptions, they are in way overtheir heads.” Mr Icahn continues to browbeat managers for poor performance. AsThe Economist went to press he was in the final throes of a fight withSouthwest Gas, a utility. His gripes are broadening, too. This month and nexthe will seek to oust directors at McDonald’s and Kroger over the treatment ofsows. Yet Mr Icahn also considers himself a vanishing breed. “Activism isdying,” he laments.
Q1 如何表达“蔑视”
A1 disdain - If you feeldisdain for someone or something, you dislike them because you think that theyare inferior or unimportant. 轻视;鄙视;蔑视 [Also + for]
Janet looked at him with disdain.
珍妮特轻蔑地看着他。
She shared her daughter's disdain for her fellow countrymen.
她和女儿都瞧不起自己的同胞。
SYN contempt, dislike, scorn,arrogance
Q2 如何表达“稍微”
A2 You can use a tad inexpressions such as a tad big or a tad small when you mean that it is slightlytoo big or slightly too small. 稍微;略微 [informal]
It was a tad confusing.
这叫人有点糊涂。
The prices were a tad above average, but they're of the highest quality.
价格比平均水平略高，可它们的质量是最好的。
Q3 如何表达“小丑”
A3 buffoon - If you callsomeone a buffoon, you mean that they often do foolish things. 小丑；愚蠢的人 [old-fashioned, disapproval]
...the man once dismissed by the West as a drunken buffoon.
一个曾被西方不屑地视为醉鬼的人
SYN clown, fool, comic,comedian
Not on paper. In the firstquarter of the year activists launched 73 campaigns, the busiest three monthssince Lazard, an advisory firm, began keeping track in 2014. This weekBluebell, a newish activist fund based in London that made its name last year byousting the boss of Danone, a struggling French yogurt-maker, set its sights onSaint-Gobain, another icon of France sa. Still, Mr Icahn has a point. Activismisn’t what it used to be.
Q4 如何表达“决心做到”
A4 set one’s sights on - Ifyou set your sights on something, you decide that you want it and try hard toget it. 以…为奋斗目标;志在必得;决心做到
They have set their sights on the world record.
他们的目标是冲击世界纪录。
Although she came from a family of bankers, Franklin set her sights on acareer in scientific research.
尽管出身于银行家家庭，富兰克林还是决心从事科研事业。
Activist investing, simplydefined, involves buying a stake in a company, then pushing for change. Activistsmight urge a firm to bootout its boss or sell a subsidiary, say, in the hope of driving up the share price. MrIcahn became an activist to correct what he deems a broad failing of corporateboards to oversee management. “I’m no genius,” he says, “but I made billionsand billions of dollars from this crazy system.”
Q5 如何表达“解雇”
A5 boot out - If someone bootsyou out of a job, organization, or place, you are forced to leave it. 解雇；开除；赶出 [informal] [Also VERB nPREPOSITION]
Schools are booting out record numbers of unruly pupils. [VERB PREP. noun]
学校开除了数量空前的难以管教的小学生。
SYN dismiss, sack [informal] ,expel, throw out
Q6 如何表达“子公司”
A6 subsidiary - A subsidiaryor a subsidiary company is a company which is part of a larger and moreimportant company. 附属公司;子公司 [business]
...British Asia Airways, a subsidiary of British Airways. [+ of]
英国亚洲航空公司，英国航空公司的子公司
SYN branch, division, section,office
In making their billions andbillions, activists would pair financial acumen with ferocious insults, hurled mostly atcompanies but sometimes also at each other. After Bill Ackman of PershingSquare, a hedge fund, bet against Herbalife, Mr Icahn invested in themultilevel marketing firm. In a notorious televised spat between the two of them in 2013, MrIcahn called Mr Ackman a “crybaby” and declared, “I wouldn’t invest with you ifyou were the last man on Earth.” Activists’ open letters to firms are onlyslightly more temperate. “Years of value destruction and strategic blunders”, Daniel Loeb ofThird Point, another fund, wrote to one boss in 2005, “have led us to dub youone of the most dangerous and incompetent executives in America.” In 2018 ThirdPoint’s quest to sack the board of CampbellSoup included a video in which the company’s famous jingle morphed from “mmm, mmm, good” to “mmm, mmm, BAD”.
Q7 如何表达“激烈的”
A7 ferocious - A ferociousanimal, person, or action is very fierce and violent. 凶猛的;凶暴的
...a ferocious guard-dog.
凶恶的看门狗
The police had had to deal with some of the most ferocious violence everseen on the streets of London.
警方不得不去处理伦敦街头发生的一些极其严重的暴力事件。
ferociously
She kicked out ferociously.
她狠命地踢着。
Q8 如何表达“口角”
A8 spat - A spat betweenpeople, countries, or organizations is a disagreement between them. 小争吵;口角;争执
...a spat between America and Germany over interest rates and currencies.
美国与德国在利率与货币方面的争端
SYN quarrel, dispute,squabble, controversy
Q9 如何表达“疏忽”
A9 blunder - A blunder is astupid or careless mistake. 愚蠢的错误；疏忽；失误
I think he made a tactical blunder by announcing it so far ahead of time.
我认为他在时机远未成熟时就把这事说了出去是一种失策。
SYN mistake, slip, fault,error
Q10 如何表达“追求”
A10 quest - a long anddifficult search for something. (长期艰难的)追求，探索，寻找 [literary]
My quest for a better bank continues. [+ for]
我继续寻找一家更好的银行。
...his quest to find true love.
他对真爱的不懈追寻
Waite spent his life on a spiritual quest.
韦特毕生都在进行精神探索。
If you go in quest ofsomething, you try to find or obtain it.寻找;寻求
He went on to say that he was going to New York in quest of peace.
他接着说自己准备到纽约去寻求安宁。
The Puritans became fugitives in quest of liberty.
清教徒变成了追求自由的逃亡者。
Q11 如何表达“解雇”
A11 sack - If your employerssack you, they tell you that you can no longer work for them because you havedone something that they did not like or because your work was not good enough.解雇;开除;炒鱿鱼 [business]
Earlier today the Prime Minister sacked 18 government officials forcorruption. [VERB noun]
今天早些时候，首相解除了 18 名涉嫌贪污腐败的政府官员的职务。
Science teacher James Wood was sacked for slapping a schoolboy. [VERBnoun]
理科教师詹姆斯·伍德因为掌掴一名男生而被开除。
SYN dismiss, fire [informal] ,axe [informal] , discharge
Sack is also a noun.
People who make mistakes can be given the sack the same day.
一犯错误可能当天就会被开除。
Q12 如何表达“广告歌”
A12 jingle - A jingle is ashort, simple tune, often with words, which is used to advertise a product orprogramme on radio or television. （广播或电视中宣传产品或节目的）短歌，短曲，广告歌
...advertising jingles.
广告短歌
Q13 如何表达“变化”
A13 morph - If one thingmorphs into another thing, especially something very different, the first thingchanges into the second. 改变;变化 [informal]
Mild-mannered Stanley morphs into a confident, grinning hero. [VERB +into]
性情温和的斯坦利变了，成了充满信心、笑口常开的英雄。
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