'Iron' Handbag 撒切爾手提包高價售出
By Gabriel Gatehouse, BBC News
Margaret Thatcher used the handbag for over 30 years
媒體英語會帶大家一起學習 BBC 撰稿人在報道世界大事時常用到的單詞和短語。
Background: 前任英國首相撒切爾夫人的標志性手提包，在倫敦的一家拍賣會上以4萬美金的高價成功賣出。在冷戰期間，撒切爾夫人曾多次攜帶這款皮包與美國前總統羅納德·里根一起參加和前蘇聯領導人米哈伊爾·戈爾巴喬夫的談判。
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She may have styled herself as the Iron Lady, but in fact it was this shiny black leather accessory that became her most iconic trademark. A member of her cabinet once said that she used the handbag not as a shield but as a weapon.
Thanks to Margaret Thatcher, the word 'handbagging' has entered the English language to describe the former prime minister's abrasive style in dismissing those she disagreed with or who incurred her displeasure.
This particular bag, made by the firm Asprey of Bond Street in London, was used by Margaret Thatcher for over 30 years. It was large enough to hold state papers when required. Partly because of this, the handbag was expected to fetch up to US$160,000. In the event it went for only a quarter of that sum.
Forty grand is still quite a lot of money for a purse, but could it be that the Iron Lady's handbag is finally losing some of its power?
Glossary 詞匯表 (收聽發音, 請單擊英語單詞)
- to style (oneself)妝扮自己
- Iron Lady鐵娘子
- a trademark（衣著）特征
- a handbagging猛烈的抨擊、批判（人、事或體制）
- an abrasive style強硬的風格
- to dismiss (someone)打發走，反駁，解雇
- to incur (someone's) displeasure引起（某人的）不滿
- state papers國家機密文件
- to fetch up to售得（多少價錢）
- a grand一千
