問：新任英國首相卡梅倫曾經嘲笑對手克萊格，後來卻得和克萊格合組政府，被記者翻舊帳，回答說： If it means swallowing some humble pie, and if it means eating some of your words, I can't think of a more excellent diet。這句話是什麼意思？
答：首先要解釋一下成語 to eat humble pie和 to eat one's words。 To eat humble pie直譯是「吃謙卑的餡餅」，意思則是「低聲下氣認錯」或「包羞忍恥」。這成語出自中世紀，當時英國貴族喜歡獵鹿，美味的鹿肉（ venison）自然供他們自己吃，鹿的內臟（ numbles或 umbles）則給下人吃，所以 numble pie有「卑賤」含義。後來 numble訛傳作 humble，成為 to eat humble pie，例如： He declared that he would resign when he was not promoted. However, unable to get another job, he had to eat humble pie and stayed on（他不獲擢升，聲言會辭職，卻找不到另一分工作，唯有包羞忍恥，繼續做下去）。
To eat one's words看來和中文「食言」同義，但「食言」指言而無信， to eat one's words則是指「承認所言不當」，意思不同，例如： They say I will fail. I'll make them eat their words（他們說我會失敗。我要證明他們所言不當）。
中文沒有和 to eat humble pie、 to eat one's words取譬相同的成語，所以卡梅倫那一句，翻譯不可能傳神，只能勉強達意：「假如包羞忍恥、道歉認錯都是菜肴，那麼，我實在想不到有更加精美的菜單了。」
（古德明）
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