The US presidential election is not until November 2012. But Texas Governor Rick Perry already has announced he wants to be the Republican Party candidate for president. That has made some “Tea Party” candidates nervous, since they want the Republican nomination, too.

美國總統大選要等到2012年11月才拉開帷幕，但德州州長里克?佩里已經宣布他將角逐共和黨總統候選人。這讓一些“茶黨”候選人頗為緊張，因為他們也對共和黨這一提名虎視眈眈呢。

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The Tea Party is a term adopted by a group of US conservatives who don’t like taxes. It’s based on the Boston Tea Party, which is what a group people were called when they protested British taxes when the US was a British colony.

But the words tea party have a different meaning in the US West and Southwest. If a basketball team is facing tough competition, someone will say, “It won’t be a tea party,” meaning it won’t be a polite fight.

In Texas, where most people choose coffee over tea, the word tea can be an insult. Texas A&M University football team members call their rivals, the University of Texas, “tea sippers.” And the University of Texas football team has been known to call the Colorado football team “tea sippers,” meaning they’re not very tough.

茶黨這一說法，取自一群討厭稅收的美國保守主義者。它起源于波士頓茶葉黨，當時美國還是英國的殖民地，有一群人起來反抗英國當局的稅收政策，因此得名。

但是在美國西部和西南部，tea party這個詞還有別的意思。如果一個籃球隊面臨一場艱難的比賽，有人就會說，“It won’t be a tea party”，意思是說這場比賽不太好打。

在德州，大部分人不喝茶喝咖啡，tea這個詞帶有侮辱性質。德州農工大學橄欖球隊稱他們的對手德州大學球隊為“tea sippers（茶客）”，而德州大學球隊把同樣的稱呼用于科羅拉多球隊，意思是說他們太弱了。

（中國日報網英語點津 實習生沈清 編輯：Julie）

About the broadcaster:

Renee Haines is an editor and broadcaster at China Daily. Renee has more than 15 years of experience as a newspaper editor, radio station anchor and news director, news-wire service reporter and bureau chief, magazine writer, book editor and website consultant. She came to China from the United States.