又中又英｜To be dead serious

Will they, or won\'t they? In my previous column I wrote about Elon Musk, the world\'s richest man who is the boss of Tesla, Twitter, and other companies, challenging Mark Zuckerberg to a cage match. Multibillionaire Zuckerberg, the boss of Meta which owns Facebook, WhatsApp, and other companies, quickly accepted. But will they really have a cage match, which means fighting with very few rules inside a cage? Even though the proposed fight has created much media interest, it is being covered in a light-hearted rather than a serious way. Very few people believe the two billionaires will go inside a cage and fight.

Zuckerberg has accepted Musk\'s proposal to fight inside a caged arena in Las Vegas used for MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) matches. The Las Vegas organizer of MMA cage matches said the two billionaires are dead serious about bringing the fight to fruition. To be dead serious means to be very serious instead of just joking. The expression "bring something to fruition" is used when an idea or plan succeeds. Only Musk and Zuckerberg know if they are dead serious about slugging it out inside a cage. To slug it out means to fight until one side wins.

Some experts say Zuckerberg has a better chance because he fights MMA matches and has won some medals. Others say Musk has a better chance because he is nearly six feet tall and weighs more than Zuckerberg who is 5-foot 7-inches. Tickets will be instantly sold out if the two really fight in Las Vegas but seeing is believing, which means you will only believe something is true if you see it.

他们到底会，还是不会？在上一篇文章中我写到，世上最富有的人伊隆‧马斯克，就是 Tesla、推特和其他公司的老板，挑战马克‧朱克伯格来一场铁笼格斗赛（cage match）。千万富翁朱克伯格，是拥有脸书、WhatsApp和其他公司的Meta的老板，迅速接下战书。然而，他们会否真的有一场 cage match，就是在没有很多规则下，于铁笼中肉搏？虽然这场格斗的提议引起了广泛媒体的兴趣，但都是以轻松而非认真看待的方式报道。很少人相信这两大亿万富翁会真的走进铁笼中拼个你死我活。

朱克伯格接受了马斯克的提议，要去拉斯维加斯一个专门用来打 MMA（综合格斗）的铁笼擂台中决斗。拉斯维加斯铁笼综合格斗（cage matches）的主办人说，这两个亿万富翁是 dead serious about bringing the fight to fruition。To be dead serious是指非常认真的，并非单纯开个玩笑；习语"bring something to fruition"意思是使某个想法或计划实现、成功。只有马斯克和朱克伯格自己知道，对于要在铁笼中一决高下（slugging it out），他们是否来真的（dead serious）。To slug it out是指战斗直至能分出胜负。

一些专家说，朱克伯格赢面较大，因为他曾打过一些综合格斗比赛，也赢过一些奖牌。另一些人则说，马斯克赢面更大，因为他差不多有六尺高，体重也比只有五尺七寸高的朱克伯格为重。如果二人真的到拉斯维加斯搏斗，门票必定火速售罄，但 seeing is believing，意即眼见为实，只有亲眼看见才是真实可靠的。

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Michael Chugani褚简宁
中译：七刻