dumdum 的詞源

1897年，一種金屬外殼的子彈在印度孟加拉的 Dum-Dum 兵工廠命名。英國軍隊士兵制造了這種子彈，用來對付部落人的狂熱衝鋒。1899年，根據國際宣言，這種子彈被禁止使用。這個地名的字面意思是“山、土堆、炮臺”，與波斯語 damdama 同源。

It was to stop these fanatics [Ghazi] — and that firstclass fighting man Fuzzy-Wuzzy, of the Soudan and of Somaliland—that the thing known as the Dum-Dum bullet was invented. No ordinary bullet, unless it hits them in a vital part or breaks a leg, will be sufficient to put the brake on these magnificently brave people. ["For Foreign Service: Hints on Soldiering in the Shiny East," London, 1915]

正是爲了制止這些狂熱分子[ Ghazi ]，以及蘇丹和索馬里的一流戰士 Fuzzy-Wuzzy，才發明了被稱爲 Dum-Dum 子彈的東西。除非擊中他們的要害部位或者打斷他們的腿，普通的子彈是不足以制止這些勇敢的人的。["For Foreign Service: Hints on Soldiering in the Shiny East," London, 1915]

Pile on the brown man's burden

And if ye rouse his hate,

Meet his old fashioned reasons

With Maxims up-to-date;

With shells and dum dum bullets

A hundred times make plain,

The brown man's loss must ever

Imply the white man's gain.

[Henry Labouchère, from "The Brown Man's Burden," 1899]

堆積起來的棕色人的負擔

如果你激起他的仇恨，

用現代化的 Maxims

迴應他那些老套的理由；

用炮彈和 Dum-Dum 子彈

一百次明確表明，

棕色人的損失必然

意味着白人的收益。

[Henry Labouchère, from "The Brown Man's Burden," 1899]