'Quantitative easing' – another of those expressions which has become prominent as a result of the credit crunch.
Quantitative easing（量化宽松）--另外一个由于信贷紧缩而变得为人所知的短语。
Like many of these financial terms, this one is not new,
像许多这样的金融术语一样，它并不是新词，
but in the past, the word would only really have been used by bankers or financial experts… not any more.
不过在以前，这个短语只有银行家或者金融专家才会使用的，没有其他人。
If we turn on the TV or radio news, or pick up a newspaper, we can't really avoid it.
如果我们打开电视或者广播新闻，或者拿起一份报纸，我们就一定会看到这个短语。
A quick search of an online newspaper shows the term being used 217 times in the first 3 months of 2009,
一项网络报纸的快速调查显示，这个术语在2009年的前三个月被使用了217次，
compared to just 17 times in the whole of 2008.
这个数字是整个2008年的17倍。
One contributor to a national newspaper suggested a blend word (when two words are reduced and joined to form one)
一家全国性报纸的撰稿人建议称，一个混合词（指的是把两个词减少并合并成一个词）
to make it easier to say (after all, 'quantitative easing' is a mouthful, isn't it?).
说起来会更加容易（毕竟，'quantitative easing'一口气很难读完，不是吗？）
The suggested blend was 'queasing', taking the first two letters of 'quantitative' and combining them with 'easing'.
当时建议的混合词是'queasing'，取的是'quantitative'的前两个字母，然后把它们和easing结合到一起。
What is nice about this blend is the fact that it reminds us of a word which is very close in spelling - 'queasy'.
这个混合词的优点在于，它会让我们想起一个在拼写上与之非常接近的单词--'queasy'。
If someone feels queasy, they feel sick or nauseous,
如果某人感到queasy，意思就是他们感觉不舒服或者恶心，
and you could say that this is how a lot of those who work in the financial industry have been feeling.
可以说，这就是很多在金融行业工作的人的感受。
The suggestion was put to the UK government to officially adopt the word 'queasing' instead of 'quantitative easing' but sadly it was rejected.
这一建议随后被提交给了英国政府，希望能正式用'queasing'替换掉'quantitative easing'，但是遗憾的是，这一建议被拒绝了。
But this raises an interesting question, doesn't it? Who decides which words enter the English language?
但是随后这就带来了一个有趣的问题。是谁来决定哪些单词可以进入英语语言当中呢？
In the UK we don't have an official academy, as in France,
在英国，我们没有一个官方的研究机构--法国也一样--
which has the final say on new words, or new uses of words which already exist, coming into the language.
对新单词、或者已经存在的单词的新用法进入语言有着最后的决定权。
The truth is, if enough people start using a word,
实际情况是，如果有足够的人开始使用一个单词，
the people who compile dictionaries (lexicographers) eventually have to decide whether to include it in their latest edition.
那些编写词典的人们（也就是词典编纂者），最终不得不决定是否将其囊括至最新版本的词典中。
Personally, I hope 'queasing' catches on!
从个人角度来讲，我希望'queasing'可以流行起来！
So what does 'quantitative easing' actually mean?
那么，'quantitative easing'的实际含义是什么呢？
Well, essentially, it's a licence for the Bank of England to print money
从本质上说，它是指英格兰银行印钞的一个许可证，
(although of course it doesn't actually print money – it's all electronic these days).
（尽管并不真的印钞，现在都是电子的了）。
Interest rates have fallen to record lows, banks are not lending money and consumer spending is falling.
利率已降至历史最低水平，银行不再发放贷款，消费者支出也在下降。
In short, there's a liquidity crisis – in other words there is not enough money available for people and businesses to spend.
总之，出现了清偿危机--换句话说，也就是没有足够的钱供人们和企业使用了。
When the economy needs an injection of capital, new money fast, that's where 'queasing' comes in.
当经济需要一次资金注入--快速注入新资金时，那'queasing'就要出现了。