Blair's gesture politics

Tony Blair makes a less than ministerial hand gesture in this group photo.

　　In his youth, Tony Blair's rebellious streak often landed him in trouble. He was almost expelled from school for persistent rule-breaking and was once arrested as he tried to climb into his dormitory through a window.

　　The future Prime Minister remained equally impish when at Oxford - as this extraordinary picture of him making a lewd hand gesture demonstrates.

　　A photograph of Tony Blair as a long-haired, boater-wearing student was reproduced in a number of newspapers with focus on his less than prime ministerial hand gesture.

　　The shaggy-haired undergraduate from St John's College, Oxford University -- dressed in a blue blazer, white shirt with enormous collars and a straw hat perched at a jaunty angle -- has been seen before but only from the waist up.

　　BBC's "Newsight" programme has now unearthed the original and published it in full, complete with the then 21-year-old Blair's universally understood right-hand gesture around his groin area.

　　Although the photo has been published before, Mr Blair's hand gesture was digitally removed from it by the press agency which supplied it, out of respect for the Prime Minister.

　　A "Newsnight" reporter found the snap of the apparently well-oiled college archery club in 1975 while researching a student photograph of Conservative leader David Cameron.

　　On Blair's photo, the Daily Express wondered: "So, Tony... is that where you learnt gesture politics?"

　　英国首相托尼·布莱尔青年时代的叛逆个性给自己惹了不少麻烦。由于他总是违反学校规定，差点被学校开除；他还曾因试图从窗户爬进宿舍而被逮捕。

　　这位如今的首相先生在牛津大学上学时仍不改顽皮个性，这张带有他做着下流姿势的特殊照片便可以证明这一点。

　　布莱尔学生时代的一张照片日前在很多家报纸被转载，照片上的布莱尔蓄着长头发、戴着一顶硬草帽，更引人注目的是，这位首相先生在照片中做了一个与其如今身份极不相称的手势。

　　照片中这位牛津大学圣约翰学院的毕业生头发蓬乱，身穿蓝色夹克和白色大领衬衫，头上俏皮的歪戴了一顶草帽。然而，这张照片并不是第一次公开，但此前人们看到的只是布莱尔腰部以上的部分。

　　BBC“晚间新闻”栏目日前将这张原始照片公布于众，照片中21岁的布莱尔用右手在其身体腹股沟附近所做的下流动作也随之“大白天下”。

　　尽管这张照片之前被公开过，但出于对首相先生的尊重，当时提供照片的新闻社对照片中布莱尔的手势进行了数码技术处理。

　　不久前，BBC“晚间新闻”栏目的一位记者在寻找保守党领袖大卫·卡梅伦学生时代的一张照片时，发现了这张拍摄于1975年、布莱尔所在的学院剑术俱乐部的合照，照片上俱乐部的成员们显然都喝醉了。

　　英国《每日快报》评论布莱尔的这张照片说：“托尼，你是从这里学到了政治姿态吗？”

　　Vocabulary:

　　impish : mischievous（淘气的；顽皮的）

　　jaunty : in lively manner（生动的；活泼的）

　　well-oiled : 醉的；喝醉了的