Receipt這個(gè)詞來(lái)源于中世紀(jì)英語(yǔ)，指的是收到一定量的某物或是收到某物的行為。16世紀(jì)晚期，receipt也用于表示手寫(xiě)或打印的聲明，表示已為某物付款——也就是我們購(gòu)物時(shí)收到的塞滿(mǎn)錢(qián)包的單據(jù)。但是proof或evidence（證據(jù)）是如何與Comey關(guān)聯(lián)起來(lái)的？

 

這個(gè)問(wèn)題的答案可以追溯到2002年對(duì)Whitney Houston（惠特尼•休斯頓）的一個(gè)采訪(fǎng)。當(dāng)記者Diane Sawyer質(zhì)疑這位歌手的用藥，給Houston展示了一份新聞文章說(shuō)：“這里說(shuō)你藥物成癮花費(fèi)了730,000美元，這是一個(gè)頭條新聞。”作為回應(yīng)，Houston說(shuō)：“No way. No way. I want to see the receipts. From the drug dealer that I bought $730,000 worth of drugs from. I want to see the receipts.”（不可能，不可能。我想要看到這些收據(jù)。我想看到我花了730,000美元買(mǎi)藥的經(jīng)銷(xiāo)商那里的收據(jù)。我想看到這些收據(jù)。）

 

從上面的表述可以看出，一開(kāi)始用于十分確信對(duì)方?jīng)]有堅(jiān)實(shí)證據(jù)的情況下——他們就要求查看發(fā)票，像Houston那樣——因?yàn)樗麄冎罌](méi)有這種證據(jù)存在。如今receipt因存在或缺失都會(huì)變得引人注目，尤其是用于證明有名有權(quán)的人撒謊或表現(xiàn)地不誠(chéng)實(shí)的時(shí)候。在例如tumblr這樣的網(wǎng)站上，receipt可以代指冒犯或辱罵言辭的截圖——在作惡者刪除他們的愚蠢言辭之前截下來(lái)的。

 

英語(yǔ)原文如下：

On the radar: receipts

“Comey has the receipts!”

This phrase has been gleefully proclaimed across social media, in response to the news that the former FBI Director James Comey has a memo proving that President Trump asked him to end the investigation into Michael Flynn. But how and when did ‘receipts’ come to mean ‘proof’?

The word ‘receipt’ dates from Middle English, referring to an amount of something received or the act of receiving something. By the late 16th century it had also come to mean a written or printed statement acknowledging that something has been paid for – the familiar paper receipts that fill our wallets when we’ve been shopping. But what is the connection to ‘proof’ or ‘evidence’ that is being referred to with Comey?

The answer lies in a 2002 interview with Whitney Houston. The journalist Diane Sawyer challenged the singer about her drug use, showing Houston a newspaper article and stating “This says $730,000 drug habit. This is a headline.” In response, Houston said: “No way. No way. I want to see the receipts. From the drug dealer that I bought $730,000 worth of drugs from. I want to see the receipts.”

This exchange quickly became legendary, with the phrase “I want to see the receipts” adopted into popular use to mean “I want to see the proof”. The phrase was further popularized with the emergence of ‘receipt’ memes, many of which used images from the original Houston interview, and in time different phrases emerged with the catchy “show me the receipts” proving the most popular.

Initially, the term was used when the speaker was fairly confident that there was no solid evidence: they asked to see receipts precisely because – like Whitney Houston – they knew no such proof existed. Nowadays, ‘receipts’ are just as likely to be noted for their presence as their absence, particularly when evidence has emerged to prove that someone famous or powerful has lied or acted dishonestly. On websites such as tumblr ‘receipts’ came to refer to screenshots of abusive or offensive comments – grabbed and preserved before the perpetrators can delete their unwise words.

With the Comey incident, ‘receipts’ has taken its step into the mainstream, with the term escaping the confines of social media, and finding its place in articles by the likes of GQ and the New York Magazine. Will it establish itself enough to earn a place in the dictionary? We’ll have to wait and see – but at least we’ve got the receipts to prove its history.