Catfish

Catfish不是貓魚, 而是鯰魚, 那麼鯰魚又是甚麼, 如果我講塘鯴香港人就一定懂了,  雖然鯰魚長相和塘鯴極相似, 卻不是一樣的東西。鯰魚只有兩對觸鬚, 即四根, 而塘鯴有四對觸鬚, 即八根。在悉尼Flemington市場的魚檔, 間中也有鯰魚出售。我怎甚談起魚來, 非也, 談的是catfish這字。事緣是新南威爾斯死因庭正在舉行一宗死因聆訊, 傳媒用catfish來標題, 這是一例:

Alleged catfish Camila Zeidan stunning claim in Renae Marsden inquest

An alleged catfish says an elaborate fake romance with her former flame, ending when the young woman took her own life, was concocted by mutual agreement so they could “be together”.


Renae Marsden, 20, died on August 5, 2013 at The Gap in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.

The NSW Coroner’s Court in Sydney today heard she had been secretly planning to marry a man named Brayden Spiteri, with her internet search history in the weeks before her death including websites for bridal dresses and photographers.

The man had told her he was serving time in Goulburn jail over a fatal motorcycle accident.

Despite never meeting, more than 11,000 text messages were exchanged between the pair.

The court heard Renae had his surname tattooed on her body and there was evidence she used her own money to pay for his prepaid phone.

But police found there was no proof Brayden ever existed.

Alleged catfish Camila Zeidan, 27, who has not been charged with any offence, was subpoenaed to give evidence at the inquest into Renae’s death.

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這裏catfish是用俚語的意思, dictionary.com解釋是:

Slang. to deceive, swindle, etc., by assuming a false identity or personality online

上文catfish用作名詞, 即在網上用虛假身份的騙子, catfished即受騙了或被騙的人, catfishing指騙人的行為。那麼catfish這意思又典出何處?

阿拉斯加的鱈魚(Alaska cod)由船運往中國大陸, 在船的氣艙或缸裏養着, 運到大陸時魚已失去活力, 味道也失去應有的鮮甜, 於是有漁夫想出一個辦法, 就是放鯰魚入氣艙伴游。鯰魚是鱈魚的天敵, 鯰魚在運送的全程追逐着鱈魚, 到達目的地後, 鱈魚就像剛捕獲時一樣的生猛和鮮美了。鯰魚和鱈魚這種喻意的關係來自2010年的紀錄片Catfish, 片中的主人翁Nev一段網上情緣的故事, 他後來才發覺他網上的情人不是個年青未婚的女士, 而是個四十開外已婚婦人, 而這婦人的丈夫正好以catfish描述出這種網上虛幻的身份:

They used to tank cod from Alaska all the way to China. They’d keep them in vats in the ship. By the time the codfish reached China, the flesh was mush and tasteless. So this guy came up with the idea that if you put these cods in these big vats, put some catfish in with them and the catfish will keep the cod agile. And there are those people who are catfish in life. And they keep you on your toes. They keep you guessing, they keep you thinking, they keep you fresh. And I thank god for the catfish because we would be droll, boring and dull if we didn’t have somebody nipping at our fin.

他把catfish描述得正面, 但這字卻是充滿貶斥的意思, 就是上面dictionary.com的解釋。現今這世代, 網上情緣被騙金錢的案件已屢見不鮮。任憑人怎樣精明, 只要有脆弱的一刻, 就上釣了。下次見到catfish別只想魚, 也要想下刀俎上的魚肉, 別被catfished。