每日一词学英语(39): battering

议员(MP)滥用开支风波影响到布朗首相仕途，同时也结束了英镑最近一段时间以来的涨势(From The Times, June 6, 2009: Pound slides as Westminster's woes weigh heavily)。

Sterling's latest battering emphasised the fragility of markets' sentiment over the currency amid high levels of uncertainty about Britain's economic prospects. Earlier this week the pound surged against the dollar, scaling heights more than 31 cents above the 23-year low of $1.35 that it hit in January, as upbeat economic news fuelled a flurry of optimism that the worst of the recession may be over.

Battering意思是hitting or striking violently and repeatedly，描述家庭暴力时可以用这个词，如“there is serious violence in the marriage which is -"usually the husband battering the wife"”。

上文中的“battering”是指英镑节节败退、不断回吐前期涨幅：“Sterling was forced into retreat from the seven-month highs against the dollar”，“enduring heavy losses of more than 4 cents against the dollar on Thursday”，“yesterday the pound sank to a mid-afternoon low of $1.5983, down more than two cents from Thursday's close”，等等。

路透社调查显示，英镑会继续回吐前期涨幅，不过随着经济复苏，会在年终恢复强势。Currency strategists are betting that the pound will surrender recent gains in the next six months but rally late in the year as the economy revives, a poll by Reuters suggests.