单词本：sabotage

最近看工业信息安全资料，读到这段：

Stuxnet attack managed to silently sabotage centrifuges in a uranium-enrichment plant by reading and writing code blocks on PLCs from a compromised engineering workstation.

2010 年震网攻击通过破防的工作站，修改 PLC 的代码块，偷偷的蓄意毁坏伊朗的一个铀浓缩厂的离心机。

这里有一个单词 sabotage，跟之前介绍的 triage 的样子很像，也都是 -age 结尾的，也都是来自法语。

这个词的意思是 1）damage or destroy equipment, weapons, or buildings in order to prevent the success of an enemy or competitor，通过蓄意破坏设施、武器、建筑从而阻止敌人、竞争者。 2）to intentionally prevent the success of a plan or action，阻挠某个行动或计划。

我饶有兴致地查了下 sabot 的意思：

sabot is a kind of simple shoe, shaped and hollowed out from a single block of wood, traditionally worn by French and Breton peasants. There are two kinds of sabots: one is shaped and hollowed from a single piece of wood (called klompen by the Dutch), and the other is a heavy leather shoe with a wooden sole.

大致来说，sabot 是法国农民穿的木鞋。一种是以整块木头雕刻的，一种是木鞋底的皮鞋。顺便提一下，bot 在古法语里就是 boot（靴子）的意思。

最早的时候，sabotage 其实是一种相对温和的怠工行为：

SABOTAGE [chapter heading] The title we have prefixed seems to mean “scamping work.” It is a device which, we are told, has been adopted by certain French workpeople as a substitute for striking. The workman, in other words, purposes to remain on and to do his work badly, so as to annoy his employer’s customers and cause loss to his employer. [The Liberty Review, January 1907]

因为老板给的待遇不好，所以法国的工人们消极怠工，穿着 sabot 制造出噪音，干扰客户，给老板造成损失。

后来不知道怎么的，sabotage 就成了蓄意破坏 malicious damaging or destruction。

所以，saboteur 就是搞破坏的人，破坏分子。法语里还有 la saboteuse 女破坏分子，但是似乎没有引入英语。例如：

These networks are exceedingly easy to detect and, with poor design and architecture added into the mix, can be highly susceptible to eavesdropping and masquerade attacks by the curious and saboteurs alike.

此外，saboteur 还是一种人格类型：

• Saboteurs tend to be loners, not because they don’t like other people, but because they find it difficult to trust others.
• They are constantly afraid of being taken advantage of or betrayed.
• Saboteurs are often negative people who are always looking for the worst in every situation.
• They are quick to point out all of the faults in others and love to gossip about them behind their backs.