「Ball-park」用作「粗略估计、大约数」的意思

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美国政坛今天最劲爆的新闻是 The Daily Beast 报道，乔治亚州竞选国会参议员的共和党候选人 Herschel Walker，2009 年与一名女性交往时致其怀孕、之后付钱让她堕胎。如果是男女交往中意外怀孕，及时选择堕胎本来不是什么大不了的新闻，但这位候选人一直声称自己从来都是坚定的「pro-life」、反对一切形式的堕胎，甚至连强奸、乱伦等也「没有任何借口」。自己付钱让女友堕胎，却声称她人「没有任何借口」堕胎，这也太 hypocritical 了吧。

女方有在诊所堕胎时 $575 的收据，日期是 2009/09/12 。 5 天之后，2009/09/17，Herschel 写了一张 $700 的支票给她，放在一张祝她早日康复的卡片里。 The Daily Beast 称女方的说辞还有人证：她当年堕胎曾告诉了一位好友，这位好友帮忙照顾了她。

为什么诊所堕胎的收据是 $575 、但是 Herschel 给她的支票却是 $700 呢？新闻说：

The woman said there was a $125 difference because she “ball-parked” the cost of an abortion after Googling the procedure and added on expenses such as travel and recovery costs.

她自己搜了一下堕胎要花多少钱，然后加上交通和康复的费用，给 Herschel 粗略估计了一个数字，所以会有 $125 的出入。「Ball-park」也写作「ballpak」，常见的意思有两个：

棒球场，就是「baseball park」的缩写。
粗略估计，可用作名词或动词：「to estimate (something) roughly or casually : to give a ballpark estimate of (something, such as a number or price)」

下面是一些例句：

The track doesn’t release attendance numbers, but media members ballparked it at 42,500 in the facility, which seats more than 50,000. — Michael Phillips
When I work with clients I remind them that we are just ballparking the numbers. — Bill Conerly
He looked at the ceiling. He looked at the walls. He turned this way and that, craning his neck, like a contractor about to ballpark an estimate. — Lee Child

「Ballpark figure / ballpark number」在投资、会计、销售等领域都很常用，Investopedia 专门有篇文章解释它的含义：

A ballpark figure is a rough numerical estimate or approximation of the value of something that is otherwise unknown. Ballpark figures are commonly used by accountants, salespersons, and other professionals to estimate current or future results. A stockbroker could use a ballpark figure to estimate how much money a client might have at some point in the future, given a certain rate of growth. A salesperson could use a ballpark figure to estimate how long a product a customer was thinking about buying might be viable.

Derek Yang

生于湖南，先后在北京和广东学习与工作。2013年移居美国。EB-1 职业移民。非移民律师、非移民中介。Twitter @mrderekyang。

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