叙利亚“十日”变天，反-政府武装攻入叙首都大马士革，宣布叙政府/阿萨德政权倒台。
浏览和叙利亚局势的外媒报道，经常看到一个和大马士革相关的表达：the road to Damascus /dəˈmæskəs/，如：
《纽约时报》的标题 Road to Damascus Littered with Relics of Fallen Assad Government.
这个标题中，“road to Damascus” 按字面理解为“通往/进入大马士革之路”。
《卫报》中的 “The road to Damascus was lined with discarded army uniforms”用的也是字面意义。
《经济学人》则把“the road to Damascus”用在小标题中，更多想表达的是隐喻含义，即“叙利亚政局突变”。
牛津词典这样解释“the road to Damascus” 的引申义：an experience that results in a great change in a person's attitudes or beliefs “（观点或信仰的）幡然转变”。
“the road to Damascus”源自《圣经》“保罗归信”的故事，圣保罗在前往大马士革的路上听到了上帝的召唤，于是皈依基督。（From the story in the Bible in which St Paul hears the voice of God on the road to Damascus and becomes a Christian. ）
根据在线词典工具The Free Dictionary ，“the road to Damascus”的释义和用法如下： A sudden, radical change in attitude, perspective, or belief. The term refers to the biblical story of Paul, who converted from Judaism to Christianity while traveling the road to Damascus (Book of Acts, chapter 9). It has long been used figuratively, sometimes put as a road to Damascus moment.
Where gun rights are concerned, a ‘Road to Damascus moment’ occurs when a formerly anti-gun or gun-shy person decides to become a gun owner” (John Pierce, Minneapolis Examiner, August 7, 2009).
剑桥词典的释义为 Your road to Damascus is an experience you have that you consider to be very important and that changes your life. “人生中的重要经历，改变人生的经历”。
Spending a night in jail was his road to Damascus. 在监狱里度过的一夜彻底改变了他的人生观。
That moment was my road to Damascus. Everything changed after that.
当然，在一些有关叙利亚政权突变的外媒报道中，“road to Damascus”从字面意义和引申意义理解都很应景，如：
An hour later, we entered Syria. The road to Damascus was wide open.
The Syrian rebels' long road to Damascus
《经济学人》2009年报道美国任命驻叙利亚大使时，用的也是the road to Damascus。
END
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