Pork barrel is the appropriation of government spending for localized projects secured solely or primarily to bring money to a representative's district. The usage originated in American English. In election campaigns, the term is used in derogatory fashion to attack opponents. Scholars, however, use it as a technical term regarding legislative control of local appropriations.
“ 猪肉桶” 是美国政界经常使用的一个词汇。南北战争前，南方种植园主家里都有几个大木桶，把日后要分给奴隶的一块块猪肉腌在里面。 “猪肉桶”喻指人人都有一块。后来，政界把议员在国会制订拨款法时将钱拨给自己的州(选区)或自己特别热心的某个具体项目的做法，叫做“猪肉桶”。
Earmark: An earmark is when the legislature actually tells the government agency how to spend its money. Many citizens believe that Congress uses such earmarks to fund projects that will benefit only their locality or personal political supporters. Oftentimes in the past, money was allocated for such projects without conferences or Congressional discussion.
“指定（资金、时间等）作特定用途”在英文中叫作earmark，ear和mark大家都非常熟悉，“耳朵”和“记号”连在一起为什么就可以解释为“指定（资金、时间等）作特定用途”呢？ 从前，西方的农民习惯在牛、羊的耳朵上打上烙印，标上主人的名字，以防被别人偷去。中国古代也有同样的做法。由此可见，earmark在中外都是用来标明专有权的，把这个意思引申一下，earmark 有“指定……仅供一种专门用途”的意思就可以理解了。例如： These funds are earmarked for famine relief.（这笔款项是专门拨给救济饥荒用的。） 除此以外，earmark还可以引申为“特色”，例如： The film has all the earmarks of an epic.（这部电影具有雄壮诗史的一切特点。）
