英语口语之 对中式英语Say No

“怎么是你?怎么老是你?(How are you? How old are you?)”; we two,英语书面语, who and who(咱俩谁跟谁);give you some color to see see(给你点颜色看看)…… 这些经典的Chinglish你说过吗? 闹出过更加逗比的笑话吗?让咱们一起看看常说常错的Chinglish吧。

01.萝卜青菜，各有所爱。

[误] Some prefer radish but others prefer cabbage.

[正] Tastes differ.

注：Tastes differ/vary是句英语谚语，除此以外，原句还可翻译成No dish suits all tastes或You can never make everyone happy等。《新概念英语》第三册第23课的标题是：One man's meat is another man's poison，抒发的很活跃。 总之，应采取意译。

02.有他这颗扫帚星，什么事件都办不成。

[误] With a comet like him, nothing can be accomplished.

[正] With a jinx like him, nothing can be accomplished.

注：“扫帚星”是中国人对“慧星”(comet)的俗称，因其后面象拖着的一条像扫帚一样的长尾巴而得名。在中国古代，“扫帚星”被认为是灾祸的预兆，并被用来比喻不吉祥的人或事;祸根;person or thing that is thought to bring bad luck(to sb/sth); curse. 英语的comet虽然不这层含意，但却有一个对应的说法，即jinx。 例：There's a jinx on/Someone's put a jinx on this car: it's always giving me trouble.“这辆汽车不太吉利，总给我找麻烦”。

03.他一贯嘴硬，从不认错。

[误] He has always got a hard mouth and never admit a fault.

[正] He never says uncle.

注：Say (cry) uncle: to give up or in; to surrender; to admit defeat. Say uncle主要是男孩们打架时的用语，当一方想制服另一方时，就用命令的口气说：“Say uncle!”这时，有的孩子为了表示不服输，就是不说。后来，say uncle就成了“服输”的代名词，而not say uncle就相当于“嘴硬”了。

04.老师很喜欢这个嘴甜的小姑娘。

[误] The teacher likes this sweet-mouthed little girl very much.

[正] The teacher likes this honey-lipped little girl very much.

注：中国人喜欢说“嘴甜”，但honey-lipped更符合英丽人的语言习惯。

05.同学们都很讨厌他，因为他经常拍老师的马屁。

[误] The student all dislike him because he often pats the teacher's ass.

[正] The students all dislike him because he often licks the teacher's boots.

注：以前在欧洲，臣民见到国王与王后往往要匍匐在地，亲吻他们的靴子。后来，人们将lick the boots引申为“为了某种目的而谄媚某人”，它与汉语的“拍马屁”含意一样。在美国英语中，“拍马屁”还有另一种说法，即polish the apple，典出以前的学生用擦亮的苹果来谄谀老师。

06.你据说了吗?迈克把他的女朋友给甩了。

[误] Have you ever heard that Mike broke up with his girlfriend.

[正] Have you ever heard that Mike dumped his girlfriend.

注：Break up with sb固然表现“与某人分辨了”，但并没说明是谁先提出来的。而dump的原意指“倾倒垃圾”，用在这里则表示像倒垃圾一样地甩掉。

07.咱们要把祖国建设成为社会主义的古代化强国。

[误] We will build our motherland into a socialist modern powerful country.

[正] We will build our motherland into a modern powerful socialist country.

注：形容词作为修饰语在汉语跟英语中都很常用，但应用的先后次序却有所不同。在英语中我们个别遵照“靠近准则”，即越能阐明本质属性的修饰词越凑近它所修饰的名词。原文中最能说明“国家”实质的定语是“社会主义的”，所以socialist要最凑近它所润饰的中心词。 总的来说，当多个形容词修饰同一个名词的时候，将表白总体观点或进行形象描述的形容词放在表白详细观点或进行具体描写的形容词前面。

08.我想要一点白酒。

[误] I'd like a little bit of white wine.

[正] I'd like a little bit of liquor.

注： 汉语的“酒”可指任何酒，包括白酒、葡萄酒、啤酒，甚至米酒;但英语中则要辨别用liquor, wine, beer及rice wine表示。所以要留心，英语的wine与汉语的“酒”是有差别的，它仅指葡萄酒。而red wine是红葡萄酒，white wine是白葡萄酒。

09.中华公民共跟国主席

[误] Chairman of the People's Republic of China

[正] President of the People's Republic of China

注：以前，我们始终将“主席”翻译为 chairman，例如：great leader Chairman Mao(宏大领袖毛主席)。切实“主席”与chairman并不等义，chairman在英语中通常指会议或某一详细组织的负责人，它的权力和重要性不同中文的“主席”。这就是为什么1983年，在我国《宪法》的英译单行本中开始利用President一词,英语培训，并沿用至今。别的，国内仍有不少词典把“班/级长(学校的)”译为"class monitor"，这是“四人帮”时代的产物，那时的“班长”是专门监管学生的，所以译作"monitor"。而“班长”的正确译文应该是"class president"。

10.转战南北

[误] fight south and north

[正] fight north and south

注：在地理方位的表达习惯上，中英文有一定的差异。中国人习惯于先“东西”后“南北”，并且在涉及“南北”时，习惯于先说“南”，再说“北”，如：“赴汤蹈火”、“南来北往”等。而英美人与此正好相反，如“江苏在中国的东南部”英文是 Jiangsu is in the south-east of China, 而“新疆在中国的西北部”应译为 Xinjiang is in the north-west of China。

掌握正确的英语表达

1. 人都是这山望着那山高，对自己的现状不满意的,英语口语。

[误] Almost all people think that the other mountain is higher than the one he's standing on. They never feel saisfied with what they've already got.

[正] Almost all people think that the grass is greener on the other hill. They never feel saisfied with what they've already got.

注：“这山望着那山高”是指人不满足于现状的心理，它在英语中有现成的说法，即 the grass is greener on the other hill(他山的草更绿)，因而我们借用即可，这样既方便又更有利于与西方人沟通。

2. 北京申奥胜利的消息令我们热血沸腾。

[误] Beijing's winning the bid for the Olympics makes our blood boil.

[正] Beijing's winning the bid for the Olympics makes us excited.

注：Make one's blood boil是指“激怒某人”，而非“使人激动”。英语中“使人激动”的说法除了make one excited, 还有较为书面语化的make one's spine tingle.

3. 别听他们胡说八道，压根就没那回事。

[误] Don't listen to their babbling. Nothing of the sort.

[正] Don't be fooled by their babbling. Nothing of the sort.

注：原文中的“听”不能用listen to来表示，因为listen to指“听”的动作，而原文中的“别听”不是不让他“听”，而是劝告他“不要听信”，因此，用not be fooled by才更准确。

4. 我们这儿的人都觉得他有婚外恋。

[误] People around here all feel that he has affairs outside his own marriage.

[正] People around here all feel that he is leading a double life.

注：Affair本身就指“私通”或“暧昧关系”，当然是“婚外”的事，所以outside one's own marriage是多此一举了。英语中“有婚外恋”的地道说法应该是lead a double life。

5. 别看别人不把她当回事，在家里她可是父亲的掌上明珠。

[误] Although other people never take her seriousy, she is the pearl on her father's hand at home.

[正] Although other people never take her seriousy, she is the apple of her father's eye at home.

注：中英文常用不同的喻体表达相同的喻义，“掌上明珠”与the apple of one's eye就是一个很好的例子。这种情况咱们应尊重各国文化跟风气，翻译时取目的语的固定说法，而不必直译，这有助于将意思更有效地传达给读者。The apple of one's eye源自圣经《旧约》，当时人们用apple指人的瞳孔。只管瞳孔当时已经用pupil来表示，不再是apple了，但这一用法却持续了下来。

6. 都十点钟了。起床了，勤虫!

[误] It's ten o'clock. Get up, lazy worm!

[正] It's ten o'clock. Get up, lazy bones!

注：“懒虫”并非真是一条虫，只不过被用来形容人很懒惰罢了。英语里与之对应的说法是lazy bones(懒骨头)。留心，这里的bone应以复数形式浮现，兴许是由于不会只有一根骨头懒吧!

7. 我唯一的资本就是勤奋。

[误] My only capital is diligence.

[正] My only means to success is diligence.

注：原文的“本钱”是借喻，实际指“可能依靠并取得成功的手段”。而英语的capital指money used to produce more wealth or for starting a business，并不中文那样的引申意思。所以，这里的“成本”不能与capital画等号。也有人用advantage来翻译“资本”，固然不尽意，但至少能够让读者理解。

8. 这家商店开辟了休息处，受到顾客的称赞。

[误] This department store has set up a resting-place, much to the customers' appreciation.

[正] This department store has set up a lounge, much to the customers' appreciation.

注：英语的 resting-place诚然有“休息处&rdquo,英语书面语;的意思，但更经常的是用来指“坟墓”，即“最后安息之处”。因此，把公共场所的“休息处”译为resting-place不很合适。也有人将它译为rest-room，但那更不妥当，因为英语中的rest-room是“厕所”的委婉说法，而“休息处”不是这个意思。Lounge指in a hotel, club, or other public place, a room where people can sit and relax，正是“休息室”之意。

9. 大家都怀疑汤姆是个特务。

[误] Everyone doubts that Tom is a spy.

[正] Everyone suspects that Tom is a spy.

注：Doubt作“猜忌”讲，是“不信任”的意思;而suspect作“猜疑”讲，是指“对...有所发觉”。第一句译文犯了两个错误：首先，doubt不能接that从句，只有not doubt that跟 doubt if/whether;其次，它所表白的意思是“大家对汤姆是间谍这件事表现怀疑”，即“大家不信赖汤姆是间谍”，与原文的意思恰好相反。

10. 咱们俩关系最好，他时常来我这儿蹭饭吃。

[误] We are best friends. He always comes here to have meals for free.

[正] We are best friends. He always comes here to bum meals off me.

注：第一句只表达“他常到我这儿来白吃白喝”，但友人这间那种亲密关系没有表现出来。而 bum sth. off sb.指向非常熟的朋友要一些不起眼的小东西，而朋友也不会介意还不还。