老外不懂的“中式英語(yǔ)”如何翻譯
1. 有他這顆掃帚星,什么事情都辦不成。
[誤] With a comet like him, nothing can be accomplished.
[正] With a jinx like him, nothing can be accomplished.
注:“掃帚星”是中國(guó)人對(duì)“慧星”(comet)的俗稱,因其后面拖著一條像掃帚一樣的長(zhǎng)尾巴而得名。在中國(guó)古代,“掃帚星”被認(rèn)為是災(zāi)難的預(yù)兆,并被用來(lái)比喻不吉利的人或事;禍根:(person or thing that is thought to bring)bad luck(to sb/sth);curse。英語(yǔ)的comet 雖然沒(méi)有這層含義,但卻有一個(gè)對(duì)應(yīng)的說(shuō)法,即jinx。
例:There's a jinx on/Someone's put a jinx on this car: it's always giving me trouble. (這輛汽車上有什么妨人的東西,總給我找麻煩。)
2.蘿卜青菜,各有所愛(ài)。
[誤] Some prefer radish but others prefer cabbage.
[正] Tastes differ.
注:Tastes differ/vary是句英語(yǔ)諺語(yǔ),除此以外,原句還可翻譯成 No dish suits all tastes 或 You can never make everyone happy 等。此外,我們還可以這樣說(shuō):One man's meat is another man's poison. 總之,應(yīng)采取意譯。
3.他一向嘴硬,從不認(rèn)錯(cuò)。
[誤] 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. Mainly used by boys, as when fighting. 這句話主要是男孩們打架時(shí)的用語(yǔ),當(dāng)一方想制服另一方時(shí),就用命令的口氣說(shuō):“Say uncle!” 這時(shí),有的孩子為了表示不服輸,就是不說(shuō)。后來(lái),say uncle 就成了“服輸”的代名詞,而 not say uncle 就相當(dāng)于“嘴硬”了。
4.老師很喜歡這個(gè)嘴甜的小姑娘。
[誤] The teacher likes this sweet-mouthed little girl very much.
[正] The teacher likes this honey-lipped little girl very much.
注:中國(guó)人喜歡說(shuō)“嘴甜”,但 honey-lipped 更符合英美人的語(yǔ)言習(xí)慣。
5.同學(xué)們都很討厭他,因?yàn)樗?jīng)常拍老師的馬屁。
[誤] The students 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:以前在歐洲,臣民見(jiàn)到國(guó)王與王后往往要親吻他們的靴子。后來(lái),人們將 lick the boots 引申為“為了某種目的而討好某人”,它與漢語(yǔ)的“拍馬屁”含義一樣。在美國(guó)英語(yǔ)中,“拍馬屁”還有另一種說(shuō)法,即 polish the apple,源于以前的學(xué)生用擦亮的蘋(píng)果來(lái)討好老師。
6.你聽(tīng)說(shuō)了嗎?邁克把他的女朋友給甩了。
[誤] 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. 雖然表示“與某人分手了”,但并沒(méi)說(shuō)明是誰(shuí)先提出來(lái)的。而 dump 的原意指“傾倒垃圾”,用在這里則表示像倒垃圾一樣地甩掉。
7.我們要把祖國(guó)建設(shè)成為社會(huì)主義的現(xiàn)代化強(qiáng)國(guó)。
[誤] We will build our motherland into a socialist modern powerful country.
[正] We will build our motherland into a modern powerful socialist country.
注:形容詞作為修飾語(yǔ)在漢語(yǔ)和英語(yǔ)中都很常用,但使用的先后次序卻有所不同。在英語(yǔ)中我們一般遵循“靠近原則”,即越能說(shuō)明本質(zhì)屬性的修飾詞越靠近它所修飾的名詞,當(dāng)從這一點(diǎn)看不出區(qū)別時(shí),就靠詞的長(zhǎng)短來(lái)決定,短的在前,長(zhǎng)的在后。原文中最能說(shuō)明“國(guó)家”本質(zhì)的定語(yǔ)是“社會(huì)主義的”,所以 socialist 要最靠近它所修飾的中心詞。
8.人都是這山望著那山高,對(duì)自己的現(xiàn)狀沒(méi)有滿意的時(shí)候。
[誤] Almost all people think that the other mountain is higher than the one he's standing on. They never feel satisfied with what they've already got.
[正] Almost all people think that the grass is greener on the other hill. They never feel satisfied with what they've already got.
注:“這山望著那山高”是指人不滿足于現(xiàn)狀的心理,它在英語(yǔ)中已經(jīng)有了現(xiàn)成的說(shuō)法,即 the grass is greener on the other hill(他山的草更綠),因此我們借用即可,這樣既方便又更有利于與西方人溝通。
9.轉(zhuǎn)戰(zhàn)南北
[誤] fight south and north
[正] fight north and south
注:在地理方位的表達(dá)習(xí)慣上,中英文有一定的區(qū)別。中國(guó)人習(xí)慣于先“東西”后“南北”,而且在涉及“南北”時(shí),習(xí)慣于先說(shuō)“南”,再說(shuō)“北”,如:“南征北戰(zhàn)”、“南來(lái)北往”等。而英美人與此正好相反,如“江蘇在中國(guó)的東南部”英文是 Jiangsu is in the southeast of China, 而“新疆在中國(guó)的西北部”應(yīng)譯為 Xinjiang is in the northwest of China。
10.這個(gè)教授教得很爛。
[誤] The professor teaches badly.
[正] The professor is so terrible.
注:有人認(rèn)為第二句的意思是“這個(gè)教授很可怕”,其實(shí)不然。英語(yǔ)中 terrible 意思很靈活,例如:feel terrible 指身體“不舒服”; The food is terrible 則是說(shuō)食物“難吃極了”。而第一句純屬中文式的表達(dá)。