對(duì)中式英語Say "No"(3)

作為非native speaker，我們想把英語說得地道，就必須下功夫“入鄉(xiāng)隨俗”。下面這些Chinglish的正解你都知道嗎？

01. 我希望你不要拖我的后腿。

[誤] I hope that you won't pull my leg.

[正] I hope that you won't hold me back.

注：Pull one's leg 是“愚弄某人，開某人的玩笑”的意思，相當(dāng)于make fun of sb.。英語中與“拖后腿”相對(duì)應(yīng)的表達(dá)是hold sb. back 或be a drag on sb.等。

02. 學(xué)校里，那些長得人高馬大的家伙常來找我的麻煩。

[誤] At school, those big and strong guys always come to find my trouble.

[正] At school, those big and strong guys always come to pick on me.

注：Find my trouble是“發(fā)現(xiàn)我的難處”的意思，而英語中“找某人的麻煩”用短語 pick on sb. 它不僅表示“挑剔某人、找某人的碴”，而且還包含tease（取笑、戲弄）或bully（威脅、欺侮）的意思。

03. 原來如此。你一解釋我就明白了。

[誤] So it is. I understand soon after your explanation.

[正] So that's how it is. I understand soon after your explanation.

注：So it is的意思是“的確如此”，它是用來表示對(duì)對(duì)方觀點(diǎn)的贊同的。例如：

A: It is a fine day today!
今天天氣不錯(cuò)啊！

B: So it is.
是啊。

表達(dá)恍然大悟時(shí)，英文要用So that's how it is或So that explains it, 或更簡(jiǎn)單地道的說法Oh, I see。

04. 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。英語中terible意思很靈活，例如：feel terrible指身體“不舒服”；The food is terrible則是說食物“難吃極了”。而第一句純屬中文式的表達(dá)。

05. 我沒料到這個(gè)無恥的女人居然同她好友的丈夫調(diào)情。

[誤] I had not expected that this shameful woman should flirt with her best friend's husband.

[正] I had not expected that this shameless woman should flirt with her best friend's husband.

注： Shameful通常指某事物是“可恥的，丟臉的”，而shameless表示having or showing no feeling of shame；immodest or impudent，它一般用來指人“不知羞恥的，不要臉的”或“傷風(fēng)敗俗的”。原文也可譯為：It's shameful that the woman should flirt with her best friend's husband.

06. 東施效顰。

[誤] Doingshi imitates Xishi.

[正] The ugly imitates the beautiful in such a distorted way that the ugliness of the ugly becomes worse.

注：把原文按照字面意思直譯過來，恐怕只有中國人能夠理解。要想讓外國人明白這個(gè)中國成語，就要對(duì)譯文進(jìn)行解釋性加工了。同樣，“情人眼里出西施”不是Xishi is in the eye of the beholder，而是Beauty is in the eye of the beholder。

07. 你不好好學(xué)習(xí)，還想去牛津上大學(xué)。這可真是個(gè)不切實(shí)際的幻想！

[誤] You don't study hard, yet you want to go to Oxford. What an impractical illusion!

[正] You don't study hard, yet you want to go to Oxford. What an illusion!

注：漢語中的修飾語往往用得很多，目的在于加強(qiáng)語氣，但這種表達(dá)習(xí)慣在翻譯時(shí)必須進(jìn)行處理。Illusion本身就有impractical的含義，而英語中在表意已經(jīng)很明確的情況下是無需重復(fù)的。

08. 想讓他答應(yīng)這樣的要求恐怕不大可能。

[誤] I'm afraid it is impossible for him to agree to such a request.

[正] I'm afraid it is unlikely for him to agree to such a request.

注：Impossible表示“完全不可能”，所以與原文有出入。在英語中，probable表示的可能性最大，其次是possible，再次是likely。而常用的句式為it is probable/possible/likely for sb. to do sth.，或sb. be likely to do sth.。

09. 最近的人口統(tǒng)計(jì)顯示中國人口已超過12億。

[誤] The latest census shows that China's population has surpassed 1.2 billion.

[正] The latest census shows that China's population exceeds 1.2 billion.

注：Surpass和exceed譯成中文雖然都是“超過，勝過”的意思，但出現(xiàn)具體數(shù)字時(shí)要用后者。

（來源：網(wǎng)絡(luò) 編輯：劉明）