2018/8/3 10:09:00
聽濮陽翻譯公司講地道中文的搞笑英語翻譯
聽濮陽翻譯公司講地道中文的搞笑英語翻譯
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 ;是中國人對 ;慧星 ;(comet)的俗稱,因其后面拖著一條像掃帚一樣的長尾巴而得名。在中國古代, ;掃帚星 ;被認(rèn)為是災(zāi)難的預(yù)兆,并被用來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。英語的comet 雖然沒有這層含義,但卻有一個對應(yīng)的說法,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。
[誤] Some prefer radish but others prefer cabbage.
[正] Tastes differ。
注:Tastes differ/vary是句英語諺語,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: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。
[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的用語,當(dāng)一方想制服另一方時,就用命令的口氣說: ;Say uncle! ; 這時,有的孩子為了表示不服輸,就是不說。后來,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:中國人喜歡說 ;嘴甜 ;但honey-lipped 更符合英美人的語言習(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,臣民見到國王與王后往往要親吻他們的靴子。后來,人們將lick the boots 引申為 ;為了某種目的而討好某人 ;它與漢語的 ;拍馬屁 ;含義一樣。在美國英語中, ;拍馬屁 ;還有另一種說法,即polish the apple,源于以前的學(xué)生用擦亮的蘋果來討好老師。
6.你聽說了嗎?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 ;但并沒說明是誰先提出來的。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.我們要把祖國建設(shè)成為社會主義的現(xiàn)代化強(qiáng)國。
[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:形容詞作為修飾語在漢語和英語中都很常用,但使用的先后次序卻有所不同。在英語中我們一般遵循 ;靠近原則 ;即越能說明本質(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,就靠詞的長短來決定,短的在前,長的在后。原文中最能說明 ;國家 ;本質(zhì)的定語是 ;社會主義的 ;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,對自己的現(xiàn)狀沒有滿意的時候。
[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,它在英語中已經(jīng)有了現(xiàn)成的說法,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。中國人習(xí)慣于先 ;東西 ;后 ;南北 ;而且在涉及 ;南北 ;時,習(xí)慣于先說 ;南 ;再說 ;北 ;如: ;南征北戰(zhàn) ;、 ;南來北往 ;等。而英美人與此正好相反,如 ;江蘇在中國的東南部 ;英文是Jiangsu is in the southeast of China, 而 ;新疆在中國的西北部 ;應(yīng)譯為Xinjiang is in the northwest of China.
10.這個教授教得很爛。
[誤] The professor teaches badly.
[正] The professor is so terrible.
注:有人認(rèn)為第二句的意思是 ;這個教授很可怕 ;其實(shí)不然。英語中terrible 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)。