老外不懂的“中式英語”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”被認為是災難的預兆，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，應采取意譯。

3.他一向嘴硬，從不認錯。

[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慣。

5.同學們都很討厭他，因為他經常拍老師的馬屁。

[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.我們要把祖國建設成為社會主義的現代化強國。

[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”，即越能說明本質屬性的修飾詞越靠近它所修飾的名詞，當從這一點看不出區別時，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”是指人不滿足于現狀的心理，它在英語中已經有了現成的說法，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.轉戰南北

[誤] fight south and north

[正] fight north and south

注：在地理方位的表達習慣上，中英文有一定的區別。中國人習慣于先“東西”后“南北”，而且在涉及“南北”時，習慣于先說“南”，再說“北”，如：“南征北戰”、“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：有人認為第二句的意思是“這個教授很可怕”，其實不然。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。