地道英文——中文翻譯
y is not everything. There's Mastercard & Visa.
鈔票不是萬能的,有時還需要信用卡.
the neighbor. But don't get caught.
要用心去愛你的鄰居,不過不要讓她的老公知道
nd every successful man, there is a woman. And behind every unsuccessful man,
there are two.
每個成功男人的背後都有一個女人,每個不成功男人的背後都有兩個女人?
y man should marry. After all, happiness is not the only thing in life.
再快樂的單身漢遲早也會結婚,幸福不是永久的嘛.
wise never marry, And when they marry they become otherwise.
聰明人都是未婚的,結婚的人很難再聰明起來.
ess is a relative term. It brings so many relatives.
成功是一個相關名詞,他會給你帶來很多不相關的親戚(聯繫).
r put off the work till tomorrow what you can put off today
不要等明天交不上差再找藉口, 今天就要找好.
is photogenic. It needs darkness to develop.
愛情就象照片,需要大量的暗房時間來培養.
地道中文——爆笑英文翻譯
1.有他這顆掃帚星,什麼事情都辦不成。
[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,因其後面拖着一條像掃帚一樣的長尾巴而得名。在中國古代,“掃帚星”被認爲是災難的'預兆,並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. (這輛汽車上有什麼妨人的東西,總給我找麻煩。)
2.蘿蔔青菜,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,應採取意譯。
3.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。
4.同學們都很討厭他,因爲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。後來,人們將 lick the boots 引申爲“爲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,源於以前的學生用擦亮的蘋果來討好老師。