中式英语之鉴100句（三）

何航

22. 我希望你不要拖我的后腿。
[误] 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，开某人的玩笑”的意思，相当于 make fun of sb.。英
语中与“拖后腿”相对应的表达是 hold sb. back 或 be a drag on sb. 等。
23. 学校里，那些长得人高马大的家伙常来找我的麻烦。
[误] 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“发现我的难处”的意思，而英语中“找某人的麻烦”用短语 pick on sb. 它不仅表示“挑剔某人、找某人的碴”，而且还包含 tease（取笑、戏弄）或 bully（威胁、欺侮）的意思。
24. 原来如此。一经你解释我就明白了。
[误] 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“的确如此”，它是用来表示对对方观点的赞同的。例如：
A: It is a fine day today!
B: So it is.
而在表达恍然大悟时，英文要用 So that's how it is 或 So that explains it, 或更简单地道的说法 Oh, I see.
25. 我没料到这个无耻的女人居然同她好友的丈夫调情。
[误] 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“可耻的，丢脸的”，而 shameless 表示 having or showing no feeling of shame; immodest or impudent,它一般用来指人“不知羞耻的，不要脸的”或“伤风败俗的”。原文也可译为：It's shameful that the woman should flirt with her best friend's husband.
26. 我每天都要在网吧里呆上10个小时，是个不折不扣的网虫。
[误] I spend 10 hours in the net bar every day, and I am indeed a net bug.
[正] I spend 10 hours in the net bar every day, and I am indeed a netter.
注：“网虫”要是直译成 net bug，很容易使人联想到计算机病毒，如：the millennium bug（“千年虫”病毒）。所以，英语中与之相应的说法是 netter/nettle。在《剑桥国际英语词典》里，对 netter/nettle 的解释是：regular user of Internet, perhaps one who spends too much time in this occupation。nethead 和“网虫”的意思差不多，它表示“网痴，网迷”；而 netizen 则可以用来指所有的网民，尤其是互联网的用户，它是由 net（网络）和 citizen（公民）组合而成的。还有一个时髦的词是 netsurfer，即“网上冲浪者”。
27. 东施效颦。
[误] 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译过来，恐怕只有中国人能够理解。要想让外国人明白这个中国成语，就要对译文进行解释性加工了。同样，“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。
28. 你不好好学习，还想去牛津上大学。这可真是个不切实际的幻想哟！
[误] 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：汉语中的修饰语往往用的很多，目的在于加强语气，但这种表达习惯在翻译时必须进行处理。illusion 本身就有 impractical 的含义，而英语中在表意已经很明确的情况下是无需重复的。
29. 想让他答应这样的要求恐怕不大可能。
[误] I'm afraid it is impossible for him to agree to such a request.
[正] I'm afreaid it is unlikely for him to agree to such a request.
注：impossible 表示“完全不可能”，所以与原文有出入。在英语中，probable 表示的可能性最大，其次是 possible，再次是 likely。而常用的句式为 it is probable/possible/likely for sb. to do sth.，或 sb. be likely to do sth.。
30. 一群蚂蚁
[误] a group of ants
[正] a colony of ants
注：表示群体时，group 通常指人或物，而 colony 才指生物群体。