美国文化脱口秀 第346期:最难用英语表达的中文词
时间:2019-02-22 作者:英语课 分类:美国文化脱口秀
英语课
“辛苦了”、“混”、“撒娇"......这些简单常用的词,却很难找到贴切的英语翻译。今天,我们就说说最难翻译的中文词。
关键词:
Chinese expressions that are hard to translate to English: 很难翻译到英文的中文说法
They're simple and common expressions, but with rich cultural context: 这些说法很简单,但是包含了很深的文化概念
What are those? Let me take a stab at it: 多有哪些词?我来试试看
辛苦了
How do you say 辛苦了 in English? “辛苦了“英语就很难表达
There might be an English equivalent, but there's no exact match: 可能有对应的说法,但没有完全符合的
It can't perfectly 1 convey the mood and meaning: 不能百分百把情绪和意思传递出去
It's a form of acknowledgement and gratitude 2: 这是用来表达认可和感谢的
“辛苦了”英语可以这么说
Thank you, you did a good job/job well done! 谢谢,你做的很棒, 比较多用于上级对下属
Thanks for your hard work: 谢谢你辛勤的工作
When you say this, you acknowledge that it might not have been very easy: 你这样说,代表你觉得那个工作比较辛苦、不容易
But sometimes I feel saying "辛苦了" is a bit of an exaggeration: 但是我有时候觉得说“辛苦了”有点夸张,因为并没有很辛苦
But it's a way of showing appreciation 3 and respect in Chinese culture: 但是这是中国文化里表达感谢和尊重的方式
最难用英语表达的中文词
人情
How would you translate that? 这个怎么翻译啊?
When you check the dictonary, you might find "human feelings": 查字典,字典会告诉你“human feelings"
Some foreigners might call it 关系, which has entered the English vocabulary: 有些外国人会用“关系”,这个词现在已经进入英语了
I don't think there's a one word equivalent of "人情” in English: 我觉得英语里没有“人情”
“人情” is such an important aspect of Chinese society: 人情在中国社会是很重要的组成部分
It's untranslatable: 这个词翻译不了
得瑟
Spencer, I noticed you like to use "得瑟“ a lot: Spencer, 我发现你最近很爱说“得瑟”
How would you translate that in English? 这个英语怎么翻译?
These are words that you won't be able to find in a dictionary, never mind textbooks:
Arrogant 4: 傲慢
Pretentious 5: 装
Full of themselves/himself/herself: 得瑟、自我感觉良好
混
"混" is also very hard to translate: “混”也很难翻译
It has both negative and positive connotations: 它既可以是褒义,又可以是贬义
To waste time, muddle 6 through, mucking around: 混日子
You're doing well: 你混得不错
作、嗲、撒娇
I've got a bunch of related ones that are hard to translate: 我有一串相关的难翻译的词
Being cutesy, girly: 撒娇
The dictionary defines it as "coquettish", but we don't really use that word: 字典会告诉你“嗲”是“coquettish”,但这个词日常不会用
A lot of things are represented by one character in Chinese, but need a few English words to translate completely: 中文很多时候只需要一个字,但英文要好几词才能翻译、解释
Even though they look similar, cutesy means 撒娇 and cute is more like 可爱: 虽然它们看上去很相像,“cutesy”更加撒娇,“cute”可能更可爱
Cutesy: 嗲
Feminine: 女性化
You got me: 我被问住了
High maintenance: 作,需要高度保养
What about 素质、讨厌
素质 is class.
You can say someone has no class to mean 素质差:你可以说一个人“have no class", 就是素质差的意思
讨厌 is annoying
But when we say "讨厌", we often don't mean it. It's a way of 撒娇:但是很多时候说讨厌,不是真的觉得你annoying, 其实是在撒娇
I think in English, we'd express a lot of things with the tone of voice: 我觉得英语里,会更多用语气来传递意思上的差别
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地
- The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
- Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。
adj.感激,感谢
- I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
- She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。
n.评价;欣赏;感谢;领会,理解;价格上涨
- I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to you all.我想对你们所有人表达我的感激和谢意。
- I'll be sending them a donation in appreciation of their help.我将送给他们一笔捐款以感谢他们的帮助。
adj.傲慢的,自大的
- You've got to get rid of your arrogant ways.你这骄傲劲儿得好好改改。
- People are waking up that he is arrogant.人们开始认识到他很傲慢。
adj.自命不凡的,自负的,炫耀的
- He is a talented but pretentious writer.他是一个有才华但自命不凡的作家。
- Speaking well of yourself would only make you appear conceited and pretentious.自夸只会使你显得自负和虚伪。