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翻译技巧:汉译英最易翻错的100句(6)

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。