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世聯(lián)翻譯公司:明明都說英語(yǔ),但美國(guó)人就是難以理解英國(guó)人這個(gè)物
發(fā)布時(shí)間:2018-04-13 11:23 點(diǎn)擊:
“大渣好,我系渣渣輝”……
前陣子被張家輝的魔性普通話刷屏,粵語(yǔ)腔普通話是不是有種“明明說的是中文,奏是聽不懂”的憂桑……
而這種心情,很多歪果仁盆友們表示:俺們也有!不信?有圖為證↓↓↓
Quora:由于英美英語(yǔ)的差異,美國(guó)人和英國(guó)人會(huì)彼此誤會(huì)嗎?
100+個(gè)回答……貌似一說到英式英語(yǔ)和美式英語(yǔ)這個(gè)話題,歪果仁們就仿佛打開了話匣子一般,攔都攔不住惹~(笑cry)我這里精挑細(xì)選了一些歡樂的回復(fù),小伙伴們一起圍觀哈~
美國(guó)猶他大學(xué)的Andrew Bayles表示:必須有(誤會(huì))。。―efinitely)
As a speaker of American English, I once told my British coworker that I needed to stop home before our next appointment because my pants were wet. He responded with “I certainly didn’t need to know that!”, looking surprised that I had told him.
我說的是美式英語(yǔ)。有一回我告訴英國(guó)同事,因?yàn)檠澴訚窳怂砸娒嬷拔业孟然靥思。他卻說“我真沒必要知道這些!”而且看起來超驚訝的。
The confusion in this case was based on the fact that in the U.S., pants means everything from slacks to blue jeans, while in Britain, pants means underwear. I had gotten the bottom of my slacks wet from walking in the snow, but he thought I was saying that I had peed my underwear.
其實(shí)吧,這里面的關(guān)鍵誤會(huì)在于:美式英語(yǔ)中pants指寬松長(zhǎng)褲或藍(lán)色牛仔褲等所有褲子,而英式英語(yǔ)中pants則指內(nèi)褲。所以,我說的是在雪地里走弄濕了褲腳,而他卻以為我說自己尿褲子了……
Pants:
What it means in the U.S.: Outerwear from the waist to the ankles; trousers.
美式英語(yǔ):長(zhǎng)褲
What it means in the U.K.: Underwear.
英式英語(yǔ):內(nèi)褲
On a related note, in the 90s there was a popular song that had a female backup singer repeating the line “pissing the night away” over and over. The members of the band were all British, which is important in understanding that “pissing the night away” essentially means “drinking the night away” or even just “wasting time all night long”. In the U.S., pissing means “urinating”.
類似的例子還有~90年代有一首流行歌曲,里面有個(gè)伴唱女歌手一直重復(fù) “pissing the night away”。樂隊(duì)成員都是英國(guó)人,這一點(diǎn)很重要,因?yàn)檫@句在他們看來就是“喝了一晚上酒”或“消磨一晚上的時(shí)間”。 BUT! 在美式英語(yǔ)中,pissing指“小便”。
I had a really hard time trying to figure out why anyone would want to spend all night peeing. Another possible confusion arising from the very same verb is the fact that a person who is “pissed” is drunk in Britain, but really really angry in the U.S.
有段時(shí)間我真的很費(fèi)解,為啥有人想要尿一整晚……此外,這個(gè)動(dòng)詞還可能造成另一個(gè)誤會(huì)——在英國(guó),如果說一個(gè)人pissed,意思是“喝醉了”,但在美國(guó),則指這個(gè)人“非常非常生氣”。
Pissed
What it means in the U.S .: Angry.
美式英語(yǔ):怒了
What it means in the U.K.: Drunk.
英式英語(yǔ):醉了
That leads to another common misunderstanding. In the U.S., if I said that so-and-so was “mad”, I would mean that that person was angry. In Britain, the word mad is the common term for “crazy”.
另一個(gè)常見的誤會(huì)是:美式英語(yǔ)中mad指一個(gè)人很生氣,而英式英語(yǔ)中則指“瘋了”。
If an American asks “Are you mad?”, they’re likely trying to find out what they did wrong; if a Briton asks the same question, they’re accusing you of insanity.
所以如果一個(gè)美國(guó)人問“Are you mad” ?他們可能想問自己是不是哪里做錯(cuò)惹你生氣了,而英國(guó)人則是在指責(zé)你瘋了。
Mad
What it means in the U.S .: Angry.
美式英語(yǔ):怒了
What it means in the U.K.: Crazy.
英式英語(yǔ):瘋了
As a fun exercise in a class I taught a few years ago, I wrote the following story that means entirely different things in U.S. and British English:
多年前,我曾在課堂上做過一個(gè)有趣的練習(xí):我寫了下面這個(gè)故事↓↓↓
Yesterday I woke up late for an appointment. I washed up, then pulled on some pants and suspenders, and grabbed a vest on my way out the door. I drove out toward the university and got a flat. I've had a flat before, but never on my own. So I called my dad to tell him about it and find out what kinds of things I should be checking for... I ended up catching a lift with my new neighbor, who's really fit, by the way.
看到這個(gè)故事我腦補(bǔ)的劇情是醬式兒噠:
昨天我有約但起晚了,洗漱完我穿上褲子和背帶,抓了一件背心就出門啦。我開車去大學(xué)方向,輪胎爆了,以前也爆過,但都有別人在。所以我給爸爸打電話告訴他這件事,想了解一下該檢查啥……最后,我搭了新鄰居的車,順便說一下鄰居很壯。
覺得挺簡(jiǎn)單的有木有~但是美國(guó)小伙伴和英國(guó)小伙伴腦補(bǔ)的劇情簡(jiǎn)直差了十萬(wàn)八千里:
美國(guó)小伙伴們聽到的劇情跟我的腦補(bǔ)一樣:
In the American version, I woke up, washed my face, put on some slacks and some suspenders to hold them up (braces in British English), and put on a vest (a waistcoat in British English). In other words, I was dressed up in nice clothes for my appointment. Then, on the way to the appointment, my car got a flat tire, but it was OK because I got a ride with my new neighbor, who was an athletic person.
我起床,洗臉,穿上長(zhǎng)褲,系上背帶(英式英語(yǔ)中背帶叫braces),穿上馬甲(英式英語(yǔ)中馬甲叫waistcoat)?傊鼐褪俏覟榧s會(huì)精心打扮了一下下。然后,在赴約的路上,我的車胎爆了,但還好同行的新鄰居體格很壯。
而在英國(guó)小伙伴那里,故事的畫風(fēng)就有點(diǎn)詭異了:
In the British version, I woke up, did the dishes, and put on some underwear, stocking garters, and a sleeveless undershirt. In other words, I wasn’t really dressed at all. Then I went across town to rent a new apartment by the university. In the new apartment building, I got into a lift (an elevator in American English) with my new neighbo(u)r, who I found sexually attractive!
我起床,刷了碗,穿上內(nèi)衣、帶吊襪帶的襪子和無(wú)袖背心(這裝扮……)。換句話說就是我基本上啥也沒穿,然后就穿過鎮(zhèn)上去租了大學(xué)旁邊的一個(gè)新公寓。在新公寓樓里,我和新鄰居進(jìn)了電梯(美式英語(yǔ)中電梯叫elevator),我發(fā)現(xiàn)這個(gè)鄰居很性感。ㄉ耨R劇情啊喂!)
告別了1號(hào)話嘮,迎來2號(hào)……
牛津大學(xué)學(xué)生Graham Leighton:
Yes, for sure. When I moved to the USA aged 14, there were numerous occasions when this happened. Just off the top of my head:
誤會(huì)當(dāng)然是少不了滴~我14歲搬去美國(guó),醬紫的栗子簡(jiǎn)直數(shù)不勝數(shù)啊,隨口就能來幾個(gè):
I ordered “biscuits” in a servo expecting the sweet things that (I subsequently found out) Americans know as cookies. Instead I got savoury lumps of dough which looked and tasted rather like cheese scones.
我點(diǎn)了biscuits,期待著上點(diǎn)美國(guó)人也知道的餅干,結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn)在美國(guó)這代表烤軟餅……吃起來有點(diǎn)兒像英國(guó)的司康餅。
Biscuits
What it means in the U.S.: A buttery, flaky bread served with savory meals.
美式英語(yǔ):軟烤餅
What it means in the U.K.: A cookie.
英式英語(yǔ):餅干
還有這種困擾無(wú)數(shù)身在美國(guó)的英國(guó)人的“到底是幾樓”的問題:
First floor/ground floor. I’m not even going to describe how many times I had trouble with this in shopping malls. Being told I’d find something I wanted “on the first floor” (ground floor in English) and wondering if they were having me on when I went to the first floor (or second floor in American) and found it contained something completely different and probably unsuitable, like lingerie.
關(guān)于樓層這個(gè)問題碰了多少次壁咱就不說了。在商場(chǎng)被告知我要找的東西在二樓(英式英語(yǔ)里first floor是二樓,一樓是ground floor),上去了卻發(fā)現(xiàn)賣的東西和我要找的完全不搭……
First floor
What it means in the U.S.: The floor at ground level.
美式英語(yǔ):一樓
What it means in the U.K.: The floor above the ground level floor.
英式英語(yǔ):二樓
Last year, I was dating an American study abroad student who I went to a cricket match with. I warned her in advance not to be surprised, but lots of people came to cricket matches in fancy dress. She was rather surprised she couldn’t see any people like that when we arrived.
去年,我和一個(gè)美國(guó)留學(xué)生約會(huì)看板球。去之前我提醒她,看到很多人穿著fancy dress別吃驚。去了之后她表示根本沒有那樣的著裝!
It turned out that to her, “fancy dress” meant “formal wear” whereas to me, “fancy dress” means hilarious costumes.
原來,在她看來“fancy dress”表示正裝,而在我看來則是滑稽的服裝。
Fancy dress
What it means in the U.S.: Formal wear.
美式英語(yǔ):正裝
What it means in the U.K.: Hilarious costumes.
英式英語(yǔ):滑稽的服裝
吐血整理的網(wǎng)友3號(hào)來了~
截至今年1月,已經(jīng)走遍49個(gè)國(guó)家的Ian Sawyer分享了他的個(gè)人經(jīng)歷:
Some years ago, a friend who ran a small manufacturing business was on the receiving end of an attempt by an American customer to sue him for failure to deliver goods ordered. I can’t recall all the details, but this was due to a misunderstanding about dates.
多年前,一個(gè)經(jīng)營(yíng)小型制造業(yè)的朋友遭到一個(gè)美國(guó)顧客的投訴,原因是未能及時(shí)交貨。具體細(xì)節(jié)我記不清了,但這個(gè)誤會(huì)和日期的寫法有關(guān)。
The order he’d received stated delivery to be (something like) 03/04/2010, which he, like everyone else outside the USA, read as being the 3rd of April. But to his US customer, it meant the 4th of March…
訂單上的交付日期是03/04/2010,他和其他非美國(guó)人一樣認(rèn)為是2010年4月3號(hào)。但這位美國(guó)顧客認(rèn)為,03/04/2010指的是3月4號(hào)……
What we do here when dealing with any US customers is to always quote the date in words, so as there’s no ambiguity; even Americans should be able to understand that :-)
所以針對(duì)美國(guó)顧客的訂單,我們通常會(huì)用文字注明日期來避免歧義。醬紫美國(guó)盆友也能理解啦~
說到英式英語(yǔ)和美式英語(yǔ)的區(qū)別,世紀(jì)君之前也做過類似的內(nèi)容~不知道小伙伴們是否還記得~來來來一起復(fù)習(xí)下:
Trainers
What it means in the U.S.: A fitness expert who helps you work out.
美式英語(yǔ):健身教練
What it means in the U.K.: Sneakers.
英式英語(yǔ):運(yùn)動(dòng)鞋
Chaps
What it means in the U.S.: Leather leggings worn by cowboys designed to protect the legs whilst horseback riding.
美式英語(yǔ):皮套褲(牛仔們騎馬時(shí)穿著可保護(hù)雙腿)
What it means in the U.K.: Guys.
英式英語(yǔ):兄弟,朋友們
Braces
What it means in the US: Devices for straightening teeth.
美式英語(yǔ):矯正牙齒的牙套
What it means in the UK: Suspenders.
英式英語(yǔ):吊褲帶
Comforter
What it means in the U.S.: A quilted bedspread.
美式英語(yǔ):被子
What it means in the U.K.: A baby’s pacifier.
英式英語(yǔ):(嬰兒用的)安撫奶嘴
小伙伴們有沒有遇到過英式英語(yǔ)和美式英語(yǔ)引起的誤會(huì)?歡迎留言哈~
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