双语：总有那么些英文词 连母语者都觉得懵！

 　　如今在说英语的人群中，非母语者的数目已经渐渐要超过母语者了，为此那些母语为英语的人们亚历山大——如何能够在不说俗语和俚语的情况下顺畅沟通，这是个问题……

　　BBC总结了在交流中最令人困扰的那些单词、词组，以及这些问题所产生的困扰：

　　It’s all Greek to me

　　我对此一窍不通。

　　“Any native speaker talking to a majority of native speakers will tend to assume that everyone, even the non-native speakers in the room, can understand everything they say regardless of speed of speech and idioms used,” Mike Conroy commented on our Facebook post.

　　麦克·康罗伊在脸书上说：“任何母语者在和大多数人说话的时候会倾向于认为所有人——甚至是非母语者——都在同一个‘房间’里，并且无论语速多快、用了多少俗语他们都能够理解他们所说的一切内容。”

　　Some of the words that get lost in translation: torch versus¹ flashlight, spanner versus wrench². Phrases such as “the umpteenth³ time” and “watching paint dry” and “taking the mickey,” tripped some readers up, while even subtle differences in spelling, such as ‘centre’ and ‘center’ caused trouble.

　　有些词是不可翻译的：torch还是flashlight，spanner还是wrench。“the umpteenth time” ，“watching paint dry” ，“taking the mickey”，这些词组常常会让读者困扰不已，还有只是在拼写上有些许差异的单词如‘centre’ 和‘center’也让人产生困惑。

　　“During a holiday in the US I had more problems with people understanding my [British] English than I do with my colleagues and customers on mainland Europe,” wrote Ray Gloster. “In Europe, I find it does help to tailor your choice of words, selecting Latin or Germanic origin words from the English vocabulary.”

　　雷·格洛斯特写道：“有一次去美国度假就遇到了许多困难，那里的人们无法理解我的英式英语，比我无法理解欧洲大陆来的同事和客户的英语更甚。在欧洲，我发现斟词酌句是很有帮助的——选择那些带有拉丁语或者德语词根的英语单词能够使得交流更顺畅。”

　　“[British] English and American English are full of instances of this,” commented Martin Hawkins. “I'm a Brit living in the US and the phrase 'two cultures separated by a common language' is very appropriate.”

　　马丁·霍金斯评论道：“英式英语和美式英语中差别比比皆是。作为一个住在美国的英国人， 我觉得‘一种语言，两种文化’这个短语非常恰当。”

　　The hardest adaptations

　　最艰难的适应

　　Martin Searle, a native English speaker living in Asia, noted⁵ three key lessons he had learned for adapting his mother tongue to his new surroundings: “One: never use a negative question such as "you didn't go to the office today?" You probably won't understand if the answer is a confirmation⁶ or not! Two: many Asian languages have no direct translation for "no" and "yes" so use a phrase like ‘that’s correct.’

　　马丁·赛尔是一个住在亚洲的英语母语者，在他试着融入新的语言环境的同时认识到了三个关键的问题：“第一，永远不要使用否定疑问句，比如‘你今天没去上班吗?’因为你将无法判别答案到底是还是不是!第二，许多亚洲语言对于‘是’和‘否’并没有准确直接的翻译，因此尽量使用‘那是正确的。’这样的短句。”

　　“Three: even the most fluent speakers of English as a second language often speak more directly than native speakers - levels of courtesy and discretion⁷ are very hard to learn. They don't intend to be rude so lose your sensitivity.”

　　“第三，即使是作为二语学习者中最能够流畅使用英语的人，在委婉程度上还是不及母语者——客气程度的拿捏真的非常难学。”

　　Standing⁴ their ground

　　站在他人的立场

　　Some of you blanched⁸ at the idea of anyone going to great lengths to adapt their language in their home country, to accommodate others.

　　有些人非常不愿让本国人大费周章地改变自己的语言来迁就自己。

　　“As a non-native speaker, I wouldn't like native speakers to speak to me any differently - it's condescending⁹ as it assumes that my English is not good enough to understand,” wrote Isabella Chan.

　　伊莎贝拉·陈写道：“作为一个非母语英语学习者，我不喜欢母语者在和我说话的时候作出任何改变——这样会显得他们高高在上，而且觉得我的英语程度还不够格去理解他们所说的话。”

　　John Smith offered another twist on the idea: “You learn a foreign language to communicate with people who speak it, not to have them water it down and de-bone it of its structure.” Part of learning, other writers noted, is to ask questions and understand peculiarities¹⁰ of a language.

　　约翰·史密斯则持有不同的观点：“你学习外语就是为了和当地人交流，而不是去稀释或改变它。”其他作者认为，提问和理解语言中的特例也是学习的一部分。

1 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

2 wrench   

v.猛拧；挣脱；使扭伤；n.扳手；痛苦，难受

参考例句：

• He gave a wrench to his ankle when he jumped down.他跳下去的时候扭伤了足踝。
• It was a wrench to leave the old home.离开这个老家非常痛苦。

3 umpteenth   

adj.第无数次（个）的

参考例句：

• W; `Qmp`tinW/ pron, det: For the umpteenth time, I tell you I don't know! 我告诉你多少次了，我不知道！ 来自辞典例句
• Vera: That's the umpteenth suggestion I've made which you've turned down. 薇拉：这不知是我提出的第几个建议了，你全部不接受。 来自互联网

4 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

5 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

6 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

7 discretion   

n.谨慎；随意处理

参考例句：

• You must show discretion in choosing your friend.你择友时必须慎重。
• Please use your best discretion to handle the matter.请慎重处理此事。

8 blanched   

v.使变白( blanch的过去式 )；使（植物）不见阳光而变白；酸洗（金属）使有光泽；用沸水烫（杏仁等）以便去皮

参考例句：

• The girl blanched with fear when she saw the bear coming. 那女孩见熊（向她）走来，吓得脸都白了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Their faces blanched in terror. 他们的脸因恐惧而吓得发白。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 condescending   

adj.谦逊的,故意屈尊的

参考例句：

• He has a condescending attitude towards women. 他对女性总是居高临下。
• He tends to adopt a condescending manner when talking to young women. 和年轻女子说话时，他喜欢摆出一副高高在上的姿态。

10 peculiarities   

n. 特质, 特性, 怪癖, 古怪

参考例句：

• the cultural peculiarities of the English 英国人的文化特点
• He used to mimic speech peculiarities of another. 他过去总是模仿别人讲话的特点。