1楼不二周助
(学习Nativity Ode)
发表于 2014-3-27 20:16
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BBC，英国人吐槽美式英语
BBC杂志发表了一篇关于美式英语入侵英国的文章，引起了很多英国人的共鸣。读者纷纷发来电子邮件，说出最困扰自己、最让自己恼火的美式英语表达。
1. When people ask for something, I often hear: "Can I get a..." It infuriates me. It's not New York. It's not the 90s. You're not in Central Perk with the rest of the Friends. Really."
当某些人想要什么东西时，我经常听到他们说：“Can I get a...（我能要一个……）”这让我大为恼火。这里又不是纽约，又不是90年代，你以为你是在Central Perk里演《老友记》啊，真是的！
2. The next time someone tells you something is the "least worst option", tell them that their most best option is learning grammar.
下次要是有人跟你讲XXX是the “least worst option”（最好选择），你就告诉他们对于他们来说最最最好的选择是滚回去学语法。
3. The phrase I've watched seep into the language (especially with broadcasters) is "two-time" and "three-time". Have the words double, triple etc, been totally lost? Grammatically it makes no sense, and is even worse when spoken. My pulse rises every time I hear or see it. Which is not healthy as it's almost every day now. Argh!
我经历过的渐渐渗入到英语里的短语（特别是播音员使用的）是“two-time（两次）”和“three -time（三次）"。难道double啊triple啊什么的都彻底消失了么？从语法上来说，这根本构不成短语，而且用在口语中更糟糕。每次听到或者看到它我就心跳加速。这对我的健康造成了威胁，因为基本每天都要经历这些。我去！
4. Using 24/7 rather than "24 hours, 7 days a week" or even just plain "all day, every day".
使用24/7来表达“全天候”，而不是“24 hours, 7 days a week”，或者就朴实地说“all day, every day”。
5. The one I can't stand is "deplane", meaning to disembark an aircraft, used in the phrase "you will be able to deplane momentarily".
我不能忍受的就是“deplane”这个词，意思就是下飞机，用法是这样的：“You will be able to deplane momentarily（您很快就能下飞机了）”。
6. To "wait on" instead of "wait for" when you're not a waiter - once read a friend's comment about being in a station waiting on a train. For him, the train had yet to arrive - I would have thought rather that it had got stuck at the station with the friend on board.
用“wait on”而不是“wait for”，而且你还不是服务员。有次我读了一段朋友就在车站等车（waiting on a train）发表的评论。他所表达的意思是，火车一直没到站。而我却以为朋友在车上，但是车却困在了车站里。
7. "It is what it is". Pity us.
这就是事实。同情同情我们吧！It is what it is.（该是什么就是什么。）美剧中经常出现，那么它的英式表达呢？There is no British way of saying this… it means nothing! 好吧，英国人觉得这个说法毫无意义！
8. Dare I even mention the fanny pack?
敢不敢提fanny pack（腰包）啊？
9. "Touch base" - it makes me cringe no end.
“Touch base（联系）”——这让我不停地哆嗦。
10. Is "physicality" a real word?
“Physicality（物质性）”真的是一个词吗？
11. Transportation. What's wrong with transport?
Transportation（交通工具）。就不能用transport吗？
12. The word I hate to hear is "leverage". Pronounced lev-er-ig rather than lee-ver-ig. It seems to pop up in all aspects of work. And its meaning seems to have changed to "value added".
我讨厌听到的词是“leverage”。把它读成lev-er-ig（美），而不是lee-ver-ig（英）。好像各行各业突然都这么读了，意思貌似也变成“附加值”了。（leverage在美式英语中有“举债经营”的意思，英式英语用gearing表达此意）
13. Does nobody celebrate a birthday anymore, must we all "turn" 12 or 21 or 40? Even the Duke of Edinburgh was universally described as "turning" 90 last month. When did this begin? I quite like the phrase in itself, but it seems to have obliterated all other ways of speaking about birthdays.
难道没人庆祝生日（celebrate a birthday）了吗？我们一定都要“turn”12岁或者21岁或者40岁吗？连爱丁堡公爵过生日也统统说成上个月他“turning”90岁。这是什么时候开始的？我喜欢这个表达本身，但它似乎取代掉其他所有谈论生日的说法了。
14. I caught myself saying "shopping cart" instead of shopping trolley today and was thoroughly disgusted with myself. I've never lived nor been to the US either.
我发现现在自己会说："shopping cart（购物手推车）”而不是shopping trolley ，我非常讨厌这一点。我从没去过美国，也没在美国生活过。
15. What kind of word is "gotten"? It makes me shudder.
"Gotten（get的过去分词，美式用法）"到底是个什么词？它总是让我不寒而栗。
16. "I'm good" for "I'm well". That'll do for a start.
用“I'm good（我很好）”替代“I'm well”。刚开始感觉都可以。
17. "Bangs" for a fringe of the hair.
用"bangs"表示刘海。
18. Take-out rather than takeaway!
说take-out（外卖）而不是takeaway!
19. I enjoy Americanisms. I suspect even some Americans use them in a tongue-in-cheek manner? "That statement was the height of ridiculosity".
我喜欢美式英语。不过我怀疑甚至一些美国人也是虚情假意地在用它们。“这份声明简直是荒谬（ridiculosity）。”
20. "A half hour" instead of "half an hour".
说“a half hour（半小时）”而不是“half an hour”。
21. A "heads up". For example, as in a business meeting. Lets do a "heads up" on this issue. I have never been sure of the meaning.
A “heads up（提醒）”。比如，在商业会议上说，Lets do a "heads up" on this issue. 我至今还不知道是什么意思。
22. Train station. My teeth are on edge every time I hear it. Who started it? Have they been punished?
Train station（火车站）。每次听到它，我就很恼火。谁开始用这个词的？他们没有被罚吗？
23. To put a list into alphabetical order is to "alphabetize it" - horrid!
把一张表按照字母顺序排列就是去“alphabetize it”——非常不爽！
24. People that say "my bad" after a mistake. I don't know how anything could be as annoying or lazy as that.
那些在犯错后说“my bad（我的错）”的人，我真不知道事情怎么可以变得如此让人恼火、将惰性体现得淋漓尽致的。
25. "Normalcy" instead of "normality" really irritates me.
用“normalcy（正常状态）”而不是“normality”真的会激怒我。
26. As an expat living in New Orleans, it is a very long list but "burglarize"is currently the word that I most dislike.
作为一名生活在新奥尔良的侨民，我有很长一串清单，但是“burglarize（破门盗窃）”是我目前最不喜欢的词。（英国用burgle）
27. "Oftentimes"just makes me shiverwith annoyance. Fortunately I've not noticed it over here yet.
“Oftentimes（经常）”会让我恼怒得直哆嗦。幸运地是，我在这里还没看到过。
28. Eaterie. To use a prevalentphrase, oh my gaad!
Eaterie（餐馆）。经常听到，天呐！！
29. I'm a Brit living in New York. The one that always gets me is the American need to use the word bi-weeklywhen fortnightlywould sufficejust fine.
我是住在纽约的英国人，让我难受的一点是美国人需要用bi-weekly（每两周一次），fortnightly明明足够好用了。
30. I hate "alternate"for "alternative". I don't like this as they are two distinct words, both have distinct meanings and it's useful to have both. Using alternate for alternative deprives us of a word.
我讨厌用“alternate”替代“alternative”。我不喜欢这个因为它们是不同的两个词，它们分别有不同的意思，两者都很有用。用alternate替代alternative会让我们失去一个词。
31. "Hike"a price. Does that mean people who do that are hikers? No, hikers are ramblers!
“Hike（提升）”价格。那是不是意味着“提升价格的人”可以用hikers表示？不，hikers（旅行者）是“漫游者”的意思好不好！
32. Going forward? If I do I shall collide with my keyboard.
.Going forward（前进）？如果我要打这个词，我势必要和我的键盘搏斗一番。
33. I hate the word "deliverable". Used by management consultants for something that they will "deliver" instead of a report.
我讨厌“deliverable（交付物）”这个词。管理顾问常用这个词来表达他们要“deliver（交付）”的某个替代report的东西。
34. The most annoying Americanism is "a million and a half"when it is clearly one and a half million! A million and a half is 1,000,000.5 where one and a half million is 1,500,000.34.
最让人恼火的美式英语是“a million and a half”，正确的明明应该是one and a half million. A million and a half 是1000000.5，one and a half million是1500000。
35. "Reach out to"when the correct word is "ask". For example: "I will reach out to Kevin and let you know if that timing is convenient". Reach out? Is Kevin stuck in quicksand? Is he teeteringon the edge of a cliff? Can't we just ask him?
用“reach out to”而不是正确的“ask”。比如，“I will reach out to Kevin and let you know if that timing is convenient.（我会问一下凯文，看看时间是否方便。）”难道凯文在流沙区吗？或者他在悬崖边摇摇欲坠？难道我们就不能“问”一下他？
36. Surely the most irritating is: "You do the Math."Math? It's MATHS.
最激怒人的当然就是：You do the Math.（你自己来算一下。）”Math？应该是MATHS！
37. I hate the fact I now have to order a "regularAmericano". What ever happened to a medium sized coffee?
我讨厌我现在必须点“regularAmericano（常规美式咖啡）。”为什么就不能说a medium sized coffee呢？
38. My worst horror is expiration, as in "expiration date". Whatever happened to expiry?
我最讨厌的词是expiration（截止），比如“expiration date（截止日期）”。为什么不用expiry？
39. My favourite one was where Americans claimed their family were "Scotch-Irish". This of course is totally inaccurate, as even if it were possible, it would be "Scots" not "Scotch".
我最喜欢的一个就是美国人宣称他们的家庭是“Scotch-Irish（苏格兰-爱尔兰血统的）”。这当然是完全错误的，即使这是一种可能的表达，那么也应该是“Scot”而不是“Scotch”。
40. I am increasingly hearing the phrase "that'll learn you"- when the English (and more correct) version was always "that'll teach you". What a ridiculous phrase!
我听到越来越多人说“that'll learn you（这是给你的教训。）”——明明英语（更加正确的）的版本应该是“that'll teach you.” 多么荒谬的表达！
41. I really hate the phrase: "Where's it at?"This is not more efficient or informative than "where is it?" It just sounds grotesqueand is immenselyirritating.
我真的很讨厌这个表达：“Where's it at?（在哪儿？）”这并没有比“where is it?”更有效率或蕴含更多信息。它听起来很荒唐，而且非常惹人厌。
42. Period instead of full stop.
用“period（句号）”代替full stop。
43. My pet hate is "winningest", used in the context "Michael Schumacher is the winningest driver of all time". I can feel the ragerising even using it here.
我最讨厌文本中出现“winningest（常胜的）”，比如“迈克尔·舒马赫是有史以来的最常胜（winningest）赛车手”。即使这样用，我也觉得很愤怒。
44. My brother now uses the term "season"for a TV series.
我的弟弟现在用“season（季）”来谈论电视剧了。
45. Having an "issue"instead of a "problem".
Having an "issue（问题）"而不是"problem"。
46. I hear more and more people pronouncing the letter Z as "zee". Not happy about it!
我听到越来越多人把字母Z发成zee的音。不开心！
47. To "medal"instead of to win a medal. Sets my teeth on edge with a vengeance.
“medal（赢得奖牌）”而不是win a medal。我差点要破口大骂了。
48. "I got it for free"is a pet hate. You got it "free" not "for free". You don't get something cheap and say you got it "for cheap" do you?
“I got it for free（我免费得到它）”是我最讨厌的表达。你是“免费（free）”得到它，而不是“为了免费（for free）”。你不会买到一个便宜的东西，然后说你买到它“为了便宜”，对吧？
49. "Turn that off already". Oh dear.
Turn that off already.（把那个关掉）。天呐！
50. "I could care less"instead of "I couldn't care less" has to be the worst. Opposite meaning of what they're trying to say.
用“I could care less（我一点也不在乎）”，而不是“I couldn't care less”，是我见过最糟糕的表达。与他们想要说的意思完全相反。.
