常见的中式英语--我要甩了你们

“怎么是你？怎么老是你？(How are you? How old are you?)”； we two, who and who（咱俩谁跟谁）；give you
some color to see see（给你点颜色看看）…… 这些经典的Chinglish你说过吗? 闹出过更加逗比的笑话吗？让我们一起看看常说常错的Chinglish吧。


01.有他这颗扫帚星，什么事情都办不成。


[误] With a comet like him, nothing can be accomplished.


[正] With a jinx like him, nothing can be accomplished.


注：“扫帚星”是中国人对“慧星”（comet）的俗称，因其后面象拖着的一条像扫帚一样的长尾巴而得名。在中国古代，“扫帚星”被认为是灾难的预兆，并被用来比喻不吉利的人或事；祸根；person or thing that is thought to bring bad luck（to sb/sth）；curse。英语的 comet虽然没有这层含义，但却有一个对应的说法，即 jinx。 例：There's a jinx
on/Someone's put a jinx on this car: it's always giving me trouble.“这辆汽车不太吉利，总给我找麻烦”。


02.萝卜青菜，各有所爱。


[误] Some prefer radish but others prefer cabbage.


[正] Tastes differ.


注：Tastes differ/vary是句英语谚语，除此以外，原句还可翻译成No dish suits all tastes或You can never make everyone happy等。《新概念英语》第三册第23课的标题是：One man's meat is
another man's poison，表达的很生动。 总之，应采取意译。


03.他一向嘴硬，从不认错。


[误] He has always got a hard mouth and never admit a fault.


[正] He never says uncle.


注：Say (cry) uncle: to
give up or in; to surrender；to admit defeat。Say uncle主要是男孩们打架时的用语，当一方想制服另一方时，就用命令的口气说：“Say uncle!”这时，有的为了表示不服输，就是不说。后来，say uncle就成了“服输”的代名词，而not say uncle就相当于“嘴硬”了。


04.老师很喜欢这个嘴甜的小姑娘。


[误] The teacher likes this sweet-mouthed little girl very much.


[正] The teacher likes this honey-lipped little girl very much.


注：中国人喜欢说“嘴甜”，但honey-lipped更符合英美人的语言习惯。


05.同学们都很讨厌他，因为他经常拍老师的马屁。


[误] The student all dislike him because he often pats the teacher's
ass.


[正] The students all dislike him because he often licks the teacher's
boots.


注：以前在欧洲，臣民见到国王与王后往往要匍匐在地，亲吻他们的靴子。后来，人们将lick the boots引申为“为了某种目的而讨好某人”，它与汉语的“拍马屁”含义一样。在美国英语中，“拍马屁”还有另一种说法，即polish the
apple，典出以前的学生用擦亮的苹果来讨好老师。


06.你听说了吗？迈克把他的女朋友给甩了。


[误] He you ever heard that Mike broke up with his girlfriend.


[正] He you ever heard that Mike dumped his girlfriend.


注：Break up with sb虽然表示“与某人分手了”，但并没说明是谁先提出来的。而dump的原意指“倾倒垃圾”，用在这里则表示像倒垃圾一样地甩掉。