一些較難理解的英文詞語

【編者按】本文內(nèi)容節(jié)選自新華社譯審?fù)跫玖枷壬姆g筆記。作者從其翻譯外刊的實(shí)踐中選取例句，配以地道的中文翻譯，有時(shí)輔以適當(dāng)說明，指津點(diǎn)要，陳說翻譯難點(diǎn)。本刊認(rèn)為，這些翻譯點(diǎn)滴對(duì)學(xué)習(xí)翻譯者大有裨益，特刊發(fā)以饗讀者。

1. in the liquid-coal pipeline

In China， there is about $ 25 billion worth of investments currently in the liquid-coal pipeline.

在中國(guó)，目前在液化煤項(xiàng)目方面的投資約為250億美元。

[結(jié)構(gòu)類似的句子：As a result， Russia is in the semi-conductor caboose. 結(jié)果，俄羅斯在半導(dǎo)體方面落在最后。]

注意：in the pipeline是個(gè)英文習(xí)語，英英字典的釋義是：undergoing preparation， production， or completion; in the works.

2. welcome to

Welcome to the finance-district offices of Hitachi credit corp. Here， one floor above a sparkling new Hitachi computer showroom， clerks pencil numbers into ledger books and finger abacuses. （WSJ， June 12， 1987）

請(qǐng)看看日立信貸公司金融區(qū)辦公室的情形吧。這些辦公室設(shè)在新建的熠熠生光的計(jì)算機(jī)展室上面一層。職員們?cè)谶@里用鉛筆把數(shù)字記入賬冊(cè)，手指撥著算盤。

[為了說明welcome to的這種用法，茲再舉一例：Welcome to the “Second Revolution”， a phrase used by both Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev to describe the upheaval in economics and ideas now under way in the two communist powers. （Time， Nov. 7， 1987）]

3. cannot realistically

America cannot realistically mount another Marshall plan. （NYT， Aug. 29， 1982）

美國(guó)要再實(shí)行一項(xiàng)馬歇爾計(jì)劃是不切實(shí)際的。

4. nobody can accurately

Nobody can accurately call those who plotted， financed and carried out the infamous mass slaughter of Sept. 11 militants， resistance fighters， gunmen， partisans or guerrillas. The most precise word to describe a person or group who murders even one innocent civilian to send a political message is terrorist. （William Safire， NYT Magazine， Sept. 23， 2001）

對(duì)于臭名昭著的9·11大屠殺的策謀者、經(jīng)費(fèi)提供者和實(shí)施者，稱他們?yōu)楹枚贩肿?、抵抗?zhàn)士、職業(yè)殺手、狂熱信徒或游擊隊(duì)員，都不確切。對(duì)于為了發(fā)出一種政治信息而殺害無辜平民的人或團(tuán)伙，即便只是殺死一人，稱呼他們的最確切的用詞是恐怖分子。

5. cannot honorably

You cannot honorably ignore his opinions.

不理睬他的意見，就會(huì)顯得你沒有雅量。

6. dangerously foolish area

The Korean peninsula was a dangerously foolish area in which to pin down a major portion of U.S. military power.

把美國(guó)相當(dāng)大一部分軍事力量駐扎在朝鮮半島，是愚蠢到危險(xiǎn)地步的做法。

7. powerful head of protectionist steam building up in Congress

The Reagan administration has to defuse the powerful head of protectionist steam building up in Congress， which requires the Japanese in particular—disliked even more intensely by the Washington trade lobbies—to move quickly in liberalizing their markets and dismantling their trade barriers. （The Sunday Times， July 5， 1987）

里根政府必須要化解國(guó)會(huì)中積聚起來的強(qiáng)大的保護(hù)主義壓力。這就尤其要求日本——因?yàn)槿A盛頓的貿(mào)易游說團(tuán)對(duì)日本的厭惡情緒越來越強(qiáng)烈——迅速行動(dòng)，開放市場(chǎng)，消除貿(mào)易壁壘。

8. cloud three

He added， these reports “emanate from cloud three.”

他還說，這些報(bào)道是“無中生有”。

[cloud three的意思詞典上、網(wǎng)上都查不到，路透社記者的注解是：The American expression “cloud three” means beyond the realm of possibility.]

9. just what the doctor ordered

“Ah， just what the doctor ordered！” exclaimed Bob when Mary brought him a glass of lemonade.

瑪麗給鮑勃端來一杯檸檬汁時(shí)，鮑勃說道：“啊！這正是我想要的！”

[注：just what the doctor ordered是口語，意思是：exactly what is needed or wanted，不可按字面照搬。]

10. each country will be the judge of

Each country will be the judge of what constitutes an erratic fluctuation in its exchange rate.

什么情況算是一國(guó)貨幣的匯率不正常波動(dòng)，要由每一個(gè)國(guó)家自己判斷。

11. level playing field

“Just 500 years ago—yesterday in evolutionary terms—a British baby had only a 50 per cent chance of making it to reproductive age. Now， the figure is around 99 per cent，” says Steve Jones， a geneticist at University College London. There is also a more level playing field in the reproduction game. “No longer， as in the Middle Ages， do a few rich men have many children while many of those in poverty are forced into the army or into monasteries，” he says.

倫敦大學(xué)學(xué)院的遺傳學(xué)家斯蒂夫·瓊斯說：“就在五百年前——從進(jìn)化論的角度說猶如昨天——英國(guó)的嬰兒還只有50%的可能活到成年（或生育后代的年齡）?，F(xiàn)在，這個(gè)數(shù)字是99%左右?！痹诜毖芎蟠矫妫瑮l件也比較公平了。他說：“在中世紀(jì)，少數(shù)富人生育很多子女，而許多窮人卻不得不去當(dāng)兵（或：從軍）或進(jìn)寺院。這種情況已一去不復(fù)返了。”

1籍貫上海市。職稱譯審。1953年畢業(yè)于北京外國(guó)語學(xué)院（今北京外國(guó)語大學(xué)）英語系。畢業(yè)后分配于新華社，從事國(guó)際新聞翻譯工作（英譯中），直至1991年3月退休。其間，1983年7月至1986年3月由農(nóng)業(yè)部借調(diào)到聯(lián)合國(guó)糧農(nóng)組織中文組，任翻譯審校工作?；貒?guó)后曾在中國(guó)新聞學(xué)院兼職，教授過翻譯課和外國(guó)報(bào)刊閱讀課。曾參與翻譯《華盛頓傳》（全譯本）、《里根小傳》、《美國(guó)編年史》等。