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| 2010/07/21 15:22:26瀏覽2027｜回應0｜推薦1 | |
在 Dan Brown 的新書“ The Lost Symbol” 中, 有一句 “ His jaw clenched as his memory began replaying the scene from that cold morning, years ago in Cambridge.” (p.101) 他用 replaying 這個字, 至少是影音科技時代後的選擇, 比擬記憶可以像科技產品般廻帶重聽, 但這個字早也進入字典的例句中, 如 Merriam-Webster’s Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary “ That night I replayed the conversation in my mind.” (= I thought carefully about what had been said about the conversation.) 該字典以括號加註, 當然是認為有此必要, 無怪乎該字典編輯在前言(preface)中提到 “the real heart of the dictionary is its examples.” 而那些例句, 有些是取自英美文學名家的作品(A few of them are quotations taken from well-known works of American and British literature), 但是大部分是自造的句子(make-up examples), 即使如此, 所造句子仍仔細推敲其真實與準確性, 絕不閉門造車(based on evidence of real English, that have been carefully written to show words being used in appropriate contexts which accurately reflect their uses in actual speech and writing.) 再加上該字典使用簡單字來詮釋各關鍵字(The definitions of this dictionary are written in simple language.), 使用起來當然非常順手。 有些表達法非常生動, 像“ His inauguration speech was shy of content and as dry as dust.” (shy of 缺乏內容, dust 乏味, 句子見“漢英翻譯作文常用字彙速查典, 陳明華著, 培生教育出版), 另一句 “A thin mist enveloped the mountain.” (稀薄的霧籠罩那座山), 用“envelop” 當作籠罩, 真是好筆觸。我覺得陳明華的常用字彙速查典頗好用的, 彙詞雖未達到豐厚的要求, 但精簡紮實, 用心深, 詞精準, 值得仔細閱讀, 如“The man with sparse hair is Paul.” (那頭髮稀疏的人是保羅); “His comments/criticism can be very incisive.” ( 他的評論很犀利) ; “I can only remember the refrain of the song.” (我只記得這首歌的副歌); “ His driver’s license has been revoked.” (他的駕照已被吊銷); “He wants to distance himself from his fair-weather friends.” (他想要與那些酒肉朋友保持距離); “Relief was sent to the earthquake victims in central Taiwan.”(救濟品送去給台灣中部地區的地震受災戶); “Some economists don’t sympathize with his government’s overspending policy. They don’t think it would help to boost the economy to throw an extravagant dance party. Instead, they are sticking out for a tax rebate.” (一些經濟學家不認同政府的過度花費政策。他們不認為辦奢華舞會對促進經濟有什麼幫助, 堅決要求退稅); “ A rock-solid team is the key element for a successful enterprise.” (堅若磐石的團隊是成功企業的主要因素); “ He always has a few tricks/ideas up his sleeve if things go wrong.” (出了問題, 他總有一些錦囊妙計來應付) 由於這本速查典係以注音符號編排, 所以使用上頗為方便, 紙張套色柔和舒適, 本人覺得是一本值得“唸” 而非只是“查” 的好字典, 採用“對等詞”(equivalents)的觀念來編篡是非常值得嘉許的。 刨根究底可以用 inquisitive, prying, nosy, 如果說 He’s inquisitive to a fault. 就是刨根究底令人討厭到極點了, to an extreme 事情便不好玩了, Which is the cause, which is the effect? 就像問 Which comes first? The chicken or the eggs? It refers to questions without answers. 而因果關係就叫 cause and effect, 譬如到底何種因素使人致癌？致癌物英文叫 carcinogen, 它不易確定, 因為共同存在的原因太多, 而且彼此也會互相影響, 你不易分離眾多共存因素的影響, 所以醫生需要有嚴格方法論(methodology)的訓練, 方能掌握正確的病因, 而不是用臆測。Effect 在此明顯用作名詞, 作為結果來用, 但有時它也可當動詞, 意思是“使某事發生”( cause something to happen), 如 “The new president effected (=made, caused) many changes to the company.” 新總裁對公司做了諸多改革。Affect 則指影響某人或某事(to act on or change someone or something), 像 “ Rain affected(=influenced) their performance.” 但是當動詞的affect 與當名詞的 effect 用在同一文章脈絡中的時候, 意思便很類似了, 如 The weather affected our plans.= The weather had an effect on our plans. =The weather caused us to change our plans. Put your brain in gear before you put your mouth in motion. 這句話也是汽機車時代來臨後的產物, 開車前一定要把排擋弄妥, 車才能開得順暢, 說話前ㄧ定要思考, 否則容易失言 It’s a slip of tongue. 而且往往禍從口出 Careless words can lead to disaster, 造成無的放矢的窘境 shooting aimless。難怪有句古諺 An old adage says, “ You have two eyes and two ears but only one mouth. Therefore, look and listen twice as much as you speak.” 真是有趣的聯想。所以措詞遣句(choice of words, diction)需格外小心, 否則動輒得咎, We should weigh our words, being cautious so as not to offend others. 選用委婉語(euphemism), 避用冒犯他人的話(profanity)。 人與人之間常有閒聊之時, While waiting for the bus, they struck up a conversation to pass the time. “strike up a conversation” 是開始聊天。 Let’s have a beer and shoot the breeze. “shoot the breeze” 微風往事, 大有開軒面場圃, 把酒話桑蔴的閒情雅致, 只是有時話不投機, 猶如對牛彈琴, 英文中也有 “ cast pearls before swine” 或 “speaking to a brick wall” 類似的比喻, 也算是“對等詞”(equivalents)了。如果達到推心置腹, 互吐心聲, 則可用“We talked our hearts out.” 甚至“ We spilled our guts to each other.” 那就是披肝瀝膽互通款曲了。
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