Error-correcting sentence patterns in senior high school English translation: common mistakes in English-Chinese newspaper translation (1)

1 Common mistakes in idiom translation

Regarding the concept of English idioms, The Dictionary of English Idioms clearly points out in the preface that the corresponding term of English idioms in Chinese is "idiom" or "idiom". Idioms/idioms are semantically and grammatically restricted phrases and sentences, which are used as a unit. Semantically, the meaning of idioms is not the sum of the meanings of individual words; Grammatically, the words inside are not allowed to be changed at will. For example, English It's raining cats and dogs means "pouring rain", not "getting off cats and dogs"; It is not allowed to be transformed into a downpour, nor is it allowed to be transformed into a downpour; ; In Chinese, "seven mouths and eight tongues" means "many people have many different words", not "seven mouths and eight tongues", and it is not allowed to be said as "seven mouths and eight tongues". So some people call it "ready-made discourse", and there is another saying called "idiomatic combination"

From the examples in this chapter, we can see that the most common mistake in English idiom translation lies in reading the text to create meaning. For example, the word "score" means "twenty", and I think that changing into plural scores means "dozens", but I don't know that the dictionary definition is "many, many". It can be seen that English idiom translation is easy to make mistakes. Besides, English verb phrases are widely used, but they are a headache for us in China. If we are not careful, we will make jokes. Literal understanding is often wrong. Verb phrases to tell someone. Off is an obvious example. Literally, it seems to mean "tell someone to go away", but when you look it up in the dictionary, it doesn't mean anything.

Please carefully study the following first example:

Example 1, is it "bargaining"?

On Monday, Georgia welcomed a new president, but in addition, it also welcomed the first lady, a green-eyed linguist from the Netherlands, who has successfully enchanted this small Caucasus country.

Sandra roelofs was regarded by some as the secret weapon that enabled her husband Saakashvili to win an overwhelming victory in the presidential election on Sunday. She accompanied her husband to participate in the election campaign. Her mastery of Georgian and easy-going attitude left a deep impression on voters, and even bravely turned on the electronic organ in a TV talk show.

However, this tall, slim, photogenic woman with strawberry blonde hair is not only the wife of a typical politician, she looks beautiful and stays behind the scenes all the time. She runs an investment consulting company and speaks six languages-she is currently studying the seventh-and some people think that she is the real brain behind her husband's rapid rise to power.

Original translation:

On Monday, Georgia realized that there was a new president, but after bargaining, she got the first lady from the Netherlands who knew several languages. She tried her best to fascinate the small country of Caucasus.

In some people's eyes, sandra roelofs is the secret weapon to make her husband Saakashvili win an overwhelming victory in Sunday's presidential election. She followed in her husband's footsteps in the election campaign. Because she mastered Georgian and was easy-going, she even bravely performed on the electric organ in a TV talk show, which left a deep impression on the voters.

However, this tall, slim and photogenic woman with strawberry red hair is not only the wife of a rigid politician, but also beautiful and moving, and has always stayed behind the scenes. She runs an investment consulting agency, speaks six languages and is currently learning a seventh language. Moreover, some people think that she is the real brain behind her husband's rapid rise in power.

Translation:

On Monday, Georgia woke up to find a new president and a green-eyed first lady from the Netherlands who knew several languages. She fascinated this small country in the Caucasus.

For some people, sandra roelofs is the secret weapon of her husband Saakashvili's overwhelming victory in Sunday's presidential election. She accompanied her husband during the campaign. Because she mastered Georgian and was easy-going, she even bravely played the electric organ in a TV talk show, which left a deep impression on the voters.

However, this tall, photogenic woman with strawberry red hair is not only beautiful, but also the wife of a model politician who stays behind the scenes. She runs an investment consulting agency, speaks six languages and is currently learning a seventh language. Moreover, some people think that she is the real brain behind her husband's rapid rise in power.

Comments:

There are several idioms to pay attention to in this example:

1, into the bargain is an idiom, which does not mean bargaining in business. Into the bargain is the same as in the bargain, which means "besides".

For example, if you have anything to do with such a plan, you will leave a good reputation and may lose your money in the transaction.

If you are involved in such a conspiracy, you are in danger of losing your reputation, or even losing everything!

2. Spell means "fascination".

3. Make a turn, where turn means "turn around" and fuzzy translation means "hit".

Well, this is the original content of the first issue, so it can cause great ambiguity. Next is my personal concern:

1, wake up: realize, realize.

2. try: realize, try.

3, make a turn: the word turn can be found in Kingsoft, which means program in slang. It's also right to translate it into performing a program with an electronic organ.

4. Strawberry Blonde: The word strawberry red hair is used in both translations. In fact, blonde hair is blonde hair, which should refer to reddish blonde hair, not red hair in the general concept. I searched the photos of the first lady of Georgia and confirmed this feeling. Personally, I think it is more accurate to turn it into' golden brown' hair. I don't know what you think.

Common Errors in English-Chinese Newspaper Translation (1) was compiled by the English Study Group in www.liuxue86.com.