Lesson 8 习语的翻译

Lesson Eight(第八课) 习语的翻译 Translation of Idioms

Both English and Chinese language are abundant in idioms and idiomatic phrases. e.g. Spare the rod and spoil the child. 玉不琢，不成器。 The two teams went halves with each other in the game. 旗鼓相当，势均力敌，难分胜负 The other girls disliked her way of making eyes at their boy friends instead of finding one of her own. 暗/滥送秋波 Now, gentlemen, I am a man who does things by halves. Being in for a penny, I am ready, as the saying is, for a pound. do things by halves: 半途而废 in for a penny, in for a pound: 一不做，二不休

I. What is an Idiom?1. English idiom “Succession of words whose meaning is not obvious through knowledge of the individual meanings of the constituent words but must be learnt as a whole.”

-- ALD (Advanced Learner’s Dictionary) in the narrow sense: the real meaning is different form the literal meaning in the broad sense: set phrase, proverb, slang, vulgarism, epigram, maxim, …

2. Chinese idiom

习语：“熟语的一种，习用的固定词组， 在汉语中多数由四字组成，组织多样，来源不 一，有些可以从字面理解，如‘万紫千 红’‘乘风破浪’;有些要知道来源才懂，如 ‘青出于蓝’(《劝学》荀子),‘守株待兔’ (《五蠹》韩非子) ――《辞海》

3. diversity and similarity between Chinese and English idioms

1) diversity and similarity in form: similarity: set collocations of words or characters diversity: Chinese idiom: mostly four characters, occasionally three(破天荒，马后炮…) or more than four characters(久旱逢甘 霖，三下五除二，风马牛不相及，醉翁之意不在酒…) English idiom: not set in form, sometimes two words (give up,…),sometimes many words (be hard put to it), sometimes even a complete sentence (it’s the thought that counts)

2) diversity and similarity in imageDifferent culture leads to different images in idioms. pull someone’s leg: child’s play to spring up like mushrooms as mute as a fish at sixs and sevens to look for a needle in a haystack to show one’s colors

II. Classification of idiomsAccording to whether the English idioms and Chinese idioms are corresponding to each other, we can divide the idioms into three types: 1. corresponding idioms: same in meaning, structure and image; 2. partly-corresponding idioms: same in meaning, but different in structure, image, etc. 3. non-corresponding idioms: totally different

III. Translation of idioms

1. Corresponding idioms There are some English idioms corresponding to ready-made idioms both in meaning and in structure. Such idioms can be turned into corresponding Chinese ones and vice versa. 1) In ancient times if a man’s eye was put out by his enemy, he might get revenge by putting his enemy’s

eye out. This was the rule of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.. 2) You pretended that you were helping them out of their difficulty, but actually you are pouring oil on the fire and making matters worse. 3) If it is a wet summer the firm making mackintoshes will find good markets, if there is a heat wave there will be a special big demand for bathing suits, if we have shares in both we need not feel unduly anxious about the weather, for what we lose on the swings we shall gain on the roundabouts. 4) Wall has ears. 5) a bolt from the blue

2. Partly-corresponding idioms

1) The man is neither fish nor fowl; he votes Democrats or Republican according to which will do him the most good. 这个人什么党也不是，他投民主党还是共和党的票完全根据谁对 他最有利。 2) George was the apple of his father’s eyes. He did not like Harry, his second son, so well. 乔治是他父亲的心肝宝贝。 3) The two-party system is the apple of the capitalists’ eye, so far as maintaining their political control of the worker is concerned. 就资产阶级维护对工人的政治控制而言，两党制是资本家的法宝。

3. Non-corresponding idioms

1. literal translation: (alienization: 异化译法) 1) armed to the teeth: 武装到牙齿(c.f.:全副武装) 2) Kill two birds with one stone. 一石二鸟。 3) born with a silver spoon in one’s mouth: 嘴里衔着银匙出生的(比喻出身高贵) 4) 易如反掌: as easy as turning over one’s hand 5) 声东击西: to shout in the east and strike in the west 6) 口蜜腹剑: to be honey-mouthed and dagger-hearted

2. liberal translation:

1) to hang on sb.’s lips 对某人言听计从 2) to bend an ear to: 倾听；聚精会神地听 3) to have an axe to grind: 别有用心 4) to be full of beans: 精力旺盛；精力充沛 5) with a grain of salt: 半信半疑

6) 扬眉吐气： to feel proud and elated 7) 开门见山： to come straight to the point; 8) 大张旗鼓： on a large and spectacular scale 9) 风雨飘摇： (of a situation) being unstable 10) 胸有成竹： to have a well-thought-out plan before doing sth.

Exercises:Translate the following idioms into Chinese or English: 1. to spend money like water 2. to mind one’s P’s and Q’s 3. to be at the end of one’s rope 4. to laugh off one’s head 5. to have forty winks 将下列成语译成英语： 1 天涯何处无芳草。 2 身正不怕影子歪。 3 天网恢恢，疏而不漏。 4 佛要金装，人要衣装。 5 一失足成千古恨。