2021年外交部精彩翻译 (4)

世界民众只能表示“呵呵”了

they will only be shrugged off by people around the world

7月12日，在被问及彭博社发布“全球抗疫排名”，美国排名第一的话题时，赵立坚回应道：

所谓的排名结果，把黑的说成白的、白的说成黑的，也许今后还能把死的说成活的。我想世界民众只能表示“呵呵”了，姑且把它当作茶余饭后的谈资吧。

 

The so-called ranking makes black look white, and white look black, and perhaps it will call the dead alive. They will only be shrugged off by people around the world and offer something for small talk.

Shrug off指“对……不予理睬（If you shrug something off, you ignore it or treat it as if it is not really important or serious. ）”，有“不屑一顾”的意思。

用在这里，该词准确地将拟声词“呵呵”中带有的“无语，漠然置之”的意思表达得淋漓尽致。