吐槽翻译

Translation is a challenging task. I observed many successful attempts on this forum recently. I attempted translation quite a bit in the past. I am sharing a few lessons from my own unsuccessful attempts. Monther tongue is so strong that it inevitably shows up in my translation. My attempts were mostly marredd with Chinglish. The English syntax is dramatically different from Chinese. My impression is English's priority in 4 W is this order, who, what, where, and when. Another impression is verb makes a stronger statement than noun, adjective, and adverb. I have to rely on dictionaries during translation due to my limited vocabulary. I learned that Chinese English dictionaries do not provide sufficient information to reveal subtle differences in English synonyms. Further reseach of a word using an English dictionary is essential. So much for my Chinglish, I am listing one example of problematic translations, at least I think they reveal the limitations of Chinese English dictionaries.

The word "Staggering" is not the best choice here. I guess the translator did not bother look up its definition in an English dictionary. 

Definition of staggering
: so great as to cause one to stagger : ASTONISHING, OVERWHELMING
a staggering feat
staggering medical bills

所有跟帖: 

主要是難於傳神,Coleman Barks 譯的鲁米無律無韵但廣受歡迎就是因為傳神。 -中间小谢- 给 中间小谢 发送悄悄话 (173 bytes) () 05/13/2021 postreply 10:41:04

握手! 俺考虑 wobbling -颤音- 给 颤音 发送悄悄话 颤音 的博客首页 (0 bytes) () 05/13/2021 postreply 16:52:24

体委一着急,让袁伟民去做足协主席。。。同是体育精神,翻译就是用排球规则去踢足球。。。 -FarewellDonkey18- 给 FarewellDonkey18 发送悄悄话 FarewellDonkey18 的博客首页 (0 bytes) () 05/13/2021 postreply 11:12:55

好奇,你这是亚马逊吗? -悟空孙- 给 悟空孙 发送悄悄话 悟空孙 的博客首页 (302070 bytes) () 05/13/2021 postreply 12:51:59

是的 -颤音- 给 颤音 发送悄悄话 颤音 的博客首页 (0 bytes) () 05/13/2021 postreply 16:53:05

这是KK最喜欢的诗人啊! -师太明年三十八- 给 师太明年三十八 发送悄悄话 师太明年三十八 的博客首页 (0 bytes) () 05/13/2021 postreply 19:07:20

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