易錯翻譯解析：125 “拖后腿”和“開玩笑”

125 “拖后腿”和“開玩笑”

原 文：

Obviously she is pulling his leg.

原 譯：

她顯然是在拖他的后腿。

辨 析：

這又是一個從字面出發(fā)想當然的錯誤套譯。pull someone's leg和中文的“拖后腿”挨不上，是“騙人”的意思，尤其指開玩笑或愚弄某人。所以原句的確切意思是：她顯然是在跟他開玩笑。

英語中涉及到leg的習語很多，有的很容易看出其意思，如：

The boys ran as fast as their legs could carry them. 男孩們拼命地跑。恨不得長四條腿（腿能跑多快就跑多快）。

Two months after the operation she was able to get on her legs again. 手術(shù)之后兩個月，她又能站起來了。

The workmen were never off their legs the whole day. 工人們整天不得閑（老得站著）。

有的略有轉(zhuǎn)義，但仍能猜出其意思，如：

He began to stand on his own legs ever since fifteen when his parents died. 15歲那年他父母去世后，他就自立了。

If you took the matter to court, you wouldn't have a leg to stand on. 假如你把此事弄到法庭上去，你是理虧的（站不住腳的）。

有的則完全是英語習慣說法，很難從字面看出其意思，如：

That fellow is all legs. 那家伙是個瘦高個子。

He has got his ice legs very soon. 他很快就學會了溜冰。（把“溜冰”的本領(lǐng)說成有ice legs，簡單而形象，類似的說法還有g(shù)et one's sea legs，意為學會在顛簸的船上站穩(wěn)。）

If I could get a leg in, I could surely convince him. 他要是信得過我，我肯定能說服他。（get a leg in的意思是“取得某人信任”。）

It's nine o'clock. Show a leg, all of you! 已經(jīng)9點鐘了，你們都給我起來！（show a leg是口語用語，意思是“露面”或“起床”，注意不定冠詞a不能漏掉，show leg是“逃跑”的意思。）

千萬不要想當然地猜，如：have a bone in one's leg不是“堅強”，而是“腿動不了”（常用做不肯去某地的借口）；而have hollow legs不是“（腿里空空的）沒有力氣”，是“飯量很大”（食物一直可以灌到腿里）。

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