中文原文：

他干活兒常常泡蘑菇。

錯誤譯文：

He is often slow at work.

正確譯文：

1) He is often intentionally slow at work.

2) He often dawdles at work.

翻譯加油站：

泡蘑菇”具有“故意慢慢干活兒”的意思。to be slow at work 僅有“工作慢”的意思，可能是天生就慢，而不是故意的。“泡”的第一個意思是“浸在水或其他液體里”。

英語用 to steep, to soak, to pickle表示。例如：

這個理科學生做實驗太忙顧不上去食堂，就用開水泡方便面當午飯吃。
As the science student was too busy making experiments to go to the dinning room, he soaked the instant noodles in boiling water as lunch.

許多老人仍然保持泡臘八蒜的習俗。
Many old people still keep the custom of preserving garlics by soaking them in vinegar on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month.

現在的孩子是泡在蜜罐里長大的。
Nowadays the children are growing up sweetly as if they were soaked in a honey jar.

女主人給客人們泡了一壺綠茶。
The hostess steeped a pot of green tea for her guests.

她把臟衣服泡在水里。
She soaked the dirty clothes in the water.

“泡”的第二個意思，從消極方面講，是“長時間在一個地方無所事事或做一件無聊的事”；英語用 to dawdle表示。從積極方面講，是“長時間在一個地方專注做一件事”，英語用 to keep doing sth表示。例如：

這個青年中了網癮，整天泡在網吧里。As the young man has been addicted with the Internet, he dawdles all day long in a cyber bar.

這個學生不上課時就泡在圖書館里。
The student keeps studying in the library when he has no classes.