句子:
I get a kick out of you.
誤譯:
我挨了你一腳。
正譯:
我為你瘋狂。
翻譯加油站:
原譯顯然錯了,因為“被某人踢了一腳”應該是get a kick/be kicked by somebody 而不是 get a kick/be kicked out of somebody。其實原文是一首美國流行歌曲的名字,其意思是“你(的愛情)使我快樂和激動”。這里的kick不是“踢”的意思,而取的是第二版 《英漢大詞典》所列的kick作為名詞的第7個義項:“(口語)極度的快感(或刺激),極大的樂趣”。如:
Watching football always gives him a kick.
觀看足球比賽總能使他感到很大的樂趣。
此說法也可以用復數:
He gets his kicks bossing people around.
他從任意差使別人中感到樂趣。
He didn't expect to win. He played only for kicks.
他并不指望能贏,他玩只是為追求刺激。
kick還可以表示“勁道”、“力量”、“迷戀”等,例如:
This wine has no kick in it.
這酒沒勁兒。
After the fifth round he had no more kick left in him.
五個回合之后,他一點兒勁兒也沒了。
kick前面可以有定語修飾,(be) on...kick是“熱衷于……”的意思,如:
They went on a mystery-reading kick.
他們迷上了偵探小說。
那么off a kick當然是“不再熱衷于某項活動”的意思,如:
Now most of them were off the surfing kick on the Internet.
他們中大多數人已不再熱衷于在因特網上沖浪。
不過在有些習語中,kick也可以表示不好的意思,前面說到give someone a kick是“使某人非常愉快”的意思,可是give someone the kick卻是字面意思表達的“踢某人一腳”,表示“叫某 人滾蛋”、“開除某人”的意思,如:
The boss gave him the kick because he drank when working.
因為他工作時喝酒,老板解雇了他。
get a kick in the pants,get a kick in the teeth 也是貶義的,如:
As a result, he got nothing but a kick in the pants.
結果他什么也沒有撈著,只挨了一頓剋。
The result of the vote gave that party a kick in the teeth.
投票的結果使該黨受到重大的挫折。
下面這個說法中的kick也屬于貶義:
Shaw is not very pleased with his new job; he says there are more kicks than halfpence.
肖對新工作不太滿意,他說那活計吃力不討好。