傲慢與偏見 | 小婦人 | 寵兒

雙語達人:英國人討厭的美式英語

時間:2012-09-21 10:15:13 來源:滬江編輯:Jasmine ? 可可英語APP下載 | 可可官方微信:ikekenet

字號：大 | 中 | 小

評論

打印

收藏本文

As an expat living in New Orleans，it is a very long list but "burglarize" is currently the word that I most dislike.

作為一名生活在新奧爾良的僑民，我有很長一串清單，但是“burglarize（破門盜竊）”是我目前最不喜歡的詞。（英國用burgle）

"Oftentimes" just makes me shiver with annoyance. Fortunately I've not noticed it over here yet.

“Oftentimes（經常）”會讓我惱怒得直哆嗦。幸運地是，我在這里還沒看到過。

Eaterie. To use a prevalent phrase，oh my gaad！

Eaterie（餐館）。經常聽到，天吶！！

I'm a Brit living in New York. The one that always gets me is the American need to use the word bi-weekly when fortnightly would suffice just fine.

我是住在紐約的英國人，讓我難受的一點是美國人需要用bi-weekly（每兩周一次），fortnightly明明足夠好用了。

I hate "alternate" for "alternative". I don't like this as they are two distinct words， both have distinct meanings and it's useful to have both. Using alternate for alternative deprives us of a word.

我討厭用“alternate”替代“alternative”。我不喜歡這個因為它們是不同的兩個詞，它們分別有不同的意思，兩者都很有用。用alternate替代alternative會讓我們失去一個詞。

"Hike" a price. Does that mean people who do that are hikers？ No， hikers are ramblers！

“Hike（提升）”價格。那是不是意味著“提升價格的人”可以用hikers表示？不，hikers（旅行者）是“漫游者”的意思好不好！

Going forward？ If I do I shall collide with my keyboard.

Going forward（前進）？如果我要打這個詞，我勢必要和我的鍵盤搏斗一番。

I hate the word "deliverable". Used by management consultants for something that they will "deliver" instead of a report.

我討厭“deliverable（交付物）”這個詞。管理顧問常用這個詞來表達他們要“deliver（交付）”的某個替代report的東西。

The most annoying Americanism is "a million and a half" when it is clearly one and a half million！ A million and a half is 1，000，000.5 where one and a half million is 1，500，000.34.

最讓人惱火的美式英語是“a million and a half”，正確的明明應該是one and a half million. A million and a half 是1000000.5，one and a half million是1500000。

"Reach out to" when the correct word is "ask". For example： "I will reach out to Kevin and let you know if that timing is convenient". Reach out？ Is Kevin stuck in quicksand？ Is he teetering on the edge of a cliff？ Can't we just ask him？

用“reach out to”而不是正確的“ask”。比如，“I will reach out to Kevin and let you know if that timing is convenient.（我會問一下凱文，看看時間是否方便。）”難道凱文在流沙區嗎？或者他在懸崖邊搖搖欲墜？難道我們就不能“問”一下他？

Surely the most irritating is： "You do the Math." Math？ It's MATHS.

最激怒人的當然就是：You do the Math.（你自己來算一下。）”Math？應該是MATHS！

I hate the fact I now have to order a "regular Americano". What ever happened to a medium sized coffee？

我討厭我現在必須點“regular Americano（常規美式咖啡）。”為什么就不能說a medium sized coffee呢？

My worst horror is expiration， as in "expiration date". Whatever happened to expiry？

我最討厭的詞是expiration（截止），比如“expiration date（截止日期）”。為什么不用expiry？

My favourite one was where Americans claimed their family were "Scotch-Irish". This of course is totally inaccurate， as even if it were possible， it would be "Scots” not "Scotch".

我最喜歡的一個就是美國人宣稱他們的家庭是“Scotch-Irish（蘇格蘭-愛爾蘭血統的）”。這當然是完全錯誤的，即使這是一種可能的表達，那么也應該是“Scot”而不是“Scotch”。

I am increasingly hearing the phrase "that'll learn you" - when the English (and more correct) version was always "that'll teach you". What a ridiculous phrase！

我聽到越來越多人說“that'll learn you（這是給你的教訓。）”——明明英語（更加正確的）的版本應該是“that'll teach you.” 多么荒謬的表達！

I really hate the phrase： "Where's it at？" This is not more efficient or informative than "where is it？" It just sounds grotesque and is immensely irritating.

我真的很討厭這個表達：“Where's it at？（在哪兒？）”這并沒有比“where is it？”更有效率或蘊含更多信息。它聽起來很荒唐，而且非常惹人厭。

Period instead of full stop.

用“period（句號）”代替full stop。

My pet hate is "winningest"， used in the context "Michael Schumacher is the winningest driver of all time". I can feel the rage rising even using it here.

我最討厭文本中出現“winningest（常勝的）”，比如“邁克爾·舒馬赫是有史以來的最常勝（winningest）賽車手”。即使這樣用，我也覺得很憤怒。

My brother now uses the term "season" for a TV series.

我的弟弟現在用“season（季）”來談論電視劇了。

Having an "issue" instead of a "problem".

Having an “issue（問題）”而不是“problem”。

I hear more and more people pronouncing the letter Z as "zee". Not happy about it！

我聽到越來越多人把字母Z發成zee的音。不開心！

To "medal" instead of to win a medal. Sets my teeth on edge with a vengeance.

“medal（贏得獎牌）”而不是win a medal。我差點要破口大罵了。

"I got it for free" is a pet hate. You got it "free" not "for free". You don't get something cheap and say you got it "for cheap" do you？

“I got it for free（我免費得到它）”是我最討厭的表達。你是“免費（free）”得到它，而不是“為了免費（for free）”。你不會買到一個便宜的東西，然后說你買到它“為了便宜”，對吧？

"Turn that off already". Oh dear.

Turn that off already.（把那個關掉）。天吶！

"I could care less" instead of "I couldn't care less" has to be the worst. Opposite meaning of what they're trying to say.

用“I could care less（我一點也不在乎）”，而不是“I couldn't care less”，是我見過最糟糕的表達。與他們想要說的意思完全相反。

查看《雙語達人》更多內容>>

保存到QQ日志登錄QQ空間

重點單詞		查看全部解釋
shiver	['ʃivə]	想一想再看 vt. 顫動(碎裂) n. 冷顫(碎塊)
ridiculous	[ri'dikjuləs]	想一想再看 adj. 荒謬的，可笑的	聯想記憶 X 單詞ridiculous 聯想記憶： rid笑+ic+ulous多…的→多笑的→可笑的
context	['kɔntekst]	想一想再看 n. 上下文，環境，背景	聯想記憶 X 單詞context 聯想記憶： con共同，text編織－共同編織上下文
distinct	[dis'tiŋkt]	想一想再看 adj. 獨特的，不同的，明顯的，清楚的	聯想記憶 X 單詞distinct 聯想記憶：在拉丁語中原是distinguish（v 區別；辨別）的過去分詞
cliff	[klif]	想一想再看 n. 懸崖，峭壁
annoyance	[ə'nɔiəns]	想一想再看 n. 煩惱，生氣，令人討厭的人或事情
rage	[reidʒ]	想一想再看 n. 狂怒，大怒，狂暴，肆虐，風行 v. 大怒
efficient	[i'fiʃənt]	想一想再看 adj. 效率高的，勝任的	聯想記憶 X 單詞efficient 聯想記憶： ef出+fic做，制作+ent→能做出事來→有效率的
dislike	[dis'laik]	想一想再看 v. 不喜歡，厭惡 n. 不喜愛，厭惡，反感	聯想記憶 X 單詞dislike 聯想記憶： dis不，消失掉+like喜愛→不喜愛
collide	[kə'laid]	想一想再看 vi. 碰撞，互撞，砥觸	聯想記憶 X 單詞collide 聯想記憶： col共同，lide碰撞