【百帖笔记领勋章】游走在中西文化之间

keepdancing

为响应Yearhappy同学发起的【百帖笔记领勋章】英语学习活动，特发此帖。不过，因为我做翻译工作的职业性质，我的帖并不专注于英语学习，而是中英文并重，既给想学好英文的网友们参考，同时也提醒大家不要丢掉自己的母语。我且把这顶楼作为目录吧，时时更新，与大家共勉。

1. "Yes" or "No"? “是”与“否”的正确运用。

keepdancing

1. Yes or No?

一个简单的是否问题，常常是英语初学者容易犯的错。我且把口语时遇到的语言问题随手拈来。在就业机构做口译遇到的客户不少是英语的全文盲，也有些勇于开口讲英语，多半是隔离疙里疙瘩的英语，偶尔也有乍一听起来还很顺溜的英语，但常常很难经得起推敲，所以他们还需要翻译服务。

Employment Consultant: You didn't submitted the medical certificate to the CenterLink, did you?
译员: 你还没把医生证明送到福利部吧？
Client: Yes, yes. 又中文讲了一遍：对！我还没送。
译员: No. I didn't.
Employment Consultant: Why the client said "yes" and the interpreter said "No"? You did or you didn't?
具体情形我也记不大清了，反正来回出现了好几回这问题。因为客户时不时英语插话，这位就业顾问以为客户她能充分表达自己，也就胡涂了，问我为什么译员跟客户说的是反着的，他说的是Yes，我说是No。我也不方便在电话上长篇大论地解释，就简单说了一下有些情况下中英文语言习惯相反，客户讲Yes，但想实际表达的却是No的意思。这就是为什么你们需要翻译服务。

KEEPDANCING小提示，英语初学者出现Yes/No错乱的情况，往往是对方用否定问句的形式来提问的情况。要想避免用错，你可以不管对方提问方式，直接根据你想回答的事实状况来决定用Yes还是用No。

例如，
问：You haven't had your lunch, right? 你还没吃中午饭吧？
答：是呀，还没吃。No, I haven't.

你不要考虑对方怎么来问，你就想还没吃，所以直接就用No来回答就对了。而不要按中文习惯生硬地译成Yes来回答。中文的这个“是呀”肯定的是对方的说法，肯定的是没吃，也就是说中文习惯是照顾着对方的语气来说对还是不对，而英语是直接根据事实来决定Yes还是No。

yping88

I take a very strong stand on keeping my mother tongue flow through my next generation's life!

楼猪，您喝汤了么？

yearshappy

keepdancing 发表于 17-9-2014 00:51
1. Yes or No?

一个简单的是否问题，常常是英语初学者容易犯的错。我且把口语时遇到的语言问题随手拈来 ...

Looking forward to seeing the 2nd, the 3rd and more.

elin-lu

LZ请继续。

向你学习。

keepdancing

找工的话，招工广告上时而会看到"front of house staff"的说法，这就是指需要直接面对客户的员工。如果是饭店的话，那就包括从开门的、拿行李的、前台的接待乃至大堂经理。相应也有"back of house staff"的说法，就是后台服务人员，这包括厨师、花工等等。

For a pub, front of the house staff would be the barkeeps, waitrons, hosts, and so on; staff with direct customer contact. Back of the house staff would be cooks, dishwashers, and so on with no direct customer contact. Likewise, front of the house is the part of the pub the customers see while the back of the house is the kitchen, storerooms, and other parts of the pub the customers don't see.

三溪香茗

好贴, 学习

Bonie

这个俺明白

keepdancing

看房时，习惯性问房产中介建筑面积多少，中介往往回答是多少多少个squares？什么什么呀？这房的建筑面积36 squares，那房建筑面积44 squares？到底单位是什么？要看平方米还需要换算一下。接触多了才明白原来一个square是一百平方英尺，约合9.29平米，中介抱残守缺，反映了大英帝国的历史上的影响尤在。

1 square equals 100 square feet, approximately 9.29 square metres

1 acre equals approximately 400 squares

愚夫

继续等者上新菜～～

Clareimmi

keepdancing 发表于 17-12-2014 09:09
看房时，习惯性问房产中介建筑面积多少，中介往往回答是多少多少个squares？什么什么呀？这房的建筑面积36  ...

very informative! thanks for sharing~~

keepdancing

mayday
Some people may be wondering why anybody would yell "May Day" when they are in trouble. Here is why:

It derives from the French "m'aidez", pronounced "mayDAY," and means literally "help me."
If you are in distress while flying an airplane, calling "Mayday mayday mayday" over the radio will give you top priority and any help people on the ground or in the air can offer.

keepdancing

英语水平要想提高，就要多留心多学习，少些想当然。
拿这么一例来讲 “What a shame!”  有多少人会误以为是“真丢人”，“好没面子”，“真不要脸”这样的话。其实不然，“What a shame!" 不过是句安慰人的话了，跟"What a pity！" 一个意思。
Fig. an expression of consolation meaning That's too bad. (Can also be used sarcastically.)
例句：
Bill: I'm sorry to tell you that the cat died today.     Mary: What a pity!
Mary: The cake is ruined!       Sally: What a shame!

再如，
我在给就业机构做口译时，一位工作人员跟客户讲了下面的话：
"Your placement consultant caught a bad cold. She cannot come today. What a shame!"
就业顾问因为患感冒不能来上班了，真遗憾！

你要是只从shame有关”羞耻、耻辱、脸面、丢人”这些概念去理解，你就会奇怪--人家只不过得了感冒，有什么可丢人的呢？