中文俗語諺語英譯技巧

常見中文俗語諺語英譯技巧,大家知道時什麼嗎?接下來，小編給大家準備了中文俗語諺語英譯技巧,歡迎大家參考與借鑑。

1. 人山人海：在詩詞用語(poetic1 expression)裏，英美人也有使用：“a (the) sea of faces”，頗有咱的“人山人海”的味道。例如：Looking out upon the sea of faces, Mr. A delivered a touching2 speech.(望着一片人山人海的聽衆，A先生髮表一篇動人的演說。)Standing3 at his podium, President Clinton saw a sea of faces waving at him.(克林頓總統站在講臺上看到人山人海的人羣揮手向他致意。)。可見，說話者通常要在臺上或高處，纔有“人海”的感覺。因此，可以說：“I saw a sea of faces from the top of the building. ”但在平地的人羣中，就不說：“I saw the sea of faces.” 也不說：“There is a sea of faces.”只說：“I saw a large crowd of people.”

2、家家有本難唸的經：有人譯成：“Every family cooking-pot has a black spot.”(意思是：每個家庭的鍋子都有黑色的污點。)這樣說法，英美人恐怕不能充分了解。不過英美人最常見的說法是：“Many families have skeletons in the closet.(許多家庭的衣櫃裏都有骨骸，骨骸就是指家醜。)”;或者說：“Every family has its own source of shame.(每個家庭都有自己的醜事)”;說白些，就是：“Every family has its own problem.”

3、天下無不散的宴席：有人直譯爲：“There are no feasts in the world which do not break up at last.” 英美人聽後，也許很難體會其中意義。如果按照美語說法，也許更易理解：“All good things come to an end.(意思是：所有好的事情，總有結束的一天。)”;假如是指好友最後也有分別的一天，那麼可以說：“Eventually, all bosom4 friends will drift apart.(bosom friend是指知心的好友)”

4、平時不燒香，臨時抱佛腳：有人照字面意思直譯爲：“When times are easy, we do not burn the incense5, but when the trouble comes, we embrace the feet of the Buddha6.”這種說法，英美人也會一知半解。美語裏一般說法是：“Worship God every day; not just in times of adversity.(要每天敬拜神，不是隻在困難時。)”;對學生也可以說：“If you study hard every day, exams will not seem overwhelming.(如果你每天用功，考試就不會形成壓力。)”

5、掛羊頭，賣狗肉：有人照字直譯爲：“He advertises mutton, but sells dog’s flesh.”或“He hangs up a sheep’s head at the shop front and sells dog meat.”這兩種譯法，恐怕英美人都難理解，尤其談到“狗肉”，他們更會反感，因爲狗是他們最愛的寵物，不過英美人倒有相近的說法：“He applied7 bait-and-switch tactics in business.(他經商的策略是先引誘顧客來，再改變貨物的品質。

)”，“Bait-and-switch”當名詞用，也可不用連字號“This store uses bait and switch policy.” 或者簡單的說：“Let the buyer be aware!(讓消費者提高警覺)”或“Say one thing and do another.”

6、一言既出，駟馬難追：有人譯成：“One word lets slip and four horses will fail to catch it. 或 A statement that once let loose cannot be caught by four galloping8 horses.”這兩種說法，中文味道嫌重，英美人未必理解。不過他們倒有類似的說法：“A word once let go cannot be recalled.”或者說：“You cannot take back what you have said.(你說出的話，就不能再收回來。)”

7、禍從口出，言多必失：有人譯爲：“The mouth is the gate of misfortune and evil.”英美人聽了，恐怕不能完全理解。最好說成：“Careless talk leads to trouble.(不小心說話，會帶來麻煩)或“The less said the better.(說的愈少愈好)”甚至也可以說：“Shut the mouth and open the eyes.(閉嘴少說，張眼多看。)”

　擴展：商業提議Business Proposal

TIFFANY： We have the capital ready.

Right now I am looking at three different companies to produce our products.

And your company， Mr. Chen， seems to me to be the best for what we want.

TOM： I appreciate your remarks. And we are always happy to do more business.

But， you know， if we take on a contract to produce new products，

we want to be confident the product is marketable.

Because， to start producing new things requires a lot of preparation.

It requires a lot of investment for us.

TIFFANY： You have some doubts about our products， I understand.

TOM： I would like to offer you a good price.

But I won't be able to do that if I think this is a one-shot deal.

So I would like to have some confidence in your idea.

TIFFANY： Of course. Let me tell you in some detail about our idea.

You know the popular “Hello Kitty” products.

TOM： Yes， of course.

TIFFANY： Well， the products in themselves are very simple.

It is the logo that is successful.

So， “Hello Kitty” is successful because of the logo， but the products are very simple.

TOM： And I would say the logo is successful mainly because it comes from Japan.

It is the Japanese that have made it a fad1.

TIFFANY： That might be true.

But we have a logo concept that is great. It is really great.

I think it will catch on in Taiwan at least. Young people will love it.

It is because of our logo that our products will sell.

We just need someone to produce the products for us.

We have the backup and people to do the marketing2.

TOM： So what you are really trying to sell is a fad.

TIFFANY： Yes， we would like to make things like key chains，

plastic pencil sharpeners， plastic rulers， watches， wallets， things like that.

Little accessories for young people. But the reason these will sell is the logo.

Just like “Hello Kitty.”

TOM： I understand. But why won't you show me the logo?

TIFFANY： Because it hasn't been copyrighted. We want to get some protection for it.

But while we wait for copyright， we are investigating companies to produce the products.

TOM： I see. The problem， however，

is that I can't be confident in giving you a good price

unless I am confident your product will last.

TIFFANY： I understand. For now， though， you could just give us an estimated price.

We aren't going to sign a contract yet. We are just investigating.

I only need to know that your company is capable of producing the products.

And then， I only need a very rough idea of how much it might cost.

TOM： Alright. I understand. Right now you just want estimates.

TIFFANY： Yes.

蒂芬妮：我們的資金已準備好了。

至今我看過三間不同的公司可以生產我們的產品。

而陳先生，你的公司，在我看來是最符合我們公司所需要的。

湯姆：我很感謝你的描述。我們一直很樂意接更多的生意。

但是，你知道如果我們接下訂單來生產新的產品

我們要很有信心這個產品在市場上是有銷路的。

因爲，開始生產新的東西需要很多的準備。

我們需要很多的投資。

蒂芬妮：你對我們的產品有疑問，我很瞭解。

湯姆：我很想給你一個好價錢。

但如果我認爲這只是一次性買賣，我沒辦法那樣做。

所以我希望能跟你達成共識。

蒂芬妮：當然。讓我告訴你更多更詳細我們的想法。

你知道很暢銷的“奇蒂貓”產品吧。

湯姆：是的，當然。

蒂芬妮：嗯，產品的本身是很簡單的。

是它的商標使它成功。

所以，“奇蒂貓”會成功是因爲它的商標，但產品本身是很簡單的。

湯姆：我想說是它的商標會成功主要因爲它是從日本來的。

是日本人帶來流行起來的。

蒂芬妮：那或許是真的。

但我們的商標概念是很好的，真的很好。

我想至少在臺灣是會流行的，年輕人會喜歡的。

因爲我們的商標所以產品會有賣點。

我們只是需要人來替我們生產產品。

我們有後援也有人負責營銷。

湯姆：所以你們想要賣的是一個潮流。

蒂芬妮：是的，我們要做的產品是像鑰匙鏈，

塑料制的削鉛筆機，塑料制的尺，手錶，皮夾之類的東西。

小配件專給年輕人，但會暢銷完全是商標的原因。

就像是“奇蒂貓”一樣。

湯姆：我瞭解。但你爲什麼不讓我看這個商標呢?

蒂芬妮：因爲還沒有註冊，我們需要一些保障。

但當我們在等註冊的同時，我們可以評估哪一家公司能爲我們生產產品。

湯姆：我知道了。可問題是，

我不確定能給你一個好的價錢，

除非我能確定你們的產品是耐用的。

蒂芬妮：我懂了。現在你可以給我們一個估價。

我們還沒有要籤合約，我們還在評估。

我只是要知道貴公司是能夠生產這種產品的。

所以，我只需要一個非常粗略的想法及大約的費用。

湯姆：好，我瞭解了。現在你只是需要估量價。

蒂芬妮：是的。