热
作者: 陈德彰“热”的英语是hot。“趁热打铁”是strike while the iron is hot,“热线”是hot line,“热浪”是hot wave,“热气球”是hot-air balloon,“热钱”是hot money,“热评”是hot review,“热加工”是hot work/treat。“热狗”是由hot dog译过来的,大家已很熟悉了,而从英语hot pants译过来的“热裤”(一种性感的紧身超短裤)是个时髦词。
汉语里有一些带有“热”字的谚语,英译也可用hot,如:“热极生风,穷则思变”是“Wind follows sweltering hot weather; desire for change follows extreme poverty.”,“心慌吃不得热粥,乘车看不得三国”是“Flustered people are hardly in the right mood to eat hot porridge, and car riders are hardly in the proper state to enjoy reading Romance of the Three Kingdoms.”。
比“热”温度低一些是“温(暖)”,相对应的英语是warm,但是英汉说法不完全一致,如“温室”(hot house)、“温床”(hot bed)、“温泉”(hot spring)等;“热心肠(古道热肠)”却是warm-hearted(所以“热诚”一般说warm and sincere),电脑的“热启动”是warm boot,体育比赛前的“热身”也说warm up(名词作warmup)。
hot的用法很多,《英汉大词典》第二版列举了28个义项。有些英语习语的意思好猜,如hot head(ed)指“急躁”;有些则不好猜,如hot foot是“急忙”的意思,如“He was running hot foot after the pickpocket.”(他急忙追赶扒手)。又如hot-desking指的是为节省办公室开支而采用“办公桌轮用”的做法。hot potato很像中文的“烫手山芋”,指“棘手的问题或事物”,可是hot (selling) commodity却类似中文说的“热门货”。sell hot / sell like hot cakes是“畅销/抢手”的意思,可是在美国俚语中hot (things)可以指“被警方追踪的人或赃物”,如:These items are too hot to get rid of.(这些东西不好脱手)。hot spot被误用以指“热点问题”,但实际上主要指“有麻烦的地方”。“热门话题”可以说hot issue/topic,“热门书”英语称为active title。
be hot at something是“(对……)很在行”的意思。be hot on somebody有几个意思,一是“迷恋某人”,如:He is really hot on the new girl.(他真的迷上了那个新来的姑娘。);二是“对某人非常严厉”,如:He is always hot on anyone who makes the slightest mistake.(谁要是出哪怕一点儿错,他总是非常严厉地指责。);三是“穷追不舍”,如:The police are hot on his trail.(警察在跟踪追捕他。)
同样,get hot也可以有各种意思,如:We got hot over the argument.(我们争论得面红耳赤。);They might get hot in the second half and win the match.(他们可能在下半场表现出色,赢得这场比赛。)所以,翻译时要特别注意上下文,弄明白其确切的意思。加上一个it又不一样,如:I’m sure you’ll get/catch it hot if your father finds it out.(我敢肯定,要是你父亲发现了一定会臭骂你一顿。)
把get换成give,give it hot to somebody则是“痛骂某人”的意思,如:The boss said he would surely give it hot to the betrayers.(头儿说他肯定会训斥那些叛徒。)按照这个路子可以很容易想到下面这一句的意思:The frequent visit of the police made the place too hot for him.(警察经常光顾,他没法再在这儿呆下去了。)
有许多词可修饰hot,如:red hot(赤热)、burning hot(炎热)、boiling hot(滚烫)和steaming hot(热气腾腾)等都很形象,意思从字面上能看出来;而英语表示“灼热”的说法有piping hot、scalding hot、searing hot、scorching hot、parching hot、blazing hot等。
hot也可以表示“辣”的意思(大概是因为“辣”和“热”的感觉有类似之处),如:This pepper is really hot.(这种辣椒真的很辣。)为了区别于“热”可用spicy一词表示“辣”。
英语“热”的名词是heat,指物体内部分子运动放出的热量,“燃烧热”是combustion heat,“熔化热”是fusion heat,“热膨胀”是heat expansion,“热污染”是heat pollution,“抗/耐热”是heat-resistant。heat用做动词是“加热”的意思。用作比喻的“热议”(热烈讨论)通常也说heated discussion。
英语表示“热”的还有别的词,如“发热/烧”是have/run a fever。对某事物的“狂热”可以用fever,如“(学)英语热”是English (learning) fever,也可以用craze或fad。“热潮”是fervor或upsurge。“热门”则可说popular或well received。
英语里还有一个表示“热”的词缀thermo-和同源的形容词thermal,主要用于科技英语,如“热动力学”是thermodynamics,“热变”是thermal change。
汉语说“热泪”,英语却只说tears,“热情”(enthusiasm)等词的英语往往另有专门的单词。
《论语》英译选登
君子不忧不惧。
A man of virtue is free of anxiety or fear.
四海之内,皆兄弟也。
All men under the sun are brothers.
子贡问政。子曰:“足食,足兵,民信之矣。”
When Zigong asked about how to govern a state, the Master said, “It is to have sufficient food supplies, sufficient armaments, and the public confidence.”
百姓足,君孰与不足?百姓不足,君孰与足?
If the people live in plenty, how can you (the sovereign) be left in want alone? If the people are in want, how can you live in plenty alone?
听讼,吾犹人也。必也使无讼乎!
I have the same ability in settling a lawsuit as others do. But what is important is to make sure there are no lawsuits!
(《〈论语〉最新英文全译全注本》,吴国珍,福建教育出版社,2012)