移民英國生活了解英國人:近期BBC雜志精選了50條英國人最討厭的美式英語,小編表示做英倫style的紳士淑女真的好難。
1. When people ask for something, I often hear: "Can I get a..." It infuriates me. It's not New York. It's not the 90s. You're not in Central Perk with the rest of the Friends. Really."
當某些人想要什麽東西時,我經常聽到他們說:“Can I get a...(我能要一個……)”這讓我大爲惱火。這裏又不是紐約,又不是90年代,你以爲你是在Central Perk裏演《老友記》啊,真是的!
2. The next time someone tells you something is the "least worst option", tell them that their most best option is learning grammar.
下次要是有人跟你講XXX是the “least worst option”(最好選擇),你就告訴他們對于他們來說最最較好的選擇是滾回去學語法。
3. The phrase I've watched seep into the language (especially with broadcasters) is "two-time" and "three-time". Have the words double, triple etc, been totally lost? Grammatically it makes no sense, and is even worse when spoken. My pulse rises every time I hear or see it. Which is not healthy as it's almost every day now. Argh!
我經曆過的漸漸滲入到英語裏的短語(特別是播音員使用的)是“two-time(兩次)”和“three -time(三次)"。難道double啊triple啊什麽的都徹底消失了麽?從語法上來說,這根本構不成短語,而且用在口語中更糟糕。每次聽到或者看到它我就心跳加速。這對我的健康造成了威脅,因爲基本每天都要經曆這些。我去!
4. Using 24/7 rather than "24 hours, 7 days a week" or even just plain "all day, every day".
使用24/7來表達“全天候”,而不是“24 hours, 7 days a week”,或者就樸實地說“all day, every day”。
5. The one I can't stand is "deplane", meaning to disembark an aircraft, used in the phrase "you will be able to deplane momentarily".
我不能忍受的就是“deplane”這個詞,意思就是下飛機,用法是這樣的:“You will be able to deplane momentarily(您很快就能下飛機了)”。
6. To "wait on" instead of "wait for" when you're not a waiter - once read a friend's comment about being in a station waiting on a train. For him, the train had yet to arrive - I would have thought rather that it had got stuck at the station with the friend on board.
用“wait on”而不是“wait for”,而且你還不是服務員。有次我讀了一段朋友就在車站等車(waiting on a train)發表的評論。他所表達的意思是,火車一直沒到站。而我卻以爲朋友在車上,但是車卻困在了車站裏。
7. "It is what it is". Pity us.
“It is what it is.(這就是事實。)” 同情同情我們吧!
8. Dare I even mention the fanny pack?
敢不敢提fanny pack(腰包)啊?
9. "Touch base" - it makes me cringe no end.
“Touch base(聯系)”——這讓我不停地哆嗦。
10. Is "physicality" a real word?
“Physicality(物質性)”真的是一個詞嗎?
11. Transportation. What's wrong with transport?
Transportation(交通工具)。就不能用transport嗎?
12. The word I hate to hear is "leverage". Pronounced lev-er-ig rather than lee-ver-ig. It seems to pop up in all aspects of work. And its meaning seems to have changed to "value added".
我討厭聽到的詞是“leverage”。把它讀成lev-er-ig(美),而不是lee-ver-ig(英)。好像各行各業突然都這麽讀了,意思貌似也變成“附加值”了。(leverage在美式英語中有“舉債經營”的意思,英式英語用gearing表達此意)
13. Does nobody celebrate a birthday anymore, must we all "turn" 12 or 21 or 40? Even the Duke of Edinburgh was universally described as "turning" 90 last month. When did this begin? I quite like the phrase in itself, but it seems to have obliterated all other ways of speaking about birthdays.
難道沒人慶祝生日(celebrate a birthday)了嗎?我們一定都要“turn”12歲或者21歲或者40歲嗎?連愛丁堡公爵過生日也統統說成上個月他“turning”90歲。這是什麽時候開始的?我喜歡這個表達本身,但它似乎取代掉其他所有談論生日的說法了。
14. I caught myself saying "shopping cart" instead of shopping trolley today and was thoroughly disgusted with myself. I've never lived nor been to the US either.
我發現現在自己會說:"shopping cart(購物手推車)”而不是shopping trolley ,我非常討厭這一點。我從沒去過美國,也沒在美國生活過。
15. What kind of word is "gotten"? It makes me shudder.
"Gotten(get的過去分詞,美式用法)"到底是個什麽詞?它總是讓我不寒而栗。
16. "I'm good" for "I'm well". That'll do for a start.
用“I'm good(我很好)”替代“I'm well”。剛開始感覺都可以。
17. "Bangs" for a fringe of the hair.
用"bangs"表示劉海。
18. Take-out rather than takeaway!
說take-out(外賣)而不是takeaway!
19. I enjoy Americanisms. I suspect even some Americans use them in a tongue-in-cheek manner? "That statement was the height of ridiculosity".
我喜歡美式英語。不過我懷疑甚至一些美國人也是虛情假意地在用它們。“這份聲明簡直是荒謬(ridiculosity)。”
20. "A half hour" instead of "half an hour".
說“a half hour(半小時)”而不是“half an hour”。
21. A "heads up". For example, as in a business meeting. Lets do a "heads up" on this issue. I have never been sure of the meaning.
A “heads up(提醒)”。比如,在商業會議上說,Lets do a "heads up" on this issue. 我至今還不知道是什麽意思。
22. Train station. My teeth are on edge every time I hear it. Who started it? Have they been punished?
Train station(火車站)。每次聽到它,我就很惱火。誰開始用這個詞的?他們沒有被罰嗎?
23. To put a list into alphabetical order is to "alphabetize it" - horrid!
把一張表按照字母順序排列就是去“alphabetize it”——非常不爽!
24. People that say "my bad" after a mistake. I don't know how anything could be as annoying or lazy as that.
那些在犯錯後說“my bad(我的錯)”的人,我真不知道事情怎麽可以變得如此讓人惱火、將惰性體現得淋漓盡致的。
25. "Normalcy" instead of "normality" really irritates me.
用“normalcy(正常狀態)”而不是“normality”真的會激怒我。
26. As an expat living in New Orleans, it is a very long list but "burglarize" is currently the word that I most dislike.
作爲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)
27. "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,我在這裏還沒看到過。
28. Eaterie. To use a prevalent phrase, oh my gaad!
Eaterie(餐館)。經常聽到,天呐!!
29. 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。
30. 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”。我不喜歡這個因爲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。
31. "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“漫遊者”的意思好不好!
32. 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鬥一番。
33. 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。
34. 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 wher 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。
35. "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?
36. 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!
37. 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)。”爲什麽就不能說a medium sized coffee呢?
38. 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)”。爲什麽不用expiry?
39. My favourite one was wher 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,那麽也應該是“Scot”而不是“Scotch”。
40. 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.” 多麽荒謬的表達!
41. I really hate the phrase: "wher's it at?" This is not more efficient or informative than "wher is it?" It just sounds grotesque and is immensely irritating.
我真的很討厭這個表達:“wher's it at?(在哪兒?)”這並沒有比“wher 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。
42. Period instead of full stop.
用“period(句號)”代替full stop。
43. 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。
44. 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。
45. Having an "issue" instead of a "problem".
Having an "issue(問題)"而不是"problem"。
46. 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!
47. 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。
48. "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“爲了免費(for free)”。你不會買到一個便宜的東西,然後說你買到它“爲了便宜”,對吧?
49. "Turn that off already". Oh dear.
Turn that off already.(把那個關掉)。天呐!
50. "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。
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