多维教程 探索课文+翻译

Unit 1 travel language旅行通用语The Academie Francasie has for decades been the watchdog over the French language. A few years ago, French sensitivity to the influx of English words became so great that law for the purification of French was adopted. The law covers even technical applications. For example, in theory, it is now compuslory in France to refer to the Boeing 747 as a gros-porteur, leasing as credit-bail, etc. the list is very long and detailed and applies to all facets of life. Mr. Chirac, the French President, might well expand on this list and come up with some new French terms for words such as "internet" or "byte stream" just to name a couple. The mind boggles at what the world might face. 数十年来，法兰西语言研究院一直捍卫着法语的尊严。

几年前，由于法国人对英语词汇的入侵非常敏感，该机构颁布了净化法语的法律，其内容甚至涉及专业术语。

就拿波音747 (Boeing747)来说吧，现在法国人必须用法语词gros-porteur；表示出租的leasing 也变成了credit-bail。

此类例子不胜枚举，触及生活的方方面面。

法国总统希拉克很可能会继续加大力度，直至连英特网internet和字节流(信息组)byte stream之类的词也找到相应的法语新词。

哎，真不知未来的法语会变成什么样。

Unfortunately (or perhaps not), the English language is not so protected. Quite apart from the unforgivable deviations from the king's English prevlent in America, where "honour" is commonly written as "honor" and "night" as "nite," many well-tested has also been give new meanings, making communication somewhat difficult. For example, the boot of a car has become to be called a trunk – a word reserved in England for the main part of a tree. The bonnet is a hood, good old nappies are diapers, and a baby's matinee jacket is a vest. It's obvious that the two countries are indeed separated by what once was a common language! From an American point of view, of course, it could be argued that the British speak English with a speech deficiency. 不幸的是(或许并非不幸)，英语没有受到如此的保护。

在美国，随处可见严重偏离英国标准英语的美式英语。

“honour”普遍被写成“honor”，“night”也变成了“nite”。

许多词意广为人知的英式英语单词被赋予新的解释，交流也变得有些困难。

比如说，汽车的行李箱“boot”变成了“trunk”(一个在英国指代树干的单词)；引擎盖“bonnet”变成了“hood”(英式英语中的风帽)；老式婴儿尿布“nappy”变成了“diaper”(英式英语中的菱格花纹织物)；婴儿小外套“matineejacket”也变成了“vest”(英国的内衣汗衫)。

显而易见，两国英语曾同出一源，而如今却将两国彼此隔离。

当然了，按美国人的观点，是英国人的语言表达出了问题。

Even worse English, however, is in use. Anyone who travels in foreign countries and observes it on menus and posters, in hotels, and indeed in everyday life can testify that what used to be the king's lingo has become in these places but a poor relation thereof. Allow me to elaborate. 实际使用中，甚至还有更糟的英语呢!只要你在外国旅游并注意一下菜单、海报、旅店、甚至当地日常生活中的英语，就可以证明过去的标准用语在这些地方已变得不伦不类，让我详例如下：The travel writer Perrot Phillips has taken pains to highlight some of his experiences, which I feel should not be withheld from a wider readership. He refers to a Dutch bulb catalogue which promised customers "a speedy execution" and to an East Berlin cloakroom sign that requested guests to "please hung yourself here." One hopes that nobody took the advice literally. 旅行作家波洛•菲利浦曾不惜笔墨地渲染自己的几番经历，我觉得该有更多的读者了解一下。

他提及某份荷兰的灯泡目录，上面对用户承诺有“a speedy execution’——快速处死(毫无疑问，想表达的应是“送货及时”)。

此外，东柏林的一个衣帽间告示要求客人“please hang yourself here”——请在这儿吊死自己(本想说的是“将衣帽挂在这儿”)。

只希望没人会真的从字面上去理解。

To these I can add some of my own experiences, encountered in long years of traveling the world. There was, for example, the observation in an Ostend novelty shop that "revolting new ideas" were being marketed, and the boast of some Bombay bakers that "we are No. 1 loafers, best values in whole town." 我还可以补充一些多年周游世界时的亲身经历。

例如，奥斯坦德的一家精品店正在宣扬其货品立意新颖，却用了“revolting new ideas”，即“令人作呕的立意”。

孟买的几家糕饼屋也鼓吹自己是“No.1 loafers”，目口头号游手好闲者，可是其本意是要宣称自己的糕饼全市第一。

I realized how far Christinanity had come when I read in Hong Kong the following call by a dentist: The teeth they are extracted here by the latest Methodists. 我并不知道基督教影响如此之广，直到我在香港看到一位牙医的宣传：“我们由最新的循道宗信徒拔牙”，这儿的“Methodists”(循道宗信徒)显然应改为“methods”，即“方法”。

I fear it can not be answered with certainty whether these actually illustrate a progressive use of English or are simply reflections of local usages. I feel quite strongly, however, that the Haifa Medical Association should have prevented one of its members from claiming on his brass plate that he is a "Specialist in Women and Other Diseases." 恐怕没人能确定这些误用实际上是体现了英语的普及还是仅仅反映了局限于地方的习惯用法。

但可以确定的是，海法医学会绝对应该阻止其会员挂这样的铜招牌：“妇女及其它疾病的专家”。

Hotels seem to revel in their multilingual signs. One supposes these signs were designed to facilitate the use of modern services in otherwise sterile and barely functional establishments. Nevertheless, the unsuspecting guests confronted in a Brussels hotel with the following instruction for the use of the life (elevator) might well prefer to walk: "To move the life, push button to wishing floor. If the cabin should enter more persons, each one should push number of wishing floor. Driving is then going alphabetically by natural order. Button retaining pressed position shows received command for visiting station." The less sophisticated notice in Istanbul ("To call room service, please to open door and call ROOM SERVICE") at least does not confront the guest with electronics that might not always work. . 看来旅店对多语种告示颇为青睐，希望它们会有利于人们更好地使用现代化设施。