中英同义习语谈.doc

中英同义习语谈一篇文章写得生动与否，与作者对习语的运用是否灵活适当有关。西游记、水浒传等长篇小所以为人传颂，除了小说本身具有吸引力之外，作者运笔通俗明畅也有关系。在进行翻译工作时，要注意到英两种语言中有一部分同义的习语是可以互相借用的，而这种情况也着实不少。不过，台果要详细地加以剖析，同义习语也可以分为三大类：（一）   内容、形式、形象和比喻相同或极相似的。例如： 打铁趁热 Strike the iron while it is hot.(或Strike while the iron is hot.) 妇人单行 Women have long tongues.：笔者并不赞同此语别扭含义。）祸不单行 Misfortunes never come singly.得进尺 Give him an inch and hell take an ell.(按：ell厄尔，长度名称，在英国等于四十五英寸)说操，操就到 Talk of the devil and hes sure to appear.上面所举的例子是以句子的形式出现，但更多的习语是以片语的形式出现的：玩火 To play wit fire (暗示一个人正在做着一些会导致本身危险的事情)骑墙坏蛋放心泼冷水见世面伤感情看风势顺风流晴天霹雳以牙还牙以眼还眼全心全意空中楼阁沧海一粟瞬息之间很多习惯用语本身已含有动词，只要加上主语和稍作改动便可成句子了。例如：火上加油洗手不干混水摸鱼油腔滑调大开眼界露出马脚漆黑一团毛发倒竖捧上天去（二）   用字不同，意思相等，不借用形象或比喻。例如： 一举 At one stroke(stroke具有“一举，“一打”，“一动”等意) 一成不变Hard and fast(此误不能按hard 和fast 的字面意思作解) 一报还一报Tit for tat(同义的习语还有：butter for fat) 一阵阵 （不规则地）By fits and starts 乱七八糟Stuff and nonserse(stuff可解作无聊而荒唐的说话) 来来往往 To and fro 断断续续Off and on 前前后后 Back and forth (注意back上定要放在前面) 空洞无物Null and void 时时刻刻 Every now and then 吊儿朗当 To dilly dally(dilly dally也可写成一个字：dillydally,指一个人把时间无无谓谓地浪费了) 挑来挑去 To pick and choose 迂回曲折 Twists and turns(twists指道路弯弯曲曲，rurns指道道路转弯抹角) 既往不咎 To let bygones be bygones(bygones指已经过去了的事情) 焕然一新 Spick-and-span(spick只有喧样的一个用途，此语单作形容词用) 智穷才尽 At ones wits end（三）   比喻有出入，但引申的意义相同。例如：牛钦 To drink like a fish 开夜车 Fto burn the midnight oil摆架子 To put on airs出风头 To cut a smart figure眼中钉 A thorn in the flesh左右手 Right-hand man如坐针 To sit in thorns终成泡影 To end in a smojke千钧一发 To hang by a thread 束之高阁 To be put on the shelf寿命不长 Ones days are numbered半身士 To have one foot in the grave水底捞月 To fish in the air原形毕露 To show ones true colours捕风捉影 To beat the air亡羊补牢 To lock the stable door after the horse is stolen海底捞针 To look for a needle in a haystack半斤八两 Six of one and half a dozen of the other非驴非马 Neither fish nor flesh 日暮途穷 On ones last legs铁右心肠Marble-hearted艳如桃花 as red as a rose高出一头 head and shoulers over显出真面目 To come out in ones true colours湿如落汤鸡 As wet as a drowned rat岁月不特人 Time and tide wait for no man.无风不起浪 There is no smoke without fire打开天窗说亮话 To put all cards on the table.