問:「急屎」、「急尿」的英文通俗說法是什麼?
答:英文有
to be caught/ taken short這說法,指「沒有準備」或「突然急須大便或小便」,例如:( 1) After cutting its workforce by half, the factory was
caught short by a record order(工廠工人減半之後,卻收到歷來最大的訂單,一時措手不及)。(
2) Taken short when going to work, he rushed into a restaurant and used their
toilet(他上班時突然內急,匆匆走進一家餐廳,借廁所用)。
To be caught short沒有說明是要幹大事還是小事。要說明,小事可用 to pee、 to do/ take/ have a pee、 to go for a pee等,大事則可把上述的
pee改為 poo或 poop,例如: I urgently/ badly/ desperately need to pee(我急着要去小便)。此外, to be bursting for a pee有「要爆了,須小便」的意思。
問: As一字,往往譯做「作為」。第二版《朗文當代高級英漢雙解辭典》就有以下例子:「 I
like her as a person, but I don't think much of her as a writer作為一個普通人,我是喜歡她的,但是作為一個作家,我對她的評價並不高。」這譯法很刺眼,不像中文。中文可以怎樣譯?
答:那句翻譯論意思也有問題,等於英文 As a person, I like her, but as a writer I don't think
much of her,即「我作為一個人」和「我作為一個作家」,但原文當然不是這個意思,可改譯如下:「我喜歡她這個人,對她的寫作卻不敢恭維。」