問:「捨不得」怎樣翻譯才好?有人譯做miss,但似乎不大貼切。
答:Miss不是「捨不得」,而是「懷念」或「發覺不見了」。親友惜別時,說I'll miss you是表示「我會懷念你」,但不可因此而認為miss即「捨不得」。Where did you miss your wallet?是問「你在哪裏發覺不見了錢包」,不可解作「你在哪裏失去錢包」或Where
did you lose your wallet?
「捨不得」可譯作grudge或begrudge,例如:(1)The miser grudges / begrudges
his dog its food(那吝嗇鬼捨不得餵他的狗)。(2)He
grudges / begrudges having to pay so much(他捨不得花那麼多錢)。Grudge和begrudge同義,但begrudge之後,多用說人、動物、機構等的名詞,例如his dog;grudge之後,多用說某種行為的ing動詞(gerund),例如having to pay。
問:廣東話「笑到見牙唔見眼」英文有傳神譯法嗎?
答:英文有to grin / smile / beam from ear to ear這說法。Grin是「露齒而笑」,而這笑容一直「伸展到兩耳」,應是「見牙唔見眼」了。此外,to be all smiles是「滿面笑容」,to laugh one's head off則是捧腹大笑,例如:(1)He was all smiles / was beaming from ear to ear when he came
out of the manager's office(他走出經理室時,笑容燦爛)。(2)When I fell off the ladder, he laughed his head off(我從梯子上摔下來,他捧腹大笑)。