“小三兒”到底該怎么譯?
英文聯(lián)播 2015-08-26 09:54
courtesan
歐洲王室和貴族們包養(yǎng)的情婦。
和concubine一樣,courtesan是個“古香古色”的詞,因為住在宮廷,所以和court看起來很像,實際上,隨著民主化的發(fā)展,這種職業(yè)正在式微,但也并未消失,現(xiàn)在典型的courtesan,主要是生意,無關(guān)感情。
例句;
Dutch exotic dancer, courtesan, and accused spy who was executed by firingsquad in France for espionage for Germany during World War I.
她生前曾是一名荷蘭脫衣舞娘、情婦、間諜,最終因在一戰(zhàn)期間為德國做間諜而被法國行刑隊處死。
concubine
實際上,用concubine表示“小三兒”是不確切的,更準(zhǔn)確地說,concubine是“小妾”或“妃子”,楊貴妃和甄嬛都曾是concubine,這沒什么拿不上臺面的,制度使然。在這個意義上,concubine本身不承擔(dān)道德義務(wù),倒是某種前現(xiàn)代制度的犧牲品。
例句:
The Islamic State vowed to kill all the men and make concubines of the women. (Washington Post)
伊斯蘭國號稱要?dú)⑺浪心腥?,讓女人為妾?/p>
Persian King Darius III also had several wives and kept a stock of 360 royal concubines “for his own personal use.”
波斯國王大流士三世有數(shù)個妻子,和360個妃子供自己享樂。
home wrecker
One who comes into your life, and screws it all up. This involves stealing your boyfriend/girlfriend, puppy, your friends, until they pretty much take over your entire life.搶走你男人的女人。
That home wrecker stole my man!!
那個女人搶走了我男人!
I am Jackie, you are Marilyn
我是正房,你是小三兒。
這個說法有點(diǎn)意思,Marilyn招誰惹誰了,怎么就小三兒了呢。這背后有個典故,Jackie是美國前總統(tǒng)肯尼迪的夫人Jacqueline Kennedy,聰明又優(yōu)雅;不說也知道了,Marilyn就是Marilyn Monroe,甜美誘人的夢露,夢露就是傳言中肯尼迪的小三兒,于是Jackie和Marilyn的形象也刻板化為正房和小三兒了。
hanky-panky本意是偷雞摸狗的小伎倆,引申為不合法的兩性關(guān)系,也用來泛指男女間卿卿我我的事。
We do not allow any hanky-panky around here.
在這里,我們不允許任何胡來的事。
play the field
腳踩兩只船,玩弄別人感情??赡苓@不違法,但沒道德。一個腳踩兩只船的人怎么說?Two-timer。
She's not interested in marriage at this stage, so she's quite happy to play the field.
她目前還不想結(jié)婚,所以樂得腳踩兩只船。
Fling
短期的同居關(guān)系,比一夜情要長,又沒有婚外情那么嚴(yán)肅。
It was just a fling with David... I don't expect it to go into a relationship.
我和大衛(wèi)只是玩玩而已,沒想跟他談戀愛。
fornication
很正式的詞,表示通奸。
The policy also mandated disciplinary action for sexual assault, incest, adultery and fornication. (Reuters)
該政策還對性侵、亂倫已經(jīng)通奸等行為采取懲戒處分。
(來源:英文聯(lián)播,編輯:Helen)