英语中有一些词汇，假如望文生义，很容易产生误解，比如busboy，容易被认为是公共汽车售票员，但其实该单词的意思是餐馆的清洁工，其在餐馆里的地位比waiter或者 waitress要低一级，通常做清理桌子、把脏盘子搬运到厨房准备清洗、打扫厕所、吸地、干些杂活如择菜，包外卖等活儿。又如，serviceman这个单词容易被误解为“服务人员”，而事实上其通常指“军人”， The term serviceman, alternatively service member, refers to non-commissioned members of armed forces. 还有，rose hip不是“玫瑰臀部”，而是“玫瑰果”。
在参与制定公共服务领域外文译写国家标准的过程中，课题组成员曾经遇到一个引起争议的词条，即“客房服务”所对应的英语是否就是room service？答案是否定的。这里的room service切不可望文生义，其真正含义是指旅馆的“送餐服务”，即旅馆应客人之要求，把客人点的饭菜送到客服，供客人享用的服务。
网络百科辞典维基百科关于room service 有如下解释：
Room service or "in-room dining" is a hotel service enabling guests to choose menu items for delivery to their hotel room for consumption there. Room Service is organized as a subdivision within the Food & Beverage Department of high-end hotel and resort properties 从上文不难看出，所谓的room service 就是指高级宾馆为客人提供的送餐服务。
为了进一步验证room service 是否就是指宾馆的“送餐服务”，笔者尝试通过Google搜索到了美国的一些旅馆内部关于room service的说明。
美国波士顿的Seaport Hotel & World Trade Center 在其网页上对其提供的餐饮服务有如下介绍和宣传：
STAY IN WITH HOTEL ROOM SERVICE
YOUR OWN PERSONAL BOSTON RESTAURANT IN THE COMFORT OF YOUR HOTEL ROOM
Sometimes nothing beats breakfast in bed. Unless, it is a perfectly-cooked burger and sweet potato fries. With speedy hotel room service, our in-room dining menu is chock full of everything from favorites like cookies and milk to unique entrees from Aura Restaurant. Hotel room service is delivered to your door with a smile. 芝加哥的Drake Hotel in Chicago 对于其提供的In-room dining 服务介绍如下： A full course meal, refreshment, a choice selection from the wine list, and appetizers just right and light, or how about breakfast in bed? Room Service at the Drake Hotel is available Sunday through Thursday, 6 am to 1 am and Friday through Saturday, 6 am to 2 am. To make an in-room dining request, please call Room Service at 312.932.4620. 亚特兰大的Atlanta Four Seasons Hotel 在向客人介绍其餐饮服务时候有着如下文字：Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta In-Room Dining is a fine-dining experience within the comfort and convenience of your guest room or suite. Choose from an extensive room service menu – day or night – that is ideal for time-zone-hopping travelers and impromptu meetings, or for quiet, private dining.
该旅馆对其餐饮服务的时间说明如下：
Breakfast Every day 6:00 am-11:30 am
All-day dining Every day 11:30 am-11:00 pm
Late-night dining Every day 11:00 pm-6:00 am
参见：http://www.fourseasons.com/atlanta/dining/in_room_dining/
那么，宾馆的客房服务，应该怎么说呢？http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-hotel-housekeeper.htm#slideshow 网站对什么是housekeeper做出了详细的解释： A hotel housekeeper is an employee of a hotel who is responsible for keeping rooms and other areas of the establishment clean. A hotel housekeeper will typically be responsible for cleaning rooms in the hotel every day, with a particularly thorough cleaning after guests check out on their last day. On a day to day basis, cleaning rooms may involve making beds, swapping used towels for fresh ones, cleaning and disinfecting the bathroom and providing new toiletries as provided by the hotel, vacuuming the carpet, and taking the trash away. When a guest checks out, a hotel housekeeper will change the sheets on the bed and polish the furniture. In addition, the housekeeper will take any forgotten items to lost and found. While a hotel housekeeper is cleaning, he or she takes account of the room and notices whether or not everything is working properly. If a light bulb is burned out, for instance, she may be responsible for replacing it, or for calling maintenance to fix a light fixture. Hotel housekeepers may be responsible for keeping the rest of the hotel looking nice as well, by vacuuming the carpeting found in stairs, hallways, conference rooms, and the lobby, among other areas. It might also be necessary to clean the furniture or the windows.
从上文看出，housekeeper就是我们所知的宾馆的“客房服务员”，尤其是黑体下划线部分的解释十分清楚地表明了其职责范围。此外，“客房服务员”还可以表达为housekeeping attendant。有关网页介绍如下：Housekeeping attendants are responsible for keeping rooms and public areas at hotels, motels and other lodging establishments clean.
至此，我们也不难推断出，宾馆的“客房部”就是housekeeping department，而“客房服务”，则可以说housekeeping services，而room service绝不可以望文生义地理解为“客房服务”。
王银泉，江苏苏州人，博士，英语专业教授，硕士生导师，2007年4月入选为江苏省“333高层次人才培养工程”首批中青年科学技术带头人，1997年10月至1998年10月留学加拿大渥太华大学第二语言学院。曾赴英、美、印尼和马来西亚进行学术访问。迄今为止已在《外语教学与研究》和《中国
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