妈妈和女儿在看男人的眼光上是不一样的。女儿会说,那个男生长得好帅,而妈妈会冷冷来一句,帅又不能当饭吃。其实,还是妈妈说的对,美男只能用来观赏,外貌什么的,都是浮云……
言归正传,王尔德的《道林格雷的画像》中写到: real beauty ends when an intellectual
expression begins, 智慧是美的终结者。难怪说帅不能当饭吃,要生存咱还是得靠intellect。那么,老外会怎么表达“帅不能当饭吃的这种说法呢?
在大家的讨论中出现了形式各异的翻译,这里一起来看一下吧:
1. Pretty face can not feed you.
feed这个词是所有翻译中出现的最多的,看来大家还是有些纠结于字面的这个“当饭吃的表达啊。从语法和语意上来说没有错,估计老外也能明白这个意思,算是不错的直译。
2. Appearance can't make money.
Good look is not a credit card.
Being pretty can't help you pay the bill。
这是发散版的翻译,开始向意译靠拢。话说有种说法是“帅又不能当卡刷,倒是和这里的第二句神似。表达出“不能赚钱的这个意思,已经更进一步。
3. You cannot count on your appearance to do everything.
Being handsome is not everything!
终极意译版已经脱离了“吃饭、赚钱这些含义的束缚,以“美貌不是万能的这种说法来意译,非常不错,而且也很简洁明了。实际的口译中,上面三种说法都是可以接受的,最起码我们可以做到让别人理解这个意思,就足够啦。
但是真正地道的说法是什么呢?其实可以用一个词组来表达:
charm one's way through life,那么“帅又不能当饭吃的地道说法就是
You can't charm yourway through life.
或者也可以说:
You can't take too much advantage of your beauty. 别滥用自己的美貌。
charm作为动词的用法大家不陌生,但是这个词组的用法是不是第一次知道呢?其实关键还在way这个单词上,有很多类似的词组,比如说talk one's way out of,以唇舌之功给自己解围:
How come he could talk his way out of all the troubles?
为什么他每回都能凭三寸不烂之舌解决麻烦?
除此之外还有很多动词可以这样搭配:
list your way out of stuckness 制定计划,摆脱懒散
spend your way out of the recession 以消费的方式来解决经济衰退
facebook your way out of job 因facebook上的不当言行而产生职场危机
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