美国文化脱口秀 第346期:最难用英语表达的中文词

 “辛苦了”、“混”、“撒娇"......这些简单常用的词，却很难找到贴切的英语翻译。今天，我们就说说最难翻译的中文词。

关键词：

Chinese expressions that are hard to translate to English: 很难翻译到英文的中文说法

They're simple and common expressions, but with rich cultural context: 这些说法很简单，但是包含了很深的文化概念

What are those? Let me take a stab at it: 多有哪些词？我来试试看

辛苦了

How do you say 辛苦了 in English? “辛苦了“英语就很难表达

There might be an English equivalent, but there's no exact match: 可能有对应的说法，但没有完全符合的

It can't perfectly¹ convey the mood and meaning: 不能百分百把情绪和意思传递出去

It's a form of acknowledgement and gratitude²: 这是用来表达认可和感谢的

“辛苦了”英语可以这么说

Thank you, you did a good job/job well done! 谢谢，你做的很棒, 比较多用于上级对下属

Thanks for your hard work: 谢谢你辛勤的工作

When you say this, you acknowledge that it might not have been very easy: 你这样说，代表你觉得那个工作比较辛苦、不容易

But sometimes I feel saying "辛苦了" is a bit of an exaggeration: 但是我有时候觉得说“辛苦了”有点夸张，因为并没有很辛苦

But it's a way of showing appreciation³ and respect in Chinese culture: 但是这是中国文化里表达感谢和尊重的方式

最难用英语表达的中文词

人情

How would you translate that? 这个怎么翻译啊？

When you check the dictonary, you might find "human feelings": 查字典，字典会告诉你“human feelings"

Some foreigners might call it 关系, which has entered the English vocabulary: 有些外国人会用“关系”，这个词现在已经进入英语了

I don't think there's a one word equivalent of "人情” in English: 我觉得英语里没有“人情”

“人情” is such an important aspect of Chinese society: 人情在中国社会是很重要的组成部分

It's untranslatable: 这个词翻译不了

得瑟

Spencer, I noticed you like to use "得瑟“ a lot: Spencer, 我发现你最近很爱说“得瑟”

How would you translate that in English? 这个英语怎么翻译？

These are words that you won't be able to find in a dictionary, never mind textbooks:

Arrogant⁴: 傲慢

Pretentious⁵: 装

Full of themselves/himself/herself: 得瑟、自我感觉良好

混

"混" is also very hard to translate: “混”也很难翻译

It has both negative and positive connotations: 它既可以是褒义，又可以是贬义

To waste time, muddle⁶ through, mucking around: 混日子

You're doing well: 你混得不错

作、嗲、撒娇

I've got a bunch of related ones that are hard to translate: 我有一串相关的难翻译的词

Being cutesy, girly: 撒娇

The dictionary defines it as "coquettish", but we don't really use that word: 字典会告诉你“嗲”是“coquettish”，但这个词日常不会用

A lot of things are represented by one character in Chinese, but need a few English words to translate completely: 中文很多时候只需要一个字，但英文要好几词才能翻译、解释

Even though they look similar, cutesy means 撒娇 and cute is more like 可爱: 虽然它们看上去很相像，“cutesy”更加撒娇，“cute”可能更可爱

Cutesy: 嗲

Feminine: 女性化

You got me: 我被问住了

High maintenance: 作，需要高度保养

What about 素质、讨厌

素质 is class.

You can say someone has no class to mean 素质差：你可以说一个人“have no class", 就是素质差的意思

讨厌 is annoying

But when we say "讨厌", we often don't mean it. It's a way of 撒娇：但是很多时候说讨厌，不是真的觉得你annoying, 其实是在撒娇

I think in English, we'd express a lot of things with the tone of voice: 我觉得英语里，会更多用语气来传递意思上的差别

1 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

2 gratitude   

adj.感激，感谢

参考例句：

• I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
• She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。

3 appreciation   

n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨

参考例句：

• I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to you all.我想对你们所有人表达我的感激和谢意。
• I'll be sending them a donation in appreciation of their help.我将送给他们一笔捐款以感谢他们的帮助。

4 arrogant   

adj.傲慢的，自大的

参考例句：

• You've got to get rid of your arrogant ways.你这骄傲劲儿得好好改改。
• People are waking up that he is arrogant.人们开始认识到他很傲慢。

5 pretentious   

adj.自命不凡的，自负的，炫耀的

参考例句：

• He is a talented but pretentious writer.他是一个有才华但自命不凡的作家。
• Speaking well of yourself would only make you appear conceited and pretentious.自夸只会使你显得自负和虚伪。

6 muddle   

n.困惑，混浊状态；vt.使混乱，使糊涂，使惊呆；vi.胡乱应付，混乱

参考例句：

• Everything in the room was in a muddle.房间里每一件东西都是乱七八糟的。
• Don't work in a rush and get into a muddle.克服忙乱现象。