2006年NPR美国国家公共电台一月-Chinese Character Tattoos: Lost in Transl

Robert Siegel: English speakers traveling aboard have had the experience of seeing an English sign or a menu translation from the local language that just misses the mark and produces an entertaining malaprop. Well, think about someone who knows Chinese or Japanese and sees decals on cars and tattoos² on professional athletes that actually mean something or they don't mean anything at all. Well, that's the experience of Tian Tang, who is an engineering student in Tempe, Arizona, and who came to this country from China as a high school student. He is now the creator of a Web site called Hanzi Smatter. A Web site that tracks odd uses of Chinese characters in an American context³. Welcome to our program, Tian Tang.

Tian Tang: Thank you.

Robert Siegel: And first, ur, why don't you tell us what the name of, of your Web site which I just mispronounced it badly--actually means?

Tian Tang: Oh, it's called a Hanzi Smatter. Hanzi is Chinese characters. And the smatter means superficial⁴ knowledge.

Robert Siegel: A smattering of knowledge about these things?

Tian Tang: Yes.

Robert Siegel: Well, how did you start keeping track of the, the odd uses of Chinese characters in America?

Tian Tang: Well, I've seen odd use of Chinese characters since when I first stepped off the plane in 1990. But I did not really start to collect them until 2004 when I took a road trip with a friend to New Mexico. And there was a vehicle--it was Mitsubishi but had Honda stickers on it, so I took a photo of it and start collecting.

Robert Siegel: Were those Japanese Kanji characters actually or, or...

Tian Tang: Well, the Japanese Kanji and the Chinese Hanzi are the same.

Robert Siegel: Same.

Tian Tang: Yeah.

Robert Siegel: So somebody who knew what that meant and also could see what Mitsubishi meant in English would find that very funny seeing that on the...

Tian Tang: Of course.

Robert Siegel: Now, the first most famous American athlete I remember seeing tattooed⁵ with Chinese characters was Marcus Camby, the professional basketball player. What does his body say?

Tian Tang: I believe he told the interviewers that it was "striving⁶ for family". But I believe he just placed two independent characters that formed the meaning in English. But to a native Chinese speaker, it doesn't mean a thing.

Robert Siegel: So you mean all of these millions of National Basketball Association fans tuning⁷ in in China to see Yao Ming and others, they would look at Marcus Camby's body and say, "what's all that about?" What...

Tian Tang: Yeah, of course. I believe Yao Ming's book, he mentioned about his fellow NBA players and, um, their tattoos, and he didn't have a very good positive thing to say about them.

Robert Siegel: I see. Now there are also, of course, many people who are not professional athletes who've gotten tattoos. You've seen lots of them don't make any sense.

Tian Tang: Yes, that's correct. A lot of people getting tattooed in United States or Europe, they say, "You know, so what if I get my character incorrect? And what's up if somebody's gonna read it or understand it?" Well, the, the fact is that there's many Chinese speakers, they can spot the error.

Robert Siegel: You have one tattoo¹ on your Web site. Somebody was trying to make it say "bad boy".

Tian Tang: Right.

Robert Siegel: Did he succeed?

Tian Tang: But, no he did not. Two characters were reversed⁸, so to, ur, dyslexic Chinese person, that would say "bad boy", but not to the rest.

Robert Siegel: Well, Tian Tang, thank you very much for talking with us.

Tian Tang: Thank you.

Robert Siegel: And there is a link to your Web site, which you can, you can now pronounce.

Tian Tang: Hanzismatter.com

Robert Siegel: Hanzismatter.com, and our Web site npr.org. Thank you very much.

Note------------
malaprop: 用词错误可笑的
Kanji: 日本汉字
tune in: to watch or listen to a broadcast on radio or television; 收听
dyslexic: a condition that makes it difficult for someone to read and spell; 诵读困难者

1 tattoo   

n.纹身，(皮肤上的)刺花纹；vt.刺花纹于

参考例句：

• I've decided to get my tattoo removed.我已经决定去掉我身上的纹身。
• He had a tattoo on the back of his hand.他手背上刺有花纹。

2 tattoos   

n.文身( tattoo的名词复数 )；归营鼓；军队夜间表演操；连续有节奏的敲击声v.刺青，文身( tattoo的第三人称单数 )；连续有节奏地敲击；作连续有节奏的敲击

参考例句：

• His arms were covered in tattoos. 他的胳膊上刺满了花纹。
• His arms were covered in tattoos. 他的双臂刺满了纹身。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 context   

n.背景，环境，上下文，语境

参考例句：

• You can always tell the meaning of a word from its context.你常可以从上下文中猜出词义来。
• This sentence does not seem to connect with the context.这个句子似乎与上下文脱节。

4 superficial   

adj.肤浅的，浅薄的，表面的

参考例句：

• He has a superficial knowledge of this subject.他对这门学科略知皮毛。
• A superficial injury is not serious.表面的伤不太严重。

5 tattooed   

v.刺青，文身( tattoo的过去式和过去分词 )；连续有节奏地敲击；作连续有节奏的敲击

参考例句：

• He had tattooed his wife's name on his upper arm. 他把妻子的名字刺在上臂上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The sailor had a heart tattooed on his arm. 那水兵在手臂上刺上一颗心。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 striving   

v.努力奋斗，力求( strive的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The swimmer was striving against the current. 游泳者正在和激浪搏斗。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rows of dragons pull downstream, each striving to take the lead. 各色各状造型的“蛟龙”如箭离弦，顺流而下，欲争群龙首。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译

7 tuning   

n.调谐，调整，调音v.调音( tune的现在分词 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• They are tuning up a plane on the flight line. 他们正在机场的飞机跑道上调试一架飞机。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The orchestra are tuning up. 管弦乐队在定弦。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 reversed   

v.（使）反转( reverse的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）颠倒；（使）翻转；推翻adj.颠倒的

参考例句：

• The new president reversed many of the policies of his predecessor. 新任总统彻底改变了其前任的许多政策。
• The appeal court reversed the original verdict and set the prisoner free. 上诉法庭撤销了原判，把那个犯人释放了。 来自《简明英汉词典》