一个英国人眼中的美式英语.docx

一个英国人眼中的美式英语 As an expat living in New Orleans， it is a very long list but “burglarize” is currently the word that I most dislike. 作为一名生活在新奥尔良的侨民，我有很长一串清单，但是“burglarize(破门盗窃)”是我目前最不喜欢的词。(英国用burgle) “Oftentimes” just makes me shiver with annoyance. Fortunately Ive not noticed it over here yet. “Oftentimes(经常)”会让我恼怒得直哆嗦。幸运地是，我在这里还没看到过。 Eaterie. To use a prevalent phrase， oh my gaad！ Eaterie(餐馆)。经常听到，天呐！ Im a Brit living in New York. The one that always gets me is the American need to use the word bi-weekly when fortnightly would suffice just fine. 我是住在纽约的英国人，让我难受的一点是美国人需要用bi-weekly(每两周一次)，fortnightly明明足够好用了。 I hate “alternate” for “alternative”. I dont like this as they are two distinct words， both have distinct meanings and its useful to have both. Using alternate for alternative deprives us of a word. 我讨厌用“alternate”替代“alternative”。我不喜欢这个因为它们是不同的两个词，它们分别有不同的意思，两者都很有用。用alternate替代alternative会让我们失去一个词。 “Hike” a price. Does that mean people who do that are hikers？ No， hikers are ramblers！ “Hike(提升)”价格。那是不是意味着“提升价格的人”可以用hikers表示？不，hikers(旅行者)是“漫游者”的意思好不好！ Going forward？ If I do I shall collide with my keyboard. Going forward(前进)？如果我要打这个词，我势必要和我的键盘搏斗一番。 I hate the word “deliverable”. Used by management consultants for something that they will “deliver” instead of a report. 我讨厌“deliverable(交付物)”这个词。管理顾问常用这个词来表达他们要“deliver(交付)”的某个替代report的东西。 The most annoying Americanism is “a million and a half” when it is clearly one and a half million！ A million and a half is 1，000，000.5 where one and a half million is 1，500，000.34. 最让人恼火的美式英语是“a million and a half”，正确的明明应该是one and a half million. A million and a half 是1000000.5，one and a half million是1500000。 “Reach out to” when the correct word is “ask”. For example： “I will reach out to Kevin and let you know if that timing is convenient”. Reach out？ Is Kevin stuck in quicksand？ Is he teetering on the edge of a cliff？ Cant we just ask him？ 用“reach out to”而不是正确的“ask”。比如，“I will reach out to Kevin and let you know if that timing is convenient。(我会问一下凯文，看看时间是否方便。)”难道凯文在流沙区吗？或者他在悬崖边摇摇欲坠？难道我们就不能“问”一下他？ Surely the most irritating is： “You do the Math。” Math？ Its MATHS.最激怒人的当然就是：You do the Math。(你自己来算一下。)”Math？应该是MATHS！ I hate the fact I now have to order a “regular Americano”. What ever happened to a medium sized coffee？ 我讨厌我现在必须点“regular Americano(常规美式咖啡)。”为什么就不能说a medium sized coffee呢？ My worst horror is expiration， as in “expiration date”. Whatever happened to expiry？ 我最讨厌的词是expiration(截止)，比如“expiration date(截止日期)”。为什么不用expiry？ My favourite one was where Americans claimed their family were “Scotch-Irish”. This of course is totally inaccurate， as even if it were possible， it would be “Scots” not “Scotch”. 我最喜欢的一个就是美国人宣称他们的家庭是“Scotch-Irish(苏格兰-爱尔兰血统的)”。这当然是完全错误的，即使这是一种可能的表达，那么也应该是“Scot”而不是“Scotch”. I am increasingly hearing the phrase “thatll learn you” - when the English (and more correct) version was always “thatll teach you”. What a ridiculous phrase！ 我听到越来越多人说“thatll learn you(这是给你的教训。)”明明英语(更加正确的)的版本应该是“thatll teach you。” 多么荒谬的表达！ I really hate the phrase： “Wheres it at？” This is not more efficient or informative than “where is it？” It just sounds grotesque and is immensely irritating. 我真的很讨厌这个表达：“Wheres it at？(在哪儿？)”这并没有比“where is it？”更有效率或蕴含更多信息。它听起来很荒唐，而且非常惹人厌。 Period instead of full stop. 用“period(句号)”代替full stop. My pet hate is “winningest”， used in the context “Michael Schumacher is the winningest driver of all time”. I can feel the rage rising even using it here. 我最讨厌文本中出现“winningest(常胜的)”，比如“迈克尔.舒马赫是有史以来的最常胜(winningest)赛车手”。即使这样用，我也觉得很愤怒。 My brother now uses the term “season” for a TV series. 我的弟弟现在用“season(季)”来谈论电视剧了。 Having an “issue” instead of a “problem”. Having an “issue(问题)”而不是“problem”. I hear more and more people pronouncing the letter Z as “zee”. Not happy about it！ 我听到越来越多人把字母Z发成zee的音。不开心！To “medal” instead of to win a medal. Sets my teeth on edge with a vengeance. “medal(赢得奖牌)”而不是win a medal。我差点要破口大骂了。 “I got it for free” is a pet hate. You got it “free” not “for free”. You dont get something cheap and say you got it “for cheap” do you？ “I got it for free(我免费得到它)”是我最讨厌的表达。你是“免费(free)”得到它，而不是“为了免费(for free)”。你不会买到一个便宜的东西，然后说你买到它“为了便宜”，对吧？ “Turn that off already”. Oh dear. Turn that off