单词 | 译成英语 |
释义 | 〔crucial〕A crucial election is like a signpost because it shows which way the electorate is moving. The metaphor of a signpost, in fact, gives us the sense of the wordcrucial, "of supreme importance, critical.” Francis Bacon used the phraseinstantia crucis, "crucial instance,” to refer to something in an experiment that proves one of two hypotheses and disproves the other. Bacon's phrase was based on a sense of the Latin wordcrux, "cross,” which had come to mean "a guidepost that gives directions at a place where one road becomes two,”and hence was suitable for Bacon's metaphor.Both Robert Boyle, often called the father of modern chemistry, and Isaac Newton used the similar Latin phraseexperimentum crucis, "crucial experiment.” When these phrases were translated into English,they becamecrucial instance and crucial experiment. 决定性选举就象路标一样,因为它显示了全体选民的意向。路标这一比喻实际上向我们表示了crucial 这一词的意义“极其重要的,关键性的”。 弗朗西斯·培根曾用instantia crucis “关键性例子”这一词组来指在某一实验中证明两个假设之一正确和另一假设错误的东西。 培根的这一词组是基于拉丁语crux “十字形”的意思之上的, 它的意思为“在一条路分为两条岔路的地方用于指示方向的路标”,因此它适用于培根的这一比喻。通常被称为现代化学之父的罗伯特·博伊尔和艾萨克·牛顿都用过experimentum crucis “关键性实验”这一类似的拉丁语词组。 当这些词组被译成英语后,就成了crucial instance 和 crucial experiment 这两个词组 〔superman〕Overman and Beyondman hardly seem likely names for a superhero, but perhapsOverman might be "leaping tall buildings at a single bound" had the German word Übermensch been translated differently than it was. However, Nietzsche's term for the ideal superior man was translated into English assuperman, first recorded in a work by George Bernard Shaw published in 1903. Such a term comes to us through a process called loan translation, or calque formation,whereby the semantic components of a word or phrase in one language are literally translated into their equivalents in another language,GermanÜbermensch, made up of über, "super-,” and Mensch, "man,” thus becoming superman. Becauseüber- can also be translated "beyond" and "over,” we also findoverman and beyondman as calques for the word Übermensch, but they did not take root.Shaw, in a letter written before 1917, noted that"some of our most felicitous writers . . . had been using such desperate and unspeakable forms as Beyondman, when the glib Superman was staring them in the face all the time.”Hence, when it came to naming a new comic strip hero,Superman was the logical choice, a name first recorded in 1938. Overman 和 Beyondman 看上去几乎不象超级英雄的名称, 但是,如果将德语中 Übermensch 这个单词译作不同于原有的译法时,那么,也许 Overman 可能是“纵身一跃就能跃过高楼大厦”。 然而,尼采给予理想超人的名称译成英语为Superman , 这个词最早见于乔治·萧伯纳的出版于1903年的一部作品中。这个词是通过借译而来的,或者说是通过仿造而来的,在以上这样的过程中,一个词或词组的语义成分被直译成另一语言中的与之相对应的成分。德语单词 Übermensch 是由 uber (即英语中"super-”之意)和 Mensch (即英语中"man"之意)组成的,这样的话,此词在英语中就成了 Superman 。 因为 über 也可译为"beyond"和"over", 所以我们发现 躡ermensch 也被借译为 overman 和 beyondman 。 但是,这两个词并没有在英语中确立下来。萧伯纳在写于1917年之前的一封信中说道:“一些措辞最巧妙的英语作家,竟一直使用象Beyondman这种令人绝望而又无法形容的词,却对一直面对面盯着他们的‘Superman’视而不见”。这样,当要命名一个新的连环漫画中的英雄时,Superman 一词就成了理所当然的选择,这个名称首次记录于1938年 〔rhinestone〕Although rhinestones are inseparably associated with the costumes of country and western singers and Las Vegas showgirls,the word originally had European associations.The Rhine inrhinestone is the Rhine River, andrhinestone is a translation into English of the French phrase caillou du Rhin. Originally a rhinestone was a kind of rock crystal that was found in or near the Rhine and given a fancy name, as have other types of rock crystal such as Cornish diamond.Such stones could be made to imitate diamonds;hence the namerhinestone was applied to artificial gems made from paste, glass, or gem quartz. Rhinestones have spread far beyond the Rhine,becoming a central ingredient of certain aspects of Americana.Cornish diamonds have not shared the same fate.虽然莱茵石与乡村服装,西部歌手及拉斯维加斯的歌舞女郎联系紧密,但这个单词最初与欧洲有联系。单词rhinestong(莱茵石) 中的Rhine指莱茵河, 而rhinestone 是由法语短语 caillou du Rhin 翻译成英语的。 莱茵石最初是一种在莱茵河中或附近发现的天然透明石英石,并如同其它类型天然透明石英石,例如康沃尔钻石那样被赋予了一个新奇的名字。这样的石头能被用来仿造钻石;因而名称rhinestone(莱茵石) 便用于由含铅玻璃、玻璃或宝石石英制成的人造宝石。 莱茵石已遍及莱茵河以外,成为美国某些外观的重要组成部分。而康沃尔钻石则没有同样的命运 |
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