容易译错的词语 / Mistranslated English phrases & idioms in Chinese

[leeyah]

I've been looking over some word lists on the internet lately & came across commonly mistranslated English phrases, which I then merged with some of my own lists of idioms. IMHO it's useful for both Chinese learners/translators & perhaps even more useful to foreign learners/translators of Chinese, because these are not very often found in Chinese language textbooks. Any feedback is welcome

black bottle 毒药 (不是 “黑色的瓶子“)

black coffee 清咖啡 (不是 “黑色的咖啡“)

black tea 红茶（不是“黑茶”）

black art 妖术（不是“黑色艺术”）

black coat 牧师，教士 (不是 “黑色毛衣“)

black stranger 完全陌生的人（不是“陌生的黑人”）

blue blood 贵族的血统 (不是“蓝色的血“)

brown sugar 红糖 (不是 “棕色的糖“)

green hand 新手（不是“绿手”）

pink champagne 玫瑰香槟酒 (不是 “粉红色的香槟酒“)

pink elephants 吸毒后幻觉 (不是 “红色的象“)

red tape 官僚习气（不是“红色带子”）

red herring 转移注意力的事 (话题) (不是 “红色的鲱“)

silver bullet 妙方 (不是 “银弹“)

silver spoon 财富 (不是 “银色的勺子“)

white man 忠实可靠的人（不是“皮肤白的人”）

white lie 无伤大雅的谎言 (不是 “白色的谎言“)

China policy 对华政策（不是“中国政策”）

American beauty 红蔷薇（不是“美国美女”）

English disease 软骨病（不是“英国病”）

Indian summer 愉快宁静的晚年（不是“印度的夏日”）

Greek gift 害人的礼品（不是“希腊礼物”）

Spanish athlete 吹牛的人（不是“西班牙运动员”）

busboy 餐馆勤杂工（不是“公汽售票员”）

busybody 爱管闲事的人（不是“大忙人”）

false friends 容易译错的词语 (不是 ”假朋友“)

mad doctor 精神病科医生（不是“发疯的医生”）

eleventh hour 最后时刻（不是“十一点”）

blind date （由第三者安排的）男女初次会面（并非“盲目约会”或“瞎约会”）

dead president 美钞（上印有总统头像）（并非“死了的总统”）

personal remark 人身攻击（不是“个人评论”）

sweet water 淡水（不是“糖水”或“甜水”）

confidence man 骗子（不是“信得过的人”）

criminal lawyer 刑事律师（不是“犯罪的律师”）

service station 加油站（不是“服务站”）

rest room 厕所（不是“休息室”）

dressing room 化妆室（不是“试衣室”或“更衣室”）

sporting house 妓院（不是“体育室”）

horse sense 常识（不是“马的感觉”）

capital idea 好主意（不是“资本主义思想”）

familiar talk 庸俗的交谈（不是“熟悉的谈话”）

pull one's leg 开玩笑（不是“拉后腿”）

in one's birthday suit 赤身裸体（不是“穿着生日礼服”）

eat one's words 收回前言（不是“食言”）

bring down the house 博得全场喝彩（不是“推倒房子”）

have a fit 勃然大怒（不是“试穿”）

be taken in 受骗，上当（不是“被接纳”）

think a great deal of oneself 高看或看重自己（不是“为自己想得很多”）

pull up one's socks 鼓起勇气（不是“提上袜子”）

have the heart to do （用于否定句）忍心做……不是“有心做”或“有意做”）　　

　　　　　

[roddy]

Some of those explanations are pretty dubious - the 'correct' uses of silver spoon, white man, black stranger, are new to me. (Silver spoon would only be used in 'to be born with a silver spoon in your mouth' meaning to be born into riches, rather than refering to riches themselves. You would never say someone has lots of silver spoons and mean that they are rich. And it's maybe more about an upper class / aristocratic family rather than riches per se. )

[leeyah]

Some of these expressions puzzled me too and I really appreciate your feedback, Roddy.

the 'correct' uses of ...white man, black stranger, are new to me.

These are both from the Chinese web & I've never heard these two in this context either, but strangely, a lot of Chinese sites give either 完全可靠的人 or 非常忠实可靠的人 for white man, plus it seems there's a racist explanation behind the meaning of both white man & black stranger (posts #2#3) on baiduzhidao. I wonder where these ideas came from. Could these expressions be American or more likely Chinglish contribution to English vocab?

silver spoon...You would never say someone has lots of silver spoons and mean that they are rich

Oh, I do hope that's not the picture they get when they hear 'silver spoon' in proper context! Without the context it may indeed seem that lots of cash can buy you tons of silver spoons Whatever, 财富 is what most online dictionaries give instead of plain & simple 有钱的高贵的人. But I still managed to find one correct definition on the web:

silver spoon 门第高贵；出生富豪 >>> "to be born with a silver spoon in one's mouth" = born with inherited privilege or wealth

[isela]

These are really helpful for people like me!

Thanks a lot for sharing, Leeyah!

[imron]

I would say about a third of them are not so useful though or refer to obscure usage rather than common usage. The following are the ones I wouldn't have known the supposed meaning of without any context, or ones I would have gone with the meaning in brackets.

black bottle

black coat

black stranger

white man

American beauty

English disease

Indian summer

Greek gift

Spanish athlete

false friends

mad doctor

dead president

sweet water

sporting house

horse sense

[leeyah]

These are really helpful for people like me!

I'm glad you find these interesting 诸葛李昂

not so useful though or refer to obscure usage rather than common usage.

Yes, exactly, it's the less common, or obscure usage, obviously meant for (perhaps too) advanced learners, that these phrases focus on. That's why I said translators may find them useful. Even though the origin of some remains even more obscure than their meaning. Apparently, the Chinese like to explore foreign languages, I've seen long lists of specialized phrases on Chinese sites with even stranger words, some of which I'd never heard of nor seen in other languages.

But I must say I do find it a bit strange that a native English speaker would be unfamiliar with words like: black coat, Indian summer, Greek gift (Trojan Horse), sweet water or false friends (faux amis:mrgreen:). Or perhaps these words were actually imported via other (probably classical?) languages?

Anyway, as I am still learning I do appreciate every comment, so thank you for contributing your view Imron.

Edited July 15, 2009 at 03:08 PM by leeyah

[renzhe]

Greek gift

Is this phrase really used in this way? I only know it from other languages, and only as the full phrase.

Same with "sweet water", it's something I'd say in my mother tongue, but I'd say "potable" or "drinking water" in English. Similar thing with "blue blood". Used very often in Croatian, but I don't remember hearing it often in English.

I was aware of "dead presidents", but it's ghetto slang. "False friends" is a common phrase, though. But maybe specific to language learning contexts. It refers to words that sound similar in different languages, but actually mean different things. Loads of them between English and German, for example.

I was also unaware of most of the ones imron listed (and a couple of others).

Also, some things like "mad doctor" have several meanings, depending on the context. A doctor who is mad is indeed one of them.

EDIT: Actually, I wasn't thinking. "Sweet water" refers to non-salty water, like sweet water lake, or sweet water fish. But not drinking water (to my knowledge).

Edited July 15, 2009 at 11:16 PM by renzhe

[bathrobe]

I think this list illustrates some of the pitfalls of learning English from books, rather than live from native speakers. It's possible to find all kinds of quaint expressions discussed by people who spend too much time looking at dictionaries and not enough time gaining experience with actual spoken English (including movies, TV, etc.) That applies to a number of items on this list, which are likely to be totally unfamiliar to English speakers, especially those in the first group. I've never heard of "black bottle". "White man" means 白种人; I've never heard that usage. "Sweet water" is an alternative (but less used) term for fresh water.

"Mad doctor" is just as likely to be what the English say it is: a highly intelligent but mentally unbalanced scientist. Usually found in science fiction, such as a mad doctor who wants to destroy the world, etc.

The English disease used to mean a predilection to strike (union militancy, poor industrial relations).

Incidentally, you've left out: Indian giver, Dutch uncle, Dutch courage, French letter.

"Greek gift" is usually found in the expression "Beware of Greeks bearing gifts".

Edited July 16, 2009 at 08:00 AM by bathrobe

[imron]

To me, a black coat is a coat that is black. I've never heard it used to refer to a clergyman or a priest. I'm sure there are people who use this term as evidenced by your link, but without any context, if you asked a native English speaker what a black coat was, I'm guessing most would say the same as me (a coat that is black). This is not the same for various other terms on the list e.g. silver spoon, green hand, red tape etc, which most people would know even without context.

Without any context, I would have said false friends were people who pretend to be your friend but really aren't. This usage is reasonably common in English so to suggest that it doesn't mean this (不是 ”假朋友“) is not correct.

Without any context I would have guessed "Indian summer" to be a long, hot summer. Wikipedia also believes that it is not about 愉快宁静的晚年 but rather the weather.

For me a "mad doctor" is the definition provided by bathrobe, and is not a 精神病科医生.

I would have also said that sweet water is exactly that, water that is sweet. @renzhe, for non-salty water, fresh-water is probably more commonly used to describe this, e.g. fresh-water lake, fresh-water fish etc.

Greek gift I can understand as soon as you provide context (trojan horse).

[heifeng]

pink elephants...really that's an expression? hmm. I had no clue. I know there are white elephants...and there can sometimes be an 'elephant in the room'..but I've never heard of...or seen any pink ones though....unless it was Babar dressed in pink on one of his many adventures.

Here's a really really simple word (not phrase) for your your list in which context is super important. This was translated wrong in some subtitles once and it caused me to giggle:

slip~ as in the lingerie being translated as the verb to slip and fall. (In a bedroom scene none-the-less...hence it was quite a funny and creative translation)

Anyway, I'm sure this visual aid won't be in textbooks:mrgreen:

Edited July 16, 2009 at 03:22 AM by heifeng

[Lu]

I learned 'Dutch courage' in English class (the courage that comes from a bottle) but when I recently used the phrase in conversation with a native speaker, he had never heard of it. Perhaps it's British.

I thought 'Indian summer' is the season that comes between summer and fall in North America? I came across it in books sometimes, not sure if I understood it correctly.

Not sure about 'pink elephants' in English, but there is a beer called Delirium Tremens, it's very tasty and gets you even drunker than you'd expect from its alcohol percentage, and it's drunk from glasses with little pink elephants on it. The beer is Belgian. In Chinese it's called 大象.

[stonelee]

black bottle 毒药 (不是 “黑色的瓶子“)

I will translate it to "黑色的瓶子"...

Thank you leeyah!~

It is really useful!

[Daan]

I learned 'Dutch courage' in English class (the courage that comes from a bottle) but when I recently used the phrase in conversation with a native speaker, he had never heard of it. Perhaps it's British.

That's interesting! I checked and you're right, it's a BrE expression:

Dutch courage UK noun (US liquid courage)

the confidence some people get from drinking alcohol before they do something frightening

Never knew that either. Must be the English textsbooks we use here in the Netherlands.

[gato]

"Greek gift" is usually found in the expression "Beware of Greeks bearing gifts".

Americans tend to use "Trojan horse" instead of "Greek gift", letting the Greeks off the hook.

[leeyah]

I think this list illustrates some of the pitfalls of learning English from books, rather than live from native speakers. It's possible to find all kinds of quaint expressions discussed by people who spend too much time looking at dictionaries and not enough time gaining experience with actual spoken English (including movies, TV, etc.) That applies to a number of items on this list, which are likely to be totally unfamiliar to English speakers, especially those in the first group.

Bathrobe, this is a very good point. Yes, many of the words listed in the first group are from web sites, and it was my first time, too, to see them used (&explained) in this way.That's why I posted them here for all of you to have a look at

Imron, thank you for shedding new light on some of the words on the list, really appreciate your comment on words with or without context from native speaker's point of view. Learner's acquisition of vocabulary does have a tendency towards overanalysis, which can lead to mistakes, as illustrated by some of the examples above. I think historical context may also be one of the factors behind definitions of words like black coat (according to some sources referring in a derogatory sense primarily to catholic priests vs protestants). I agree with you on Indian summer not being exactly 愉快宁静的晚年 and even less likely 印度的夏日, since the phrase is American English referring to 美国印地安人 and not India. (anyway, with my 老爸's obsession with Miller's Indian summer, that ancient tune was my initial association on seeing it on the list, so I could add my own mistranslation to it, I guess ). Also the correct slang word for 精神病科医生 would be shrink, but American English only, right? Is there a British (or Australian or...) slang for shrink?

Incidentally, you've left out: Indian giver, Dutch uncle, Dutch courage, French letter.

Bathrobe, except for Dutch courage 酒后之勇 (不是 “荷兰人的勇气“) all of these words are new to me, but I do wish to know more about them. Would it be too much to ask if you could please explain and perhaps provide Chinese translation/possible mistranslations for them?

highly intelligent but mentally unbalanced scientist. Usually found in science fiction, such as a mad doctor who wants to destroy the world, etc.

Yeah, just the picture I had in my mind: a mad scientist like dr Frankenstein or something, so that one deserves a redefinition, too...

Renzhe, yes, Greek gift as in Beware ... and a few more Greek related phrases too, and yes, there's this division between salty water vs sweet water in some languages as in oceans & seas vs lakes & rivers. Puzzled by Imron's post I looked for false friends in dictionaries and found that the English word for it is actually 'false cognates', not the verbatim translation of French 'faux amis'. BTW, I used to enjoy researching English German false friends when I was a teenager, now I'm too busy with Chinese, but actually I started working on a sort of a multilingual dictionary a few years back, I'm just too lazy, ... shouldn't be... oh, well, one of these days 总有一天 (不是“always has one day ) .......or months, or years...

Heifeng, thanks a lot for adding a new word & its mistranslation. That one is actually a typical illustration of the dangers of learning words from books without context. Any ideas on how to render it into a good Chinese translation & mistranslation?

Lu, Daan: thanks for your feedback & yes I was wondering about all those phrases starting with 'Dutch' in British English, guess these too come under the category of historical context. Interesting information on the connotation of pink elephants, Lu. Thank you!

Stonelee: I'm happy you liked my post . So it's true, the list is useful to native speakers to avoid misunderstading & literal translation, but I guess that goes for other learners of English, too.

Gato: didn't know Trojan horse is the more common word for 'unwanted' gifts in the US. Anyway, my English-Chinese dictionary gives only: Trojan Horse (古希腊)特洛伊木马 & 内部颠覆者 (of which the latter is close in meaning to 害人的礼物)

BTW, the word on the list which puzzles me most is horse sense.. Referring to horses' intelligence most likely? Any other ideas?

[leeyah]

More words (plus *additional definitions from my dictionary, for some of the words in OP)

*American beauty 1.美国产四季开花的红蔷薇 2.月月红, 深紫红色

American dream 美国人的社会理想，美国的生活方式 (不是 "美国的梦")

American phobia 对美国文化的憎恶 (不是“美国恐惧症“)

Dutch bargain 饮酒时做成的交易 (不是“荷兰人的交易“) (How come 酒 is so often associated with the Dutch?)

Dutch treat 各自付钱 (不是“荷兰人的招待“)

(it sounds) Greek to me or it's double Dutch 完全不懂的 (不是“希腊语/两倍的荷兰语“)

*Spanish athlete 胡说八道的人, 吹牛者

Spanish dagger 凤尾兰 (不是“西班牙的短剑“)

green coffee 生咖啡 (不是“绿色的咖啡“) = raw coffee bean

green meat 青菜 (不是“绿色的肉“)

green old age 精力充沛的晚年 (不是“绿色的晚年“)

green thumb, *green hand, green fingers 园艺技能 (不是“绿色的拇指/手/手指“)

& thanks again for your comments everyone !

[in_lab]

black coffee 清咖啡 (不是 “黑色的咖啡“)

Around here they say 黑咖啡, not 清咖啡.

[bathrobe]

I understand that "Indian summer" refers to certain balmy days in late autumn, when it's so warm and comfortable that you would never know that the winter cold is about to descend with a vengeance.

An Indian giver is a person who gives you a gift and then later takes it back. Don't know what the Chinese equivalent is.

Both of these "Indian" expressions suggest something that is illusory. "Summer days" that lull you into thinking that it will always be summer when bitter cold is just around the corner. "Gifts" that can be taken back whenever the giver changes his mind. I have no idea of the historical background or why Indians (Native Americans) get lumbered with this image. In fact, I don't even know if the two expressions are related at all.

A French letter is a possibly obsolete British term for 安全套 (It was current as recently as the 1970s but may not be common now).

"Dutch treat" is nowadays called AA制 in Chinese.

[semantic nuance]

Around here they say 黑咖啡, not 清咖啡.

Really? Personally, I would say 純咖啡 (不加奶精或糖) when I order a cup of black coffee.

[heifeng]

yeah, i agree with the 纯咖啡。。。at least that what i've see on coffee boxes in China for black coffee..and then I grab the box of 三合一 instead..