翻译研究 | “毫无违和感”英语怎么说?

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“毫无违和感”就是不让人觉得不妥当、不协调,不别扭。几个用法实例:

  • 今晚与明晚,一部英文版的歌剧《红楼梦》将在保利剧院开演。听宝哥哥和林妹妹用英文唱出爱情咏叹,是否会感到有违和感?该剧昨晚彩排,记者先一探究竟。
    (《宝黛钗唱英文咏叹,违和不?》,http://us.xinhuanet.com/2017-09/08/c_129699334.htm
  • 当何冰把所有的台词语境都处理成地道的北京话,却依然把故事的发生地设置在巴黎,剧中人物也还是叫着法国人的名字时,观众丝毫不会觉得有违和感,因为剧中故事强烈的普世关系早已超越了它的地域性。
    (《何冰的导演首秀一点都不违和》,http://wenyi.gmw.cn/2018-04/17/content_28360011.htm
  • 64岁的老人,用年轻人鬼怪精灵的话语体系和幽默文化,毫无违和感地融入了“90后”、“00后”青春活泼的圈子,享受着“粉丝”们”局座!局座!”的问候。
    (《人物:“局座”张召忠,64岁的“新战士”》,http://military.people.com.cn/n1/2016/0531/c1011-28399033.html

意思上最贴近“违和感”的英文单词应该就是incongruent/incompatible, 即“不协调”、“不和谐”。比如前面举的第一个例子中“听宝哥哥和林妹妹用英文唱出爱情咏叹,是否会感到有违和感”就可译为Would arias in English be incongruent/incompatible with Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu?

翻译研究 | “毫无违和感”英语怎么说?

不过incongruent和incompatible这两个词都有些大,有些正式,尤其是incongruent,而“毫无违和感”这一个较为新颖、多见于互联网的表达较为轻松、甚至还有些幽默。这时就可以考虑用较为口语化、生动的英文表达。想到一个英文习语stick out like a sore thumb,字面意思是像一个疼痛的大拇指一样立着(为了保护受伤大拇指)。引申为“突出、明显”。《柯林斯词典》对它的解释是:

If you say that someone or something sticks out like a sore thumb or stands out like a sore thumb, you are emphasizing that they are very noticeable, usually because they are unusual or inappropriate.

需要注意的是后半句,即“stick out like a sore thumb”的东西和环境并不搭配,即具有违和感。几个例句:

  • Unfortunately the cover will need to be redesigned. The error in the image sticks out like a sore thumb.
  • We should ask ourselves: "Does the new housing stick out like a sore thumb or blend into its surroundings?"
  • I much prefer to wear a proper suit, but fear that I will stand out like a sore thumb.
  • Foreigners are at greater risk of robbery because they are more wealthy and they stick out like a sore thumb.

https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/stick+out+like+a+sore+thumb

仍以第一个例子为翻译对象,这句话可译为:

Would arias in English stick out like a sore thumb in the new performance of The Dream of Red Mansions?

后两句相关内容也可以用stick out like a sore thumb来处理:

French names don’t stick out like a sore thumb at all when uttered by characters in He Bing’s play.

Zhang Shaozhong, 64, doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb at all among millennials.

“毫无违和感”更简单一些的说法还可以是not look out of place (at all)或look (totally) part of sth.。想说的稍微复杂一些,但和stick out like a sore thumb一样较为形象的话,可考虑raise eyebrows,即引发震惊、惊讶、不快等,比如:Arias in English do not raise eyebrows in the new performance of The Dream of Red Mansions。需要注意的是raise eyebrows虽然可以表示“惊讶”和“不悦”,但“不悦”的用法似乎更常见。为避免误解,raise eyebrows也应用于“违和感”可能会让一些人难以接受的场合,因此张绍忠“毫无违和感地融入80后、90后”这样的语境就不宜用raise eyebrows。

(中国翻译研究院)