今天就聊聊“上海”的英文表达
(刘翔是土生土长的上海人)
01
shanghai≠上海
(小贴士:上海读 ['ʃæŋhai; 'ʃæŋ'hai])
to trick or force somebody into doing something that they do not really want to do
坑蒙拐骗或威逼利诱某些人去做一些他们不愿意做的事情。
主要有两层意思:
①Pikachu was shanghaied to Africa before liberation.
②Tourists shanghaied into buying expensive fakes.
被诱骗买昂贵假货的游客。
早些年人们从欧洲来上海做生意,水手们一般不愿意这样远渡重洋,船长都是先把他们骗上来,等开船后水手们才发现要去的是上海,就说We are shanghaied. (我们被骗了!)
很多电影里都有用到shanghai这个俚语,例如17年很多的《爱乐之城》。
例句:
I had a very serious plan for my future. It's not my fault that I got SHANGHAIED!!!
我对自己的未来有认真的规划,这不是我的错,我是被欺骗了!
大家很喜欢的《海绵宝宝》第二季33集的标题,也是《shanghaied》。海绵宝宝一行人辛辛苦苦找到飞天魔鬼的宝箱之后,只得到了两个金币的酬劳。
02
china ≠ 中国
虽然我们每个人都能读出“中国”的英文,但是在写的时候,千万要注意了,不要因为大小写的问题让老外看笑话。
正解:China 中国 china 瓷器
为什么“瓷器”用“china”表示?
一种说法是china根据秦字读音转化而来,另一种就是我们普遍都认同的,和“瓷器”有关,著名的瓷都“景德镇”盛产瓷器,人们认为china是汉语昌南(原景德镇名)的音译。
随着景德镇精白瓷大量流传到海外,才使得瓷(china)成为中国的代名词。故而用“china”来表示“瓷器”。
①The Great Wall of China is famous all over the world.
②Many countries in the world are using china.
世界上许多国家都在使用瓷器。
03
如何区分“山西”和“陕西”的英文表达
山西和陕西,用其汉语拼音写成英文名,都是Shanxi,因为英语无法体现汉语的声调。那怎么解决?
一般在国际上
“山西”就是它的汉语拼音Shanxi,
而“陕西”有两个a,是Shaanxi。
以下资料供大家参考:
Shanxi
A province of northeast China bordered on the north by a section of the Great Wall. In the Chinese-Japanese War (1937-1945) it was a center of guerrilla warfare. Taiyuan is the capital. Population: 28,759,014.
(来源:American Heritage Dictionary 4th Edition)
Shaanxi
A province of east-central China crossed by the Wei He. One of the earliest cultural and political centers of China, the province is densely populated and highly industrialized. Xi'an is the capital. Population:32,882,403.
(来源:American Heritage Dictionary 4th Edition)
除陕西以外,中国还有其他4个省级行政区不能用汉语拼音表示,现将这4个省级行政区排列如下(按首字母顺序):
香港
Hong Kong /ˌhɒŋˈkɒŋ/
▼
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China.
内蒙古
Inner Mongolia/ˌɪnəˌmɒŋˈgəʊliə/
▼
Inner Mongolia, officially Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region or Nei Mongol Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China.
(内蒙古烤全羊)
澳门
Macao /məˈkaʊ/
▼
Macao, also spelled Macau, officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China
西藏
Tibet /tɪˈbet/
▼
The current borders of Tibet were generally established in the 18th century.