中國平遙的一家餐館裏的那些神翻譯
If Michelin gave stars for unintentionally brilliant dish names, an eatery in Pingyao, China, might well be the world’s top restaurant. It has a large sign outside showing some of its tastiest dishes, with English translations: “In Bowl,” “You Flour Silk,” “Beef Cat’s Ear” and a noodle dish in broth known as “Sauce on My Grandma.”
如果米其林給意外取下的絕妙菜名打星，中國平遙的一家餐館很可能會是世界上的頂級餐廳。它的外面有一個大招牌，展示了店裏最美味的菜餚名字，從英文來看，有“在碗裏”、“你麪粉絲綢”、“牛肉貓耳朵”，以及名爲“澆在我姥姥上的汁”的麪湯。
The Chinese and English languages are so completely different that you often see awkward translations like these. They may make English speakers chuckle, but Chinese officialdom is not amused: When major international events come to China, the state tries to clean up the most egregious ones. Before the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, for example, 400,000 signs and 1,300 menus were revised, including “Racist Park,” a permanent cultural exhibition that was rebranded as “Minorities Park.”
中文和英文差異太大了，所以經常可以看到這類尷尬的翻譯。它們可能會令英語使用者發笑，但中國官方並不覺得此事好笑：每當中國舉行重大國際活動時，政府都會試圖清理那些最荒誕的譯名。例如在2008年北京奧運會前，就有40萬個標識和1300道菜名進行了修訂，其中包括“種族主義公園”。它是一個永久性的文化展覽場所，被更名爲“少數民族公園”。
Still, a stroll through just about any Chinese city will reveal the joys of eating in China: A restaurant menu in Xian offers “The Smell of Urine Dry Noodles.” Shenzhen is proud of its famous “Gollum Shrimp.” A Beijing restaurant serves “The Hand That Grasps the Cowboy Bone” and “Fried Swarm.”
不過，直到現在，在任何一座中國城市漫步，都會讓人對中華飲食忍俊不禁：西安一家餐館菜單上寫着“尿味的乾麪條”。深圳爲其著名的“古魯姆蝦”感到自豪。北京的一家餐廳提供“握着牛仔骨頭的手”和“炸蜂羣”。
Public institutions don’t do much better with their signs: One warns travelers in Shanghai to “Beware Wallet/Carefully Slide” (it means to suggest that you should watch your wallet and your step on the slippery floor). In Beijing, some wheelchair-accessible bathrooms are marked “Deformed Person.”
公共機構的標誌也不怎麼樣：上海有一個警告標識是“當心錢包咬你/小心翼翼地滑倒”（意思是，看牢你的錢包，在溼滑的地面上行走時要注意）。在北京，坐輪椅者的一些專用洗手間上採用的標識是“畸形人”。
And it is worth a visit to the Ecstasy retail clothing chain on the island of Taiwan just to see what is posted out front. Apparently unaware that its trademark is also a street name for the illegal drug MDMA, the store has signs saying, “Welcome to the Ecstasy World” and “The Ecstasy Family Make You Crazy.”
就算只是爲了看看招牌，臺灣島上的象鼻人(Ecstasy)服裝連鎖店也是值得一逛。商家似乎沒有意識到其商標也是非法毒品搖頭丸的俗稱，所以店裏的招牌上寫着“歡迎來到搖頭丸世界”和“搖頭丸家族讓你瘋狂”。
