爱不需要理由一个英国人眼中的美式英语

2021年1月12日发(作者：须沁华)
一个英国人眼中的美式英语

As an expat living in New Orleans， it is a very long list but “burglarize” is
currently the word that I most dislike.
作为一名生活在新奥尔良的侨民，我有很长一串清单，但是“burglar ize(破门
盗窃)”是我目前最不喜欢的词。(英国用burgle)
“Oftentimes” just makes me shiver with annoyance. Fortunately I've not noticed
it over here yet.
“Oftentimes(经常)”会让我恼怒得直哆嗦。幸运地是，我在这里还没看到过。
Eaterie. To use a prevalent phrase， oh my gaad！
Eaterie(餐馆)。经常听到，天呐！！
I'm a Brit living in New York. The one that always gets me is the American need
to use the word bi- weekly when fortnightly would suffice just fine.
我是住在纽约的英国人，让我难受的一点是美国人需要用bi- weekly(每两周
一次)，fortnightly明明足够好用了。
I hate “alternate” for “alternative”. I don't like this as they are two distinct words，
both have distinct meanings and it's useful to have both. Using alternate for
alternative deprives us of a word.
我讨厌用“alternate”替代“alternative”。我不喜欢 这个因为它们是不同的两个
词，它们分别有不同的意思，两者都很有用。用alternate替代al ternative会让我
们失去一个词。
“Hike” a price. Does that mean people who do that are hikers？ No， hikers are
ramblers！
“Hike(提升)”价格。那是不是意 味着“提升价格的人”可以用hikers表示？不，
hikers(旅行者)是“漫游者”的意思好不 好！
Going forward？ If I do I shall collide with my keyboard.
Going forward(前进)？如果我要打这个词，我势必要和我的键盘搏斗一番。
I hate the word “deliverable”. Used by management consultants for something
that they will “deliver” instead of a report.
我讨厌“delivera ble(交付物)”这个词。管理顾问常用这个词来表达他们要
“deliver(交付)”的某个替代 report的东西。
The most annoying Americanism is “a million and a half” when it is clearly one
and a half million！ A million and a half is 1，000，000.5 where one and a half million
is 1，500，000.34.
最让人恼火的美式英语是“a million and a half”，正确的明明应该是one and a
half million. A million and a half 是1000000.5，one and a half million是1500000。
“Reach out to” when the correct word is “ask”. For example： “I will reach out
to Kevin and let you know if that timing is convenient”. Reach out？ Is Kevin stuck
in quicksand？ Is he teetering on the edge of a cliff？ Can't we just ask him？
用“reach out to”而不是正确的“ask”。比如，“I will reach out to Kevin and let
you know if that timing is convenient。(我会问 一下凯文，看看时间是否方便。)”
难道凯文在流沙区吗？或者他在悬崖边摇摇欲坠？难道我们就不能“ 问”一下
他？
Surely the most irritating is： “You do the Math。” Math？ It's MATHS.
最激怒人的当然就是：You do the Math。(你自己来算一下。)”Math？应该是
MATHS！
I hate the fact I now have to order a “regular Americano”. What ever happened
to a medium sized coffee？
我讨厌我现在必须点“regular Americano(常规美式咖啡)。”为什么就不能说a
medium sized coffee呢？
My worst horror is expiration， as in “expiration date”. Whatever happened to
expiry？
我最讨厌的词是expiration(截止)，比如“expiration date(截止日期)”。为什么
不用expiry？
My favourite one was where Americans claimed their family were “Scotch-Irish”.
This of course is totally inaccurate， as even if it were possible， it would be “Scots”
not “Scotch”.
我最喜欢的一个就是美国人宣称他们的家庭是“Scotch-Irish(苏格兰-爱尔兰
血统的)” 。这当然是完全错误的，即使这是一种可能的表达，那么也应该是“Scot”
而不是“Scotch” .
I am increasingly hearing the phrase “that'll learn you” - when the English (and
more correct) version was always “that'll teach you”. What a ridiculous phrase！