A paper on English idioms and cultural differences?

Similarly, there are no words equivalent to cowboys and hippy in China. These two words are unique products of American society. Cowboys are related to the early western development of the United States, and their legends are always full of romanticism and legend. When Chinese is translated into "shepherd boy" or "cowboy", these meanings can't be reflected. The transliteration of hippies into "hippies" or "hippies" in Chinese does not reflect the characteristics of American youth who were regarded as eccentric by China people in 1960s. It may be better to translate it into "hippie", but the word can also cause misunderstanding, because not all those young people are "hippie faces". Many of them take social problems seriously and have some dissatisfaction with society, even though their lifestyles are different: they often have long hair, wear strange clothes, and even behave decadent, take drugs, and so on. This needs to be explained in a dictionary or translation.

Many examples can also be cited in social activities and political activities. For example, the word "struggle meeting" in Chinese can be translated into struggle meeting, but this translation can't explain the content of this meeting. On the other hand, it is difficult for China people to guess what kind of activities the American Renaissance will be, unless they go to the scene to see the religious revival rally with a very strong religious atmosphere and hysteria. Similarly, people in China often know nothing about bingo parties and bingo games. In some dictionaries, bingo's Chinese annotations are "a kind of gambling with cards as squares" (New English-Chinese Dictionary) and "a kind of gambling with five points" (Huaying Dictionary), but readers still find this word irrelevant.

There is a similar phenomenon in everyday language. Most British and Americans have never slept in China's kang, eaten candied haws or used China's scales. Most people in China have never stayed in motels in the United States (hotels with parking lots for tourists who drive cars) or eaten hamburgers (beef patties; Hamburg steak; Hamburg), and when you go to work, you don't need to use the attendance clock to prove whether you are on time. English words like this can't be found in Chinese, even words with similar meanings, because there is no such concept. This situation is very common, needless to say here.

The concept of "solar terms" in Chinese does not exist in English. It should be pointed out that most westerners still do not understand the translation of "solar terms". For example, in a commonly used modern Chinese-English dictionary, the word "rain" is translated into rain (the second solar term), the word "shock" is translated into the awakening of the insert (the third solar term $ TERM) and the word "Qingming" is translated into Qingming (the fifth solar term). These names are meaningless without additional explanation. But some names of "solar terms" do have equivalents in English: vernal equinox = vernal equinox; Summer solstice = summer solstice; = autumnal equinox; = autumnal equinox; Winter solstice = winter solstice.

Some traditional and ancient words in Chinese, such as "Yin" and "Yang", have no corresponding words in English. Longman Modern English Dictionary explains "Yin" and "Yang" as follows: "According to Taoist cosmology," Yin "and" Yang "are two forces, and the essence of these two forces has produced the universe and maintained its harmony. Yin' means dark, feminine and negative. Yang means bright, masculine and positive. "

The concepts of "Yin" and "Yang" have been used for many centuries as part of the basic principles of TCM treatment. However, these principles are difficult to explain clearly to westerners. The concepts of "cold" and "excessive internal heat" mentioned in the theory of traditional Chinese medicine are also difficult to express in English words, and only some explanations can be made. If "excessive internal heat" occurs, say "excessive internal heat" and then describe the symptoms. In the Chinese-English dictionary, the words "Yin" and "Yang" should be annotated as: (in China philosophy, medicine, etc. Yin, the negative or negative principle of nature; Yang's masculine principle is consistent with Longman Dictionary of Modern English, but it is still difficult for westerners to understand.

The above examples are enough to illustrate the great difference. There are many reasons for these differences: either because of the different environment and traditions, or because of the different levels of industrial and technological development, or because of the different political and social systems, and so on.

(b) Some concepts exist in both English and Chinese, but they are not completely synonymous.

Some people in China who know a little English will use the word lover when introducing their lovers, which is quite unexpected to foreigners (because lover means faithful husband or mistress). Foreigners don't understand why China people, who have been cautious on this issue, publicly announce that they have lovers. What needs to be remembered is that the English words corresponding to the Chinese word "lover" are: husband or wife; Frience (fiance) or fiancee (fiancee).

The wives of American presidents and governors are often referred to as first ladies, and sometimes translated as "first ladies". However, some people in China misunderstand the word "first lady" and think that there are even "second ladies" or even "third ladies" and "fourth ladies" because of the "first lady", thus getting the wrong impression that "the owner of the White House has had several wives!"

When Chinese people ask others their "birthplace", they may point out the place of birth or where a person comes from, and often refer to where a person's parents or ancestors originally came from. Sometimes the two places are the same, but they are often different. There is no word for "native place" in English. Birthplace only means where I was born, and it has nothing to do with my ancestors. This difference can sometimes cause confusion, especially when filling in ID cards, resumes, passports, etc.