民办 于 2000/09/25 07:25:19 发表在 汉英
读书评译（７）
单其昌《汉英翻译技巧》（外语教学与研究出版社， １９９０，第
１２９页）：
一提起做贸易来，人们往往会认为这无非是一手交钱一手交货的事。
When trade is mentioned, people usually think that trade
is a matter of handing over money with one hand while
delivering goods with the other.
评：该书认为，When trade is mentioned应该去掉。但未指出
“一手交钱一手交货”的英文翻译也容易造成“同一个人又交钱又交
货”的误解。是否可以译成：People usually think that trade is
a matter of handing over money by one party and delivering
goods by the other.
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Or one might say "handing over money with one hand while receiving goods with the other."
作者：Datou - 2000/09/25 09:14:51
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In addition, the English translation might not truely reflect the meaning of "无非", which means "nothing but" or "simply". So the sentence may be further revised as "... just [simply] a matter of..."
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英文有个固定说法：COD (cash on delivery)大概也有这意思。
作者：古月 - 2000/09/25 10:40:28
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小弟的感觉是（至少在美国）COD 是指货到时交钱，其中
作者：大头 - 2000/09/25 12:57:50
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包含一个送货（delivery）过程，而非更常见的先交钱后发货。在此买方和卖方不在同一地点，因此需要送货。送货者可以是卖方自己的人员，也可为第三方运输公司。
野草君的 cash-and-carry 应该更合“一手钱、一手货”之买卖双方当场、同时交换钱货的含义。
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Sure you're right! Yecao's version is closer. Thanks for the explanation!
作者：古月 - 2000/09/25 14:33:19
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There are two more far-fetched yet somewhat similar expressions just for your reference: "pay-as-you-go" or "pay on the nail (slang)."
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Thank YOU for the two phrases! Rather interesting ones, I have never heard of them.
作者：Datou - 2000/09/25 20:53:50
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payment vs delivery
作者：tglx - 2000/09/25 21:36:35
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Keen observation! I like your serious scholarly attitude.
作者：野草 - 2000/09/25 11:20:34
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Strictly speaking, the original translation does need fixing. You have rightly pointed out the ambiguity problem and offered a very good version to interpret一手交钱一手 交货. And Datou's version is certainly a good alternative, though the original redundancy still stays with "handing over with one hand". I'll just pick up your lines and further comment on the same sentence.
1) When we say 一手交钱一手交货 in Chinese, our focus of attention doesn't seem to be on the physical 手. Rather it is the simultaneous process of "changing ownership" that we want to emphasize. So, unless word-for-word interpretation is necessary, say in teaching Chinese to English speakers, there seems no need to translate the "hand" in most situations. After all, handing over money and then receiving services is absolute common sense socially. Therefore, while "handing over money and receiving services" may be considered direct enough to interpret 一手交钱一手交货 in this case, the phrase may be, depending on contextual needs, translated as
- buying and selling;
- cash and carry.
2) Should 一提起做贸易来 be left out entirely? No, I'm afraid. The original version uses "When trade is mentioned", which is not good, but this cannot justify its complete removal. Maybe something like: "When it comes to trade, ..." or "Taking of trade,"can better preserve the original tone in Chinese.
3) I agree with Datou, 无非 has to be translated.
Hence, my suggested improvement:
When it comes to trade, people tend to think it is nothing more than handing over money and receiving services.
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Oops, sorry. "Taking of trade," should read "Talking of...".
作者：野草 - 2000/09/25 11:39:11
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野君所言甚是。完全赞同！
作者：学而 - 2000/09/25 15:45:41
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