戏说“酒”字在汉英词典中
2016-02-18 19:32阅读：
戏说“酒”字在汉英词典中
（选自《英语世界》2016年第2期）
文/肖福寿1
陆谷孙2
2014年，美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）曾公布“Top
10”世界十大最爱喝酒的国家（heaviest drinking
nations）排名。根据这项排名，中国位于世界第二。看看中国的酒文化，如夏朝的“杜康造秫酒”、商代的“酒色文化”、周代的“酒祭文化”和“酒仪文化”
、秦汉年间的“酒政文化”、三国时期的劝酒之风、魏晋南北朝时期的“酒财文化”、唐代的“酒章文化”和“酒催诗兴”、明清两代的“酒域文化”，还有诸多酒礼和酒俗，如元旦饮椒柏酒、正月十五饮填仓酒、端午饮菖蒲酒、中秋饮桂花酒、重阳饮菊花酒，足可成为民俗研究的一部分。
检阅一下有关“酒”的说法，再罗列一下这些说法如何译成英语，饶有趣味。本文选取汉英词典编者们自以为迻译尚有特点的某些表达法，与广大读者共享或请质疑、指谬，权作汉英比较的一席戏说。
一、“酒”字的界定
1．“饮料名”之意：①
alcoholic drink ② wine
③ spirit(s)
④liquor
例1：美～佳人 fine
wine and beautiful women
例2：花间一壶～，独酌无相亲。
Holding a pot of wine among the flowers, I drink it all by
myself.
例3：～被认为既是生活中所有问题的原因，又是解决办法。
Alcohol is considered to be both the cause of, and
solution to all of life’s problems.
例4：劝君更尽一杯～，西出阳关无故人。
I now urge you to drink up this cup of wine; no friend out
beyond West Yangguan will dine and wine you.
2．“饮酒”之意：① to
drink wine ② to have a
drink
例：文王诰教小子有正有事，无彝～。 King Wen admonished and
instructed the young nobles charged with office or in any
employment that they should not ordinarily consume
alcohol.
3．“酒筵”之意：① a
feast ② a banquet ③
a treat
例1：办一桌～多少钱？ How
much does a feast cost?
例2：几时办婚礼～？ When
is a wedding feast arranged to take place?
4．“姓”之意：Jiu
二、“酒”的种类
1．白酒 ①
spirit(s) ②
liquor
例1：～红人面，黄金黑世心。
Just as colourless liquor reddens people’s faces, so yellow
gold blackens their hearts.
例2：中国人爱喝～，醉了就喝醒酒汤。
Chinese people, who are crazy about alcohol, sober themselves
by eating de-intoxicating soup.
2．红酒 red
wine
例：品～ sample red wine
3．黄酒 ① yellow
rice wine ② yellow millet wine
③ Shaoxing wine
例：约在三千多年前，中国人就开始大规模酿制～。 Chinese people
began to mass-brew yellow rice wine approximately more than 3,000
years ago.
4．米酒 rice
wine
例：酿糯～ brew glutinous rice
wine
5．葡萄酒 grape
wine
例：醇香的～ full-bodied
wine
6．烧酒 white
liquor
例：～类 high-proof
liquors
7．药酒 ① medicated
wine ② medicinal
liquor
例：调制～ concoct medicated
liquor
三、与“酒”有关的词语
1．酒店 ① a
wineshop ② a pub ③
a hotel ④ an inn
⑤ a restaurant
例：～式公寓 a serviced
apartment
2．酒色 ① wine and
women ② sensual pleasure
③ flushed complexion after drinking
④drunkenness ⑤drunken
state ⑥colour of wine
例1：纵情～ ①
to indulge oneself in sex and alcohol
②to lead a sensual life
例2：～财气 ①
wine, woman, wealth and power ②
various kinds of evil temptations
③all sorts of allurements
例3：～纯正。 The wine
looks fine and pure.
例4：～天 ①
overcast ② rainy
③ wine and women ④
sensual pleasure
例5：～之徒 ①
one who lusts after wine and women
②one who wallows in wine and women
③ a libertine ④ a
debauchee
例6：～祸之媒。 Alcohol
and sex are the agents of disaster.
例7：～醉男人。 Wine
and women intoxicate men.
3．酒食 ① food and
wine ② meals with drink
③ relishes to go with wine
例1：～征逐 ①
to vie in feasting each other ② to
invite each other to parties
例2：有～先生馔，曾是以为孝乎？
When the young have wine and food and set them before their
elders, is this to be considered filial piety?
例3：子有～，何不日鼓瑟？
You have spirits and viands; why not daily play with
lute?
4．酒水 ①
drinks ② beverages and
alcohol ③ a feast ④
a banquet
例1：办了一桌～ to give
a feast
例2：结婚后补办～ to
throw a feast after the marriage
例3：～免费。 Drinks
are free of charge.
例4：这一桌饭菜加～共五百元。
The meal amounts to 500 yuan, beverages
included.
四、与“饮酒行为”有关的词语
1．酒胆 ① courage
to drink ② guts to drink
③ big guts after drinking ④
Dutch courage
例：他是有～的，没饭力的。 ① He dares to
drink but has no appetite for food. ②He
is strong without feeble within.
2．酒风 ① alcoholic
apoplexy ② drunken fit
③ drunken antics
例1：撒/发～
throw a drunken fit
例2：三国时期的～极“盛”，～剽悍、嗜酒如命。
During the Three Kingdoms Period, people were addicted to
drink like crazy due to the prevalent and rampant drunken
antics.
3．酒后 ① after
drinking ② under the influence of
wine ③ influenced by
alcohol
例1：～戏笑之言
① some remarks made in jest after
drinking ②a few jesting remarks made
under the influence of wine
例2：～茶余 ①
over a glass of wine and a cup of tea
②at one’s leisure ③in
one’s free time
例3：～乱性
inappropriate behaviour after drinking
例4：～失态 to forget
oneself after a few drinks
例5：～失言 to make
an indiscreet remark under the influence of
alcohol
例6：～耳热。 Ears
start to burn after having a drink.
例7：～见真情。 Truth
comes out after the wine is drunken.
例8：～吐真言。
① In vino veritas. ②
In wine there is truth. ③ Wine in,
truth out. ④ To wine and
whine.
例9：～无德。 ①
to get drunk and ignore all decorum
②He who has drunk too much has no
manners. ③ One’s decorum becomes loose
when drunk.
4．酒驾 ① driving
under the influence ②DUI
③ drunk driving ④
driving while intoxicated
⑤DWI
例1：呼吸测醉器检查后被确定极度～
① be found driving under intense
influence ②DUI after a breathalyzer
test
例2：我对警察说：“醉驾？宿醉？没有，头脑清醒着呢，什么问题也没有。”
I told the police: “DUI? Hung over? No. Hung under, if
anything.”
5．酒劲 ① tipsy
feeling ② drinking capacity
③ kick
例1：借着～胡说八道 talk
nonsense when intoxicated
例2：比～看谁能喝。 Let’s
have a drinking competition to see who has more capacity for
liquor.
例3：那种威士忌酒很有劲儿。
That whisky has quite a kick.
6．酒力 ① capacity
for alcohol ② capacity for alcoholic
drinks ③ kick ④
potency (of alcohol) ⑤
stimulating effect of liquor
⑥influence of alcohol
例1：不胜～ unable to
hold much wine
例2：～突然爆发。 The
wine strikes with a sudden effect.
7．酒量 ① capacity
for alcohol ② drinking
capacity
例：～再大也是要醉的。 Even if one is a heavy
drinker, intoxication is inevitable.
8．酒令 ① drinker’s
wager game [in which the person who loses drinks wine as a
forfeit] ② to supervise the
drinking
例1：行～ play a
drinking game
例2：～大如军令。
Drinking games are to be observed more rigorously than
military orders.
例3：唐朝酒肆日益增多，～战风行。
In the Tang Dynasty, wineshops sprang up like mushrooms and
drinking games were in vogue.
五、与“饮酒者”有关的词语
1．酒鬼 ① a
drunkard ② an alkie/alky
③ an inebriate ④ a
toper ⑤ a sot ⑥
a tippler
例1：烂醉如泥的～ be as
drunk as a skunk
例2：在街上闹事的～
drunkards up to roguery in the street
2．酒神 ① the God
of Wine [ie, Dionysus in Greek mythology and Bacchus in Roman
mythology] ② a heavy drinker
③ a winebag
例：～之害甚于海神。 Bacchus has drowned more men
than Neptune.
3．酒仙 ① the
Immortal of the Wine Cup ② a great lover
of wine ③ a winebibber
④ a brewmaster
六、与“酒”有关的成语或俗语
1．对酒当歌 ① One
should sing out loud while drinking. ②One
should accomplish something in life. ③
Make merry while the sun shines.
例：～，人生几何？ Let’s drink and be merry, for
life is too short.
2．今朝有酒今朝醉。 ①
Drink today while you can. ② Make
merry while you can. ③ Gather ye rosebuds
while ye may. ④Carpe diem.
⑤YOLO (You Only Live Once).
例：～，明日愁来明日愁。 Drink today while you can;
worry not about tomorrow’s worries.
3．酒不解真愁。 Wine can never
dispel real sadness.
4．酒不醉人人自醉。 ① It
is not the wine that intoxicates drinkers but the drinkers
themselves are intoxicated. ② One gets
high for reasons other than mere drinking.
例：～，色不迷人人自迷。 Wine doesn’t make men drunk,
men get themselves intoxicated; lust doesn’t overpower men, men
surrender themselves to it.
5．酒多伤身，气大伤人。 Much drinking
does harm to your health, great anger hurts yourself and other
people.
6．酒逢知己千杯少。 ① A
thousand cups are too little when two bosom friends drink
together. ② When one drinks with a bosom
friend, his drinking capacity is unusually large.
③ Friends make happy hours.
例：～，话不投机半句多。 ① Friends make
happy hours while enemies make difficult ones.
② Among bosom friends, a thousand cups of wine
are too few; when the talk turns sour, even one word is more than
enough.
7．酒好客自来。 ① Good
wine needs no bush. ②One who has real
ability and learning needs no boast. ③
Goods of quality or people of ability will attract notice
without promotion. ④ If a man build a
better mouse trap, the world will beat a path to his
door.
8．酒老味醇，人老识深。 ①
Wine mellows with year and man sophisticates with age.
② Wine and judgment mellow with
age.
9．酒能成事，酒能败事。 ①
Liquor can both accomplish and ruin things.
②Drinking can make or mar a great
undertaking.
10．酒肉朋友好找，患难之交难逢。 It’s easy
to find fair-weather friends, but difficult to meet friends in
adversity.
11．酒是英雄胆。 Liquor gives
courage.
12．酒香不怕巷子深。 ①
The smell of wine is never blocked by the deep, long
lane. ② Good wine needs no bush.
③ High-quality goods or really talented people
need no advertisement.
例：现在这个年代，已经不是“～”的年代了。 Ours is no longer an
age in which good wine needs no bush.
13．酒消百愁。 Liquor dispels all
worries.
顺便说，本文素材主要取自《中华汉英大词典》（陆谷孙主编），而诸如“酒逋”“酒德”“酒礼”“酒绿灯红”“酒头”“酒政”“酒中蛇”等许多与“酒”有关的其他英文表达法，更待我们共同探索。
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注释：
1．1964年生，南京大学博士，哈佛大学访问学者，现为上海大学教授、英语系主任，主要从事英语语块学、ESL写作以及词典编纂研究。
2．复旦大学杰出教授，《英汉大词典》《中华汉英大词典》主编。
