英语中委婉而礼貌的表达“丰满”的说法
我们汉语的习惯里,胖有赞美,恭维人的意思,如祝贺你生了个大胖小子,胖呼呼,甚至给熟悉的人起个绰号叫胖子(当然是爱称)。可见胖在汉语中有健康生活舒心的意思。那么英语里可以这么说吗?
在英语中,关于胖,我们首先想到的就是fat。但fat在英语中是个强烈的贬义词,是愚笨,迟缓,自制力差的标志,所以在西方如果说某人fat,不仅是对别人的伤害与歧视,也是自身粗鲁无教养的表现。
那应该如何恰当而又有礼貌地表达胖、丰满呢?下面是一些常见的委婉语,不论是翻译还是口语都很有用。
1. gain weight增加体重,例如:
People who drink diet soft drinks don’’t lose weight. They gain weight, a new study finds.
2. super size person超大之人,例如:
No more hamburgers, I don’’t want to be a super size person.
3. heavyset身子重的,体格粗壮、敦实的,例如:He was tall and heavyset.
4. nutritionally endowed营养丰富的,例如:
Though garlic is a nutritionally endowed food, it is only consumed in small amounts.
5. gravitationally challenged受地球引力挑战的(增加的体重确实在挑战地球引力),例如:
That girl is gravitationally challenged.
6. well-built体格健美的,体型匀称的,例如:
That girl is well-built.
7. stout结实的,壮实的,例如:
She is getting too stout for her dresses.
8. big-boned骨架大的,例如:
I’’m not fat, just big-boned.
9. overweight超重的,例如:
Overweight in a child should not be neglected.
10. chubby胖呼呼的(多指小孩和女子),例如:
The baby has a chubby face.
11. buxom形象健康丰满的,健美的,例如:
A generation ago, fat babies were considered healthy and buxom actresses were popular, but society has since come to worship thinness.
同样,瘦不能说skinny,这可是皮包骨的意思(时尚界的许多模特正在朝这个方向发展),要形容一个人苗条应该用slender,slim,或delicate。减肥则可以说lose pounds或lose weight。
总之,胖和瘦是英美人敏感的话题,fat 和skinny的使用要十分小心,注意回避。但是有一个例外就是 phat (妙,好,酷),是fat 的异体词,在口语中常常用于赞美美妙的东西,相当于cool 。例如The car is really a phat.
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