翻译笔记:如何学习经济学人文章(2)

这是我继“特朗普国情咨文”、“如何学习经济学人文章(1)”一周三篇翻译任务的第三篇。

2-7至2-13日第一周目标达成。

我主要从英中翻译的准确角度对文章进行考察,对于我自己比较生疏的一些单词用法与翻译精妙之处做了笔记。我个人词汇量大概在8000-10000左右,属于初级小翻译,大家可以对标确定自己的水平。

欢迎与我共同学习,共同进步:)

英文单词/词组释义均来自柯林斯词典。柯林斯英英词典的释义说明基本采用了十分浅显、简单的英语,非常值得参考。

中英原文来自https://weibo.com/economistgroup?topnav=1&wvr=6&topsug=1&is_all=1

笔记原创,仅供学习分享之用。

This tension is an inevitable part of the return of monetary policy to more normal conditions. What is not inevitable is the scale of America’s impending fiscal bet. Economists reckonthat Mr Trump’s tax reform, which lowers bills for firms and wealthy Americans—and to a lesser extent for ordinary workers—willjoltconsumption and investment to boost growth by around 0.3% this year. And Congress is about to boost government spending, if a budget deal announced this weekholds up.Democrats are to get more funds for child care and othergoodies; hawksin both parties have won more money for the defence budget. Mr Trump, meanwhile, still wants his border wall and an infrastructure plan. The mood of fiscalinsouciancein Washington, DC, is troubling. Add the extra spending to rising pension and health-care costs, and America is set to run deficits above 5% of GDP for the foreseeable future. Excluding the deep recessions of the early 1980s and 2008, the United States is being more profligatethan at any time since 1945.

货币政策正要回归到更正常的状态,这种紧张态势不可避免。而美国即将到来的财政赌注的规模却并非不可避免。特朗普的税改减轻了企业和美国富人的税收负担(对普通工人的影响更小些),经济学家们认为它将刺激消费和投资,让今年的经济增长率提高约0.3%。而如果本周宣布的一项预算协议最后被通过,国会将增加政府开支。民主党将在儿童保育等福利上获得更多资金;两党的鹰派人物也都为国防预算争取了更多资金。与此同时,特朗普仍想修建边境墙并实施基建计划。华府对财政负担满不在乎的态度令人不安。不断增长的养老金和医疗费用之外再加上这些额外的支出,在可预见的将来美国的财政赤字应该会达到GDP的5%以上。除去上世纪80年代初和2008年的严重衰退,美国如今的挥霍程度超过自1945年以来的任何时候。

笔记:

Reckon

1. 动词

If you reckon that something istrue, you think that it is true.

认为(是真),可以替代believe, think,consider

Jolt

1. 动词

If something jolts or if something jolts it, it movessuddenlyandquiteviolently.

Goodies= goody

1.可数名词 [usually plural]

You canreferto pleasant,exciting, orattractivethings as goodies.

好东西,文中引申为福利

Insouciance

不可数名词

Insouciance is lack of concern shown by someone about something which theymightbeexpectedto take moreseriously.

profligate

形容词

Someone who is profligate spends too much money or uses too much of something.

A cocktail ofexpensivestockmarkets, a maturing business cycle and fiscal largesse would test themettleof the most experienced policymakers. Instead, American fiscal policy is being run by people who have bought intothe mantra that deficits don’t matter. And the central bank has a brand new boss, Jerome Powell, who, unlike his recent predecessors, has no formal expertise in monetary policy.

高企的股票市场、成熟中的商业周期,以及慷慨的财政政策,这三者的混合对最有经验的政策制定者来说都会是一场重大考验。然而,现在执掌美国财政政策的人却相信赤字并不重要那一套。而美联储的新掌门人杰罗姆·鲍威尔(Jerome Powell)与前几任主席不同,他在货币政策方面没有正规的专业知识。

Expensive stockmarkets

“高企”源于广东话,即指价位持续停留在较高的位置不落,且有再升高的可能。

或“高位运行的股市”更符合大陆的说法?

Mettle

1.不可数名词 [usually poss NOUN]

Someone's mettle is theirabilityto do somethingwellindifficultcircumstances.

Buy into与中文的“买账”完美对应。

Does Powell like fast cars?

鲍威尔喜欢飙车吗?

What willdeterminehow this gamble turns out? In the medium term, America will have to get togrips withits fiscal deficit. Otherwise interest rates will eventually soar, much as they did in the 1980s. But in the short term most hangs on Mr Powell, who must steerbetween two opposite dangers. One is that he is too doveish, backing away from the gradual (and fairly modest) tightening in the Fed’s current plans as asalveto jitteryfinancial markets. In effect, he would be creating a “Powell put” which would in time lead to financial bubbles. The other danger is that the Fed tightens too much too fast because it fears the economy is overheating.

什么将左右这场赌博的结果?就中期而言,美国将不得不应对财政赤字的问题,否则利率最终会像上世纪80年代那样飙升。但在短期,结果在很大程度上要取决于鲍威尔,他必须在两个截然相反的危险之间小心掌舵。危险之一是他会过于温和,放弃美联储当前计划中渐进(且相当温和)的紧缩政策,以慰藉紧张不安的金融市场。实际上,他将会创造一个迟早会导致金融泡沫的“鲍威尔托市”。另一个危险则是美联储因为担心经济过热而过快过多地推进紧缩。

determine 译为“ 左右”,很妙

Grip with这个词组在柯林斯没有查到,存疑

Salve

2.有变体名词

Salve is anoilysubstance that isputon soreskinor a wound tohelpit heal.

油膏,治愈品

此处翻译为“慰藉”采用了词性变换的翻译技巧。

如果翻译成“作为治愈剂来安慰紧张不安的金融市场。”,就显得过分啰嗦。

为凸出文体的庄重严肃性,英语文本往往运用较多抽象名词,而在英译中过程中,应当避免力求译文的简洁明了,采用短小精悍的动词。

Jiettery

形容词

If someone is jittery, they feel nervous or arebehavingnervously.

On balance, hasty tightening is the greater risk. New to his role, Mr Powell may be tempted toestablishhis inflation-fighting chops—and his independence from the White House—by pushing for higher rates faster. That would be a mistake, for three reasons.

两者相较,仓促紧缩的风险更大。新官上任的鲍威尔也许会很想通过加快加息步伐来证明自己有能力对抗通胀,且独立自主、不被白宫左右。这会是个错误,原因有三点。

Establish one’s chops第一次看见这样的用法。

Chops

复数名词

1. 

the jaws

2. 

the mouth and lower cheeks

3.  US, Slang

technicalskill, esp. of ajazzor rockmusician

3种释义似乎只有最后一种比较适合。

First, it is far from clear that the economy is at full employment. Policymakers tend to consider those who have dropped out of the jobs market as lost to the economyfor good.Yet many have been returning to work, and plenty more may yet follow (see article). Second, the risk of asudden burst of inflationis limited. Wage growth has picked up only gradually in America. There is little evidence of it in Germany and Japan, which also have low unemployment. The wage-bargaining arrangements behind the explosive wage-price spiral of the early 1970s are long gone. Third, there are sizeable benefits from letting the labour market tighten further. Wages are growing fastest at the bottom of the earnings scale. That not only helps the blue-collar workers who have been hit disproportionately hard by technological change and globalisation. It also prompts firms to invest more in capital equipment, giving a boost to productivity growth.

首先,经济是否已达到充分就业还远未明朗。政策制定者往往认为那些退出就业市场的人是永远从经济中退出,但实际上许多人已经重返工作岗位,这样的人也许还有很多。其次,通胀突然急速上升的风险有限。在美国,工资增长只是逐渐抬头。而在失业率同样很低的德国和日本,几乎还没有这样的迹象。20世纪70年代初导致工资和物价相互推动而螺旋式飙升的工资谈判早已不复存在。再则,让劳动力市场进一步收紧有相当大的好处。目前,收入最低的人群工资增长最快。这不仅有助于那些受技术变革和全球化冲击最大的蓝领工人,还会促使企业加大对资本设备的投入,从而促进生产率增长。

For good

短语

If something changes ordisappearsfor good, itneverchangesbackorcomesback as it was before.

绝对不能望文生义的一个短语,有时可以替代forever,瞬间让译文显得高大上。

To be clear, this newspaper would not advise a fiscal stimulus of the scale that America is undertaking. It is poorly designed andrecklesslylarge. It will add to financial-market volatility. But now that this experiment is under way, it is even more important that the Fed does not lose its head.■

明确地说,本报不建议美国推行如此规模的财政刺激。它设计糟糕、规模之大不计后果。它将加剧金融市场的波动。但既然这项实验已经启动,美联储别昏了头就更重要了。

Reckless

形容词

If yousaythat someone is reckless, you mean that they act in a way whichshowsthat they do notcareabout danger or the effect theirbehaviourwillhave on other people.

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