曾几何时,“剩女”成了大城市的话题。这个词让一部分大龄单身女青年感到尴尬,不过也有自诩自己为“剩女”的自信御姐。今天我们就来看一看“剩女”如何翻译为英文。
“剩女”可以说成:
1. single woman over 27/unmarried female above the age of 27
2. leftover woman
第1种翻译是意译,但是“剩女”的年龄到底是27还是28或是其他,见仁见智,不绝对。
第2种翻译是直译,其中leftover一词和中文的“剩”精确对应,Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English对leftover的解释是:remaining after all the rest has been used, taken, or eaten。
如果想向外国人精确传递“剩女”的含义,建议这样说:
“Shengnu” literally means "a leftover woman". It refers to a single woman who is above the age of 27. “剩女”的字面意思是“被别人选剩下的女人”,用来指过了27岁的单身女性。
以下是来自于BBC官网的文章(节选),供大家参考:
Emotional advert about China's 'leftover women' goes viral
By Heather Chen
8 April 2016
Single women over 27 in China are known as "leftover women"
The issue of unmarried females, often stigmatised as "sheng nu" or leftover women, has long been a topic of concern in a society that prioritises marriage and motherhood for women.
By government definition, a "leftover woman" refers to any unmarried female above the age of 27.
(来源:BBC官网,地址为http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-35994366)