中文原文:
对英语,我只懂一点皮毛。
错误译文:
I only have a smattering of the knowledge about English.
正确译文:
I only have a smattering of English.
翻译加油站:
smattering 在这里的意思是limited knowledge 或superficial knowledge,即“有限知识”或“表面知识”。初学者爱说My English is poor,以示自谦,其实不合英语习惯。不如说I only have a smattering of English更为地道。
a smattering of 后面一般跟一种语言。例如:我在巴黎逗留期间学了一点法语。I picked up a smattering of French during my stay in Paris.但是,a smattering of 还有a small number of 或a small amount of的意思,前者跟可数名词,后者跟不可数名词,具有“少量”或“一点儿”的意思。例如:她仅会一点儿英语单词。She knows only a smattering of English words.
“懂得一点儿”和“懂点皮毛”,还可以译为to know a little about sth。“一知半解”可以译为to have a superficial knowledge of sth, to have a scanty knowledge of sth。例如:他们对公司如何运作仅有一知半解。They only have a scanty knowledge about how a company operates.
“所知甚少”可以用to know very little, not to know much, to have little knowledge等方式表示。例如:说老实话,我对西方文化所知甚少。To be honest, I knew very little about Western culture.
“一无所知”或“全然无知” 可以译为 to be absolutely/completely/ quite/totally ignorant about/of sth 或to be completely in the dark。例如:这两个人从来没有互相见过面,而且对互相的工作全然无知。The two people never saw each other, and they were completely ignorant of the other's work.
“被蒙在鼓里”可以译为to be kept completely in the dark。例如:经理计划将公司出售,但是股东们被蒙在鼓里。The manager planned to sell the company, but the shareholders were kept completely in the dark.