Let’s kick off with the late great Sir Bobby Robson, who managed Newcastle, Barcelona and England in a stellar career. As well as being a great football manager Sir Bobby was often unintentionally funny in the way he used the English language。
我们从已故的鲍勃·罗布森爵士开始谈起吧。这位曾担任纽卡斯尔、巴塞罗那和英格兰足球俱乐部经理,职业生涯熠熠生辉的元老级人物经常在遣词用句中显示他毫不造作的幽默感。
When asked what his dream job outside of football would have been, he replied:"I'd have given my right arm to be a pianist." - the phrase 'I'd give my right arm to do something' means you would really love to do it, but what kind of pianist only has one arm?
当问到如果离开足球场,他梦想中的职业是什么时,他回答说:“就算断只手,我都要当钢琴家。”其中他用到了一个词组give my right arm to do something,意为非常喜爱做某事。但是,哪里有钢琴家是只有一只胳膊的?
Former England goalkeeper David Seaman proved his memory has not diminished with age with this quote:
英格兰队前守门员David Seaman证实了他的记忆并未随年龄而衰退:
"I will never forget my first game for England at the World Cup. It was against Turkey... no I mean Tunisia." – which one was it, Dave?
“我将永远不会忘记我参加世界杯的第一战。那时的对手是土耳其……不对,是突尼斯。”——到底是哪个呢,Dave同学?
The most modest man in football Cristiano Ronaldo entertained us with this one:
最谦虚的球员罗纳尔多如是说:
"It's true lots of people hate me but there are even more who love me. I feel bad only when I play badly. Fortunately that happens rarely." – nobody likes a bighead, Cristiano。
“确实有不少人讨厌我,但有更多的人是喜欢我的。我只有在踢坏球的时候才心情不好。幸运的是这样的事不常发生。”——没人喜欢自大狂哦,罗纳尔多同学。
The phrase 'to take it on the chin' means to accept bad news without bitterness or upset, but when you are an overweight manager you may have to modify the xpression。
短语“to take it on the chin”意为平静地接受坏消息,不过从身体超重的经理口中说出,这句话就得改一改了
"You have to take it on the chin - or in my case, chins!" – portly Steve Bruce said after his team were thrashed 7-0.
“天塌下来有下巴撑着,对我而言,是双下巴!”——肥肥的Steve Bruce在他的足球队以0比7落败后如此说道。
Let the last word be given to Sir Bobby Robson whose comments on disciplinary problems with his players proved beyond doubt that he knew the difference between footballers and monks:
压轴之语还是留给鲍勃·罗布森爵士吧。他在谈到球员纪律问题时,无可置疑地表明他是知道球员与和尚之间的区别的:
"They can't be monks - we don't want them to be monks, we want them to be football players because a monk doesn't play football at this level."
“他们不可能跟和尚一样——我们才不想他们像和尚呢,我们希望他们是球员,因为和尚的球技不可能跟他们是一个水平。”