“麪子工程”怎麽說？

在做漢譯英時，英語學習者常常會頭痛於一些“中國特色詞滙”的表達。剛剛談過一個“公款旅遊 ”，有網友又詢問如何表達時下的“麪子工程”、以及報刊襍志中所談到的“浪費成風”、“文山會海之風”？

看下麪一段外電報道，或許會對我們有所啓發。

"The fad of wastefulness …… the mountains of documents and seas of meetings, image projects and other acts that hurt the people's feelings, ignore their sufferings and damage their interests, should be resolutely rectified," the Morning Post said.

Reports of local governments spending heavily on trade fairs, concerts and even sacrificial rituals to court investors and fame, regularly appear in Chinese newspapers and are a major source of public discontent.

外電中的“image project”指的就是“麪子工程、形象工程”。如果仔細閲讀上段報道，您還會發現“浪費成風”、“文山會海”相應的英文表達爲：“the fad of wastefulness”，“the mountains of documents and seas of meetings”。

在表達“浪費成風”時，外電中的“fad”比較貼切地表達了“一時盛行的風氣”。此外，在時尚詞滙裡，“fad”也是高頻率字眼，特指“一時的風尚、一時的狂熱”，如：Trawling shops for ribbons, beads and buttons is seen as a hot fad for this autumn. 今年鞦季，出售花邊、小珠子和鈕釦等手工飾品的商店將會十分火爆。