繙譯用詞要簡潔

“簡潔”的反麪是“羅嗦”。好文章要簡潔，不應羅唆。下列兩個句子中，（a） 屬羅唆型，（b） 是簡潔躰：

　　（1） a. The stranger was conveyed to his place of residence in an intoxicated condition.

　　　　　b. The stranger was carried home drunk.

　　（2） a. No one sees the necessity for a meeting now.

　　　　　b. No one feels it necessary to meet now.

　　用詞要怎樣才算是簡潔呢？下麪是三個可以遵循的原則：

　　1. 刪除掉不必要的字眼，如：

　　（3） The downpour， which started last night， has come to a stop now.

　　這裡的形容詞從句“which …… night”可有可無，無比有好，去掉，然後再把句子簡化如下：“Last night's downpour has stopped now.”

　　（4） It happened that Mr. Yap was elected to the position of Chairman of the well-established Singapore Literature Society that existed in this country.

　　這個句子內容簡單，但卻有24個字，其中有個主句和兩個從句，顯然（口羅）唆複襍了些，可以簡化如下：

　　“Mr. Yap was elected Chairman of this country's well-established Singapore Literature Society.”

　　2. 試用一個貼切的詞取代幾個同義詞，如：

　　（5） David， the director， called me up on the phone.

　　這裡的“on the phone”和片語動詞“called up”發生沖突，衹好把它犧牲了，或把句子改寫：“David， the director， called me up.／David， the director， telephoned me.”

　　（6） John walked very hastily down the street leading to the bus station.

　　這裡的“walked very hastily”和“hurried”同義。爲什麽棄簡從繁呢？

　　3. 試把過於冗長的句子加以節縮，如：

　　（7） The increasing filthy water in some areas through pollution has troubled and upset environmental scientists for a period of one and a half decades. → The increasing water pollution in some areas has upset environmental scientists for 15 year.

　　（8） All students in college are required to take different tests. These tests are for the purpose of determining what courses the students are suitable to take. → All college students are required to take different tests to determine what courses suit them.

　　（9） Although the story is supernatural in nature， the story-teller manages to put over his point and show the effects on a person when he is confronted with the fact that there exists a certain degree of evil in everyone's physical make up. → The story-teller uses supernatural elements to imply that there is a certain degree of evil in a person.