又中又英｜To split your sides

People who are not fluent English speakers can sometimes be confused with words that have different meanings. A racket is used for playing tennis. A racket also means loud and unpleasant noise. A novel when used as a noun is a fiction book but as an adjective it means something new or original. Toes are the five separate parts at the end of a foot. But the word “toe” when used in the idiom “toe the line” has a totally different meaning. To toe the line means to do what you are expected to do without causing any trouble. Your boss could ask you to toe the line by obeying the company’s policy even if you disagree with the policy.
Translating English words into Chinese can also cause confusion. I once used Google translate to send a message to a friend who didn’t speak English at all. I asked her if she was free for dinner. The word “free” used this way means if she was available for dinner. She immediately called me to ask why I asked her if she was free. Google translated the word “free” to mean not costing any money! A friend recently sent me a picture of a property agency’s English name that made me split my sides.
To split your sides means to laugh loudly about something. The agency’s English name was Uprising Property Agency. The word “uprising” means a large group of people who often use violence to oppose the government. Similar words are rebellion, revolution, and insurrection. I don’t know why the agency used such a name but it’s likely the Chinese name has a totally different meaning.

英语不流利的人有时可能会混淆一些带有不同意思的字词。A racket 可以指一支网球拍； a racket也可以指吵闹声。A novel作名词用时，是指一本小说，但作形容词用时它是指一些新颖、原创的事物。Toes就是脚趾；但当“toe”用在成语“toe the line”中之时，就有截然不同的意思。To toe the line是指严守规矩，听听话话，别引起甚么麻烦。你老板或许会叫你 toe the line，遵守公司的政策规定，即使你不认同那些规定。
将英语翻译成中文，有时也可以带来混淆。曾经有一次我用了谷歌翻译，给一个完全不会说英语的朋友传一个短讯。我想问她是否free for dinner，“free”在这里是问她是否有空一起晚膳。她立即打电话问我，为甚么问她是否免费（free）——谷歌竟然将“free”一字译成免费！一位朋友最近亦传了一张相给我，相中那间地产代理的英文名称令我 split my sides。
To split your sides是指笑破肚皮。那个地产代理的英文名称是 Uprising Property Agency。Uprising一字是指一群人去起义，以武力推翻政府，类似的字有 rebellion、revolution和insurrection。我不知道那间地产代理为何会用这个名，但很有可能它的中文名称有迥然不同的意思。

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Michael Chugani褚简宁
中译：七刻