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VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES POST-GRADUATE DEPARTMENT **0** ĐÀO MAI LAN TRANSLATION AS CULTURAL TRANSFER: THE CASE OF TRANSLATING IDIOMS OF FOOD AND DRINK (DỊCH THUẬT NHƯ SỰ CHUYỂN ĐỔI VỀ VĂN HÓA: ỨNG DỤNG TRONG VIỆC DỊCH THÀNH NGỮ VỀ ĐỒ ĂN THỨC UỐNG) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 60 22 15 HANOI - 2010 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES POST-GRADUATE DEPARTMENT **0** ĐÀO MAI LAN TRANSLATION AS CULTURAL TRANSFER: THE CASE OF TRANSLATING IDIOMS OF FOOD AND DRINK (DỊCH THUẬT NHƯ SỰ CHUYỂN ĐỔI VỀ VĂN HÓA: ỨNG DỤNG TRONG VIỆC DỊCH THÀNH NGỮ VỀ ĐỒ ĂN THỨC UỐNG) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 60 22 15 Supervisor: Assoc Prof., Dr Lê Hùng Tiến HANOI - 2010 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION Rationale……………………………………………………………………………… Aims of the study……………………………………………………………………… Limitation of the stuy………………………………………………………………… Method of the study…………………………………………………………………… Design of the study…………………………………………………………………… DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER ONE: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND LANGUAGE ANDCULTURE…………………………………………………… 1 2 1.1 Definition of language and culture………………………………………………… 1.2 The relation between language and culture………………………………………… TRANSLATION…………………………………………………………………… 2.1 Definition of translation…………………………………………………………… 2.2 Translation Process and Methods…………………………………………………… IDIOMS AND TRANSLATION…………………………………………………… 10 3.1 Definition of idioms………………………………………………………………… 3.2 The interpretation of idioms………………………………………………………… 10 11 3.3 Idioms versus proverbs……………………………………………………………… 13 3.4 Culture in idioms and its relation to the transfer in translation…………………… 15 CHAPTER TWO: CULTURAL TRANSFER THROUGH TRANSLATION OF IDIOMS OF FOOD AND DRINK Idioms of food and drink…………………………………………………………… 18 1.1 Criteria for idioms of food and drink………………………………………………… 18 1.2 Syntactical feature of idioms of food and drink…………………………………… 19 1.3 Cultural features of idioms of food and drink……………………………………… 22 Cultural transfer through translation of idioms of food and drink………… 23 2.1 Idiomatic equivalence……………………………………………………………… 24 2.2 Conceptual equivalence…………………………………………………………… 26 2.3 Lexical equivalence………………………………………………………………… 28 2.4 Semantic and pragmatic equivalence……………………………………………… 30 Suggestions of some strategies in translating idioms of food and drink………… 31 CONCLUSION Review of the study…………………………………………………………………… 35 Suggestions for further studies……………………………………………………… 36 REFERENCES……………………………………………………………………… 37 INTRODUCTION Rationale Since human’s society developed, there has been a trend of integration between people and nations People living together in the world need to help each other to gain economic development, political stabilization and equality That, the need of understanding between people and nations has increased Translation constitutes an essential tool for better communication, better understanding each other Of all the translation work, translating idioms seems to be the most challenging since it is a meaning-based translation which makes every effort to communicate the meaning of the source language ( SL) text in the natural forms of the target language (TL) To deal with translating idioms, one must have good cultural background of not only the SL but also of the TL Therefore, mastering translation theory in general and strategies of translating idioms in particular is very important to learners and translators Being interested in idioms for a long time, I choose idioms as my thesis topic Due to the limited time and knowledge, I just focus on how culture transfers through the process of translating idioms of food and drink When searching for equivalence in translation to see how cultural transfer occurs, some strategies of translating idioms of food and drink will be discussed to overcome the difficulties of idiom translation Aims of the study The study has the following aims:  considering how cultural transfer occurs through the process of translating idioms of food and drink;  suggesting some practical strategies in translating idioms of food and drink Limitation of the study Due to the limited time and knowledge, I cannot cover all aspects of idiomatic expression of food and drink in this study Thus, I just focus on the cultural transfer through the idiomatic translation and suggest some strategies of translating English – Vietnamese idioms of food and drink and vice versa Method of the study To achieve these aims, I have consulted many dictionaries and books of languages, idioms, proverbs, etc in both English and Vietnamese in which whatever relating to idiomatic expressions of food and drink is taken into consideration One hundred idioms of food and drink in Vietnamese and another hundred idioms of food and drink in English which are thought to be widely used are selected for the study For English idioms, a number of reference books were consulted, but the main ones are Longman Dictionary of Idioms (1998), Collins Cobuild Idioms Dictionary (2002), Thành ngữ Tục ngữ Tiếng Anh (2008) These books were selected because they contain a large number of idioms of food and drink Vietnamese ones were selected from Từ điển Thành ngữ Tục ngữ Việt-Anh (2006), Kể chuyện thành ngữ Tiếng Anh (2006) Then a comparative analysis is designed to point out how cultural transfer occurs through the translation Design of the study Apart from Introduction and Conclusion, the study is organized around two chapters Chapter one attempts to look into the nature of culture, culture in relation with language and translation Later, the chapter presents an overview of translation theories developed by well-known authors with certain basic theoretical items such as definition of translation, the process, and methods of translation The chapter ends by taking idioms into consideration: the definition of idioms, the interpretation of idioms, idioms versus proverbs, culture in idioms and its relation to the transfer in translation Chapter two deals with the translation of idioms of food and drink Firstly, how cultural transfer occurs through idioms translation is studied by looking for stylistic equivalence, conceptual equivalence, lexical equivalence, semantic and pragmatic equivalence After that, the chapter mentions some of the translation strategies for translating idioms of food and drink CHAPTER ONE: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND Language and culture 1.1 Definition of language and culture Language is a factor that distinguishes man from other animals For existence, human being must work hard to produce goods, food, clothes, machines and other materials… Through out the duration of working, people need to exchange goods, the experience of producing and also the information of all fields of the life That’s why language appeared Language is a means of communication and it is the best way for human to express their thoughts and feelings To have a better understanding of language, let’s study the definition of language stated in the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (1995): “ Language is a system of sounds, words, patterns, etc… used by humans, nations, or group of people to communicate thoughts and feeling manner of expressing ideas.” According to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: “A language is a particular kind of system for encoding and decoding information In its most common use, the term refers to so-called "natural languages" — the forms of communication considered peculiar to humankind In cognitive science the term is also sometimes extended to refer to the human cognitive facility of creating and using language Essential to both meanings is the systematic creation and usage of systems of symbols—each symbol referring to linguistic concepts with semantic or logical or otherwise expressive meanings.” From these definitions we can see how important the language is in the process of communication To serve my purpose, I suggest here another definition: Language is the means of expressing thoughts and feelings Now, we move to the definition of culture Culture can be seen as all human activities Some people look at culture as the collective programme of the mind which distinguishes the members of one category of people from another Someone concluded that “there is not one aspect of human life that is not touched and altered by culture” In many ways it is correct: culture is everything Because culture is so broad in its scope, many definitions have been suggested Let us examine some of these definitions so that we might understand them better Anthropologists Kroeber and Kluckhohn (1952) reviewed some five hundred definitions, phrasings and concepts and proposed the following definition: “Culture consists of patterns, explicit and implicit, of and for behaviour acquired and transmitted by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievements of human groups… the essential core of culture consists of traditional ideas and especially their attached values; culture systems may, on the other hand, be considered as products of action, and on the other as conditioning elements of further action” Another definition by Byram (1998) runs as follows: “A society’s culture consists of whatever it is one has to know or believes in order to operate in a manner acceptable to its members Culture is not a natural phenomenon; it does not consist of things, people’s behaviour or emotions It is rather an organization of these things It is the form of things that people have in mind, their models of perceiving, relating and otherwise interpreting them” I believe that these definitions are broad enough to include most of the major territory of culture However, for the goals of this paper, I think my conclusion is good enough that “Culture is the people’s ways of thinking, behaving, talking, valuing things and working” 1.2 The relation between language and culture Language and culture are said to be interwoven Language is a part of culture and culture is a part of language It is difficult to separate one from the other If it were desirable to separate the two, the significance of either language or culture would be lost That’s why two individuals taking part in the communication must have a shared knowledge of both culture and language Misunderstanding may occur if we violate a grammatical rule of language But it is more serious if we violate a social usage It is apparent that language is a means to describe culture it belongs to and parallelly, culture’s development enriches language For example, before the bicycle was introduced to Vietnam, there was no word to express it But when the Vietnamese got acquainted with it, they borrowed the word “bicycle” and either borrowed or invented words to describe the bicycle parts Therefore, the vocabulary of language was enriched along parallel line with the development of culture Language usages follow culturally determined patterns The patterns not only influence the order in which people use words to form phrases, they also influence thinking patterns The use of language to describe time, for instance, differs from culture to culture Western societies perceive time as something that can be kept, saved, lost or waste Therefore, time system is exactly divided and being on time is extremely important In the Vietnamese language, the time system is more complicated and the verb system is such that only context can indicate time This different perception directly affects the translation from Vietnamese language into Western languages and vice versa We can see that language is distinctly a form of human cultural behaviour Language helps us understand not only one another but culture as well If one uses a language well, one must know the culture that uses the language This is because the ability to react with speakers of another language depends not only on language skills but also on comprehension of cultural habits For example, in Vietnamese culture, it is considered polite behaviour to ask someone at first meeting about his or her age and marital status But this way of talking is not acceptable in other culture like English, Australian and American culture In learning language, we can see that language is a key element of any culture Language is a part of social life As a result, every expression such as greeting, addressing…are affected by culture This aspect should be paid attention to when we translation Byram (1998) said that: “It is readily assumed that exposure to language will lead to some kinds of cultural learning… Thus as learners learn about language they learn about culture and as they learn to use a new language they learn to communicate with other individuals from a new culture” That also means that cultural difference leads to the differences in the way and the perception of communication which is the expression of language For example, in the Vietnamese, Chinese and Thai languages, the greeting “where are you going?” is appropriate instead of “Hello” “Good day” However, it may be inappropriate in other cultures like Western culture; it may be regarded as a curious question So, if Vietnamese people think in Vietnamese way and express themselves in their own cultural way while communicating with native speakers of Western cultures they may annoy them Therefore, it is obvious that if we don’t pay attention to cultural differences while translating and interpreting, the inevitable result of the translation is something of misunderstanding Translation 2.1 Definition of translation Though the role and history of translation can be easily agreed upon, it is almost impossible to find an undisputed definition of translation From different directions, there can be various definitions Translation, by dictionary definition, consists of changing from one form to another, to turn into one 'own or another' language (The Merriam - Webster Dictionary, 1974) Some authors have given the following different definitions of translation: “Translation, as a process of conveying messages across linguistic and cultural barriers, is an eminently communicative activity, one whose use could well be considered in a wider range of teaching situations than may currently be the case” (Tudor, 1987) “Translation is rendering the meaning of a text into another language in the way that the author intended the text.” ( Newmark, 1988) As implied in the definitions above, translation is basically a change of form (which is usually referred to as the actual words, phrases, clauses, sentences, paragraphs etc, which are spoken or written) In translation the form of the source language (the language of the text that is to be translated) is replaced by the form of the target language (the language of the translated text) The purpose of translation is to transfer the meaning of the source language (SL) into the target language (TL) This is done by going from the form of the first language to the form of a second language by way of semantic structure It is meaning which is being transferred and must remain unchanged Only the form changes Moreover, translation not only involves understanding the general meaning of the communication, but calls upon the ability to understand the culture of the communication Despite the great variety of definitions, we can still have an overall view of what translation is by combining the most essential aspects of those definitions The below quoted definition from “Training Translators and Conference Interpreters” by Weber (1968) is not quite satisfactory but appears as one of the most widely agreed: “Translation is the transposition of a text written in a source language (SL) into a target language (TL) The translated version must be absolutely accurate in meaning, contain all nuances of the original, and must be written in clear, elegant language that can be easily understood by the reader Needless to say, punctuation spelling and grammar must be flawless” It must be noted that this definition is mainly for the sake of translation theory, since in practice, there are few translation versions that can be “absolutely accurate in meaning” and “ contain all nuances of the original” People are different in all aspects so the message perceived by the reader is frequently not identical to the message meant by the writer There are numerous elements that cause this distortion of the message and crossculture is one of the major ones And minimizing this distortion in meaning is the aim of all academic activity, translation can be defined as a process which is rendering a written text into another language and a product which is an artistic and scientific result of the translating activity 2.2 Translation Process and Methods Translation is the process to transfer written or spoken source language (SL) texts to equivalent written or spoken target language (TL) texts The basic purpose of translation is to reproduce various types of texts, comprising literary, religious, scientific, philosophical texts etc in another language and thus making them available to wider readers, to a greater number of target audiences and to bring the world closer However, translation is not an easy job If language is just a classification for a set of general or universal concepts, it will be of course very easy to translate from a source language to a target language But translation covers not only word for word translation but 34 may either omit or play down a feature such as idiomaticity at the point where it occurs in the source text and introduce it elsewhere in the target text This strategy is not restricted to idiomaticity or fixed expressions and may be used to make up for any loss or meaning, emotional force, or stylistic effect which may not be possible to reproduce directly at a given point in the target text Using the typical phraseology of the target language- its natural collocations, its own fixed and semi-fixed expressions, the right level of idiomaticity, and so on- will greatly enhance the readability of your translations Getting this level right means that your target text will feel less 'foreign' and, other factors being equal, may even pass for an original But naturalness and readability are also affected by other linguistic features 35 CONCLUSION Review of the study The previous chapters have presented how cultural transfers through the process of translating idioms of food and drink Idiomatic equivalence, conceptual equivalence, lexical, semantic and pragmatic equivalence have been searched for the sake of examining at what stage of translating culture transfers Here are some of the findings: In terms of idiomatic equivalence, both English and Vietnamese have corresponding idiomatic expressions that render the same idea, so in the process of translation one idiom is substituted for another Culture transfers on the way translator uses his/her cultural background to look for the idiomatic equivalent in the TL which has the same function as the SL idiom In the process of looking for conceptual equivalence, once again we see culture transfers through the idiom translation Each language has its own way to express concepts basing on people’s lifestyle, experience, history… so having good cultural knowledge gives much help to translators In terms of lexical equivalence, although idioms of food and drink are formed with words related to food or drink, not much task is dealt with word transfer but cultural transfer Words related to food and drink are cultural and therefore, only a few of the idioms keep the same word in their translation Here, nearly all of the idioms use the strategy of omission in their translation into the TL Most idioms of food and drink use a kind of food or drink to describe or compare things or people with other ones Words which express the same concept with the idioms are chosen for the translation Once again, cultural transfer occurs while the translator chooses the right word to express the idiomatic meaning of the idioms in the SL In terms of semantics and pragmatics, the equivalents are met in those of the same concepts but presented in different forms Idioms contain both literal meaning and idiomatic meaning Cultural transfer occurs by the way the translator uses his background knowledge of the culture of the TL to look for the equivalents 36 Suggestions for further studies The translation of idioms of food and drink is interesting as much as it is challenging enough for translators Being limited in time and lacking practical experience, I can not ensure that I have satisfactorily and thoroughly discussed the fields within this small study, a study on culture transfers through translation of idioms of food and drink However, only semantic equivalence and syntactical equivalence have been examined There are still other important issues open for further studies, such as: + Users’ attitudes + conditions of idioms using + The relationship between the user and the readers/hearers + The effects of using idioms the user makes to the readers/hearers In summary, there should be more specific and practical studies concerning English-Vietnamese cross-cultural translation and vice versa to facilitate mutual understanding between the two nations in a world of interdependence and co-operation today 37 REFERENCES ENGLISH Baker, M (1992), In Other Words London: Routledge Bảo, Bùi, & Thu, Đặng (1999), Interpreting and Translation Course Book Hanoi: Education Publishing House Bassnett, S (2002), Translation studies London: Routledge Byram, M (1989) Cultural Studies in Foreign Language Education, Philadenphia Multilingual Matters Ltd., 22-36 Cobuild, C (2002), Collins Cobuild Idioms Dictionary, HarperCollins Publisher Duff, A (1989), Translation, Oxford University Press, 124 Hinkel, E (Ed.) , (1999) Culture in Second Language Teaching and Learning Cambridge: Cambridge University Press International Translation Bureau™ (2003), Frequently asked questions: What is translation Retrieved April 25, 2006, from http://www.itbtranslation.com/faqs.html Karamanian, A.P (January, 2002), Translation and Culture Translation Journal, (1) Retrieved May 13, 2006, from http://accurapid.com/journal/19culture2.htm 10 Keysaz, B., and Bly, B (1995), “ Instuitions of the Transparency of Idioms: Can One Keep a Secret by Spilling the Beans?”, Journal of Memory and Language 34, 89-109 11 Kroeber, A.L., and Kluckhohn, C (1952), Culture – Acritical review of concept and definition, Harvard University Peabody Musem Of American archeology and Ethnology Papensd 47, 181 12 McMordiew, J.S (1983), English Idioms and How to Use Them Moscow: Vyschaja Shkola 13 Moon, R (1998), Fixed Expressions and Idioms in English: a Corpus-Based Approach Oxford: Clarendon Press 14 Newmark, P (1988), A Textbook of Translation New York: Prentice Hall 15 Newmark, P (1995), A textbook of translation, Phoenix ELT 16 Shi, A (July, 2004), Accommodation in Translation, Translation Journal, (3) 38 Retrieved May 18, (2006), from http://accurapid.com/journal/29accom.htm 17 Sieglinde E P (2008), “Translation as Intercultural Transfer: The Case of Law”, SKASE Journal of Translation and Interpretation, vol 3, no 18 The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (1995), Oxford University Press 19 Tudor, I (1987), A framwork for the translational analysis of texts, the Linguist, Spring, 20 20 Zakhir, M (n.d) Translation Procedures (October 2008), Retrieved June 2009, from http://www.translationdirectory.com/articles/article1704.php VIETNAMESE 21 Phạm Bình (1993), Từ điển Tục ngữ, Thành ngữ Anh Việt, NXB Hải Phòng 22 Lê Đạt (2006), Kể chuyện Thành ngữ Tiếng Anh, NXB Tổng hợp Đồng Nai 23 Nguyễn Hùng (2005), Hướng dẫn kỹ thuật dịch Anh – Việt Hanoi: Social Sciences Publishing House 24 Nguyễn Hùng Tuyển tập Thành ngữ, tục ngữ ca dao Việt – Anh thông dụng http://www.ebook.edu.vn 25 Nguyễn Khánh (2008), Sổ tay thành ngữ tục ngữ tiếng Việt, NXB Giáo dục 26 Nguyễn Lân (1994), Từ điển Thành ngữ tục ngữ Việt Nam, NXB Khoa Học Xã Hội 27 Tiêu Minh (2006), Đi tìm Điển tích Thành ngữ, NXB Thơng 28 Bùi Phụng (2006), Thành ngữ Việt Anh, NXB Văn Hóa Sài Gòn I APPENDIX 1: ENGLISH - VIETNAMESE IDIOMS OF FOOD AND DRINK Alike as two peas If people or things are as alike as two peas, they are identical Apple of your eye Apple pie order Apples and oranges As cool as a cucumber Back to the salt mine Bad egg Something or, more often, someone that is very special to you is the 'apple of your' eye Everything is in perfect order and tidy if it is in apple pie order Tis used when people compare or describe two totally different things ('Apples to oranges' is also used If someone is as cool as a cucumber, they don't get worried by anything If someone says they have to go back to the salt mine, they have to return to work A person who cannot be trusted is a bad egg Good egg is the opposite Banana republic Banana skin 10 Bear fruit 11 Big cheese 12 Bread and butter 13 Breadwinner 14 Bring home the bacon 15 Butter wouldn't melt in their mouth Banana republic is a term used for small countries that are dependent on a single crop or resource and governed badly by a corrupt elite (UK) A banana skin is something that is an embarrassment or causes problems If something bears fruit, it produces positive results The big cheese is the boss Bread and butter issues are ones that affect people directly and in a very important way Used to describe the person that earns the most money For example - She's the breadwinner in the family A person who brings home the bacon earns the money that a family live on If someone looks as if butter wouldn't melt in their mouth, they Giống đúc, giống hai giọt nước Con mắt Hết sức gọn gàng, ngăn nắp So sánh không cách Không nao núng Quay trở lại làm việc Người bị xem thiếu chân thực khơng tin cậy Quốc gia nhỏ bé có kinh tế phụ thuộc vào việc xuất trái Nguyên nhân gây khó khăn lúng túng Sinh Nhân vật tai to mặt lớn, chóp bu, nhân vật quan trọng Miếng ăn, kế sinh nhai Người trụ cột gia đình, lao động chính, cần câu cơm Người trụ cột gia đình, lao động chính, cần câu cơm Làm đoan trang II 16 Chalk and cheese 17 Cheap as chips 18 Chew the cud 19 Chew the fat 20 Cream of the crop 21 Curry favour 22 Different kettle of fish 23 Don't cry over spilt milk 24 Easy as beans 25 Easy as pie 26 Easy peasy 27 Eat humble pie 28 Eat someone alive 29 Egg on your face 30 Fine words butter no parsnips Finger in the pie 31 32 Fish in troubled waters 33 Flat as a pancake look very innocent Things, or people, that are like chalk and cheese are very different and have nothing in common (UK) If something is very inexpensive, it is as cheap as chips If you chew the cud, you think carefully about something If you chew the fat with someone, you talk at leisure with them The cream of the crop is the best there is If people try to curry favour, they try to get people to support them ('Curry favor' is the American spelling) If something is a different kettle of fish, it is very different from the other things referenced When something bad happens and nothing can be done to help it people say, 'Don't cry over spilt milk' Something that is so easy that anyone can it is easy as beans If something is easy as pie, it is very easy indeed (UK) If something is easy peasy, it is very easy indeed ('Easy peasy, lemon squeezy' is also used.) If someone apologises and shows a lot of contrition for something they have done, they eat humble pie If you eat someone alive, you defeat or beat them comprehensively If someone has egg on their face, they are made to look foolish or embarrassed This idiom means that it's easy to talk, but talk is not action If you have a finger in the pie, you have an interest in something Someone who fishes in troubled waters tries to takes advantage of a shaky or It is so flat that it is like a pancake- Hoàn toàn khác nhau, khau hẳn Rẻ bèo Nghiền ngẫm, ngẫm nghĩ Nói chuyện phiếm, tán dóc Phần tốt vụ thu hoạch Nịnh hót ai, bợ đỡ để cầu ân huệ Người vật khác hẳn người vật đề cập trước Khóc thừa Dễ vơ cùng, dễ bỡn, dễ trở bàn tay Dễ vô cùng, dễ bỡn, dễ trở bàn tay Dễ vô cùng, dễ bỡn, dễ trở bàn tay Phải xin lỗi, phải nhận lỗi, chịu nhục Chinh phục, lợi dụng Ngớ ngẩn Lời nói khơng ăn thua (so với hành động) Có liên quan, dính líu Nước đục thả câu, đục nước béo cò, lợi dụng thời Nhạt nhẽo, vô vị III there is no head on that beer it is as flat as a pancake If something is food for thought, it is worth thinking about or considering seriously Something enjoyable that is illegal or immoral is forbidden fruit 34 Food for thought 35 Forbidden fruit 36 From soup to nuts 37 Full of beans 38 Go bananas 39 Go fry an egg 40 Go nuts 41 Good egg 42 Grain of salt 43 Gravy train 44 Half a loaf is better than no bread 45 Hard cheese 46 Hard nut to crack difficult to understand (often a person) 47 (You cannot) Have your cake and eat it too 48 hot potato If someone wants to have their cake and eat it too, they want everything their way, especially when their wishes are contradictory a controversial or difficult subject 49 Icing on the cake If you something from soup to nuts, you it from the beginning right to the very end If someone's full of beans, they are very energetic If you go bananas, you are wild with excitement, anxiety, or worry (USA) This is used to tell someone to go a way and leave you alone If someone goes nuts, they get excited over something A person who can be relied on is a good egg Bad egg is the opposite If you should take something with a grain of salt, you shouldn't necessarily believe it all ('pinch of salt' is an alternative) If someone is on the gravy train, they have found and easy way to make lots of money It means that getting part of what you want is better than getting nothing at all (UK) Hard cheese means hard luck This expression is used to refer to something good that happens on top of an already good thing or situation Điều đáng suy nghĩ Thứ ước ao bị cấm khơng cho phép; cấm Tất thứ Đầy lực, hăng hái, sôi Rất tức giận Đi chỗ khác, đừng quấy rầy Say mê, thích thú điều Người tin cậy Nửa tin nửa ngờ, bán tín bán nghi Cách kiếm tiền bất chính, lợi bất Có cịn khơng Sự khơng may, thất bại; hồn tồn đáng buồn Một vấn đề khó giải quyết, người khó chơi Được Vấn đề khó giải quyết, vấn đề nan giải Điều may mắn hay tuyệt vời đến sau điều may mắn hay tuyệt vời khác IV 50 In a nutshell 51 In a pickle 52 In the soup 53 It's no use crying over spilt milk 54 Keen as mustard 55 Know which side one's bread is buttered on 56 Know your onions 57 Life is just a bowl of cherries Like peas in a pod 58 59 Like taking candy from a baby 60 Like two peas in a pod 61 Make a meal 62 Meat and drink 63 Mutton dressed as lamb 64 Nest egg 65 Not give a fig This idiom is used to introduce a concise summary If you are in a pickle, you are in some trouble or a mess If you're in the soup, you're in trouble This idiom means that getting upset after something has gone wrong is pointless; it can't be changed so it should be accepted (UK) If someone is very enthusiastic, they are as keen as mustard If you know which side one's bread is buttered on, you know where your interests lie and will act accordingly to protect or further them If someone is very well-informed about something, they know their onions This idiom means that life is simple and pleasant If people or things are like peas in a pod, they look identical (USA) If something is like taking candy from a baby, it is very easy to Things that are like two peas in a pod are very similar or identical, If someone makes a meal of something, they spend too long doing it or make it look more difficult than it really is If something is meat and drink to you, you enjoy it and are naturally good at it, though many find it difficult Mutton dressed as lamb is term for middle-aged or elderly people trying to look younger If you have some money saved for the future, it is a nest egg If you don't give a fig about something, you don't care about it Tất việc tóm tắt gọn lại Lâm vào hoàn cảnh đáng buồn, gặp rắc rối Đang tình trạng rắc rối, gặp khó khăn Khóc chẳng ích Hăng say Biết rõ chỗ có lợi cho mình, biết rõ đứng phía có lợi cho Thạo nghề mình, nắm vấn đề Cuộc sống thật đẹp, sống hạnh phúc Giống hai giọt nước, giống đúc Rất dễ dàng Giống hai giọt nước, giống đúc Chú ý, nỗ lực làm nhiều xứng đáng cần có Là niềm vui Cưa sừng làm nghé Số tiền để gây vốn, số tiền dự trữ Khơng quan tâm, cóc cần V 66 Not know beans about 67 Not my cup of tea 68 Nutty as a fruitcake 69 One bad apple One bad apple spoils the barrel one smart cookie 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 at all, especially used to express how little one cares about another's opinions or actions (USA) If someone doesn't know beans about something, they know nothing about it If something is not your cup of tea, you don't like it very much Someone who's nutty as a fruitcake is irrational or crazy (This can be shortened to 'a fruitcake'.) The full form of this proverb is 'one bad apple spoils the barrel', meaning that a bad person, policy, etc, can ruin everything around it a very intelligent person Packed like sardines If a place is extremely crowded, people are packed like sardines, or packed in like sardines Pie in the sky If an idea or scheme is pie in the sky, it is utterly impractical Piece of cake If something is a piece of cake, it is really easy Pinch of salt If what someone says should be taken with a pinch of salt, then they exaggerate and distort things, so what they say shouldn't be believed unquestioningly ('with a grain of salt' is an alternative.) Polish the apples (USA) Someone who polishes the apples with someone, tries to get into that person's favor Proof of the This means that something can pudding is in the only be judged when it is tested or eating by its results (It is often shortened to 'Proof of the pudding'.) Pull the fat from the If you pull the fat from the fire, you fire help someone in a difficult situation Put all your eggs in If you put all your eggs in one one basket basket, you risk everything on a single opportunity which, like eggs breaking, could go wrong Quarrel with bread Bread and butter, here, indicate the and butter means of one’s living (That is why we say ‘he is the bread winner of Khơng biết Điều khơng thích Gàn bướng, qi gở Con sâu bỏ rầu nồi canh Một người thông minh Chật nêm Một kiện dự kiến khó xảy Việc ngon ơ, việc dễ làm (Một nhúm muối) thêm mắm thêm muối Xu nịnh Qua thử thách biết dở hay Cứu vãn tình vào lúc nguy ngập Một cịn, ăn ngã khơng Bỏ nghề ni sống mình, ngược lại với quyền lợi VI 80 Recipe for disaster 81 Salad days 82 Salt in a wound 83 Salt of the earth 84 Save someone's bacon 85 Sell like hot cakes 86 Separate the wheat from the chaff 87 Sour grapes 88 Sow your wild oats 89 Spill the beans the family’) If a sub-ordinate in an organisation is quarrelsome or if he is not patient enough to bear the reprimand he deserves, gets angry and retorts or provokes the higherup, the top man dismisses him from the job So, he loses the job that gave him bread and butter Hence we say, he quarrelled with bread and butter (manager or the top man) and lost his job A recipe for disaster is a mixture of people and events that could only possibly result in trouble Your salad days are an especially happy period of your life If you rub salt in a wound, you make someone feel bad about something that is already a painful experience 'Pour salt on a wound' is an alternative form of the idiom People who are salt of the earth are decent, dependable and unpretentious If something saves your bacon, it saves your life or rescues you from a desperate situation People can also save your bacon If a product is selling very well, it is selling like hot cakes When you separate the wheat from the chaff, you select what is useful or valuable and reject what is useless or worthless When someone says something critical or negative because they are jealous, it is a case of sour grapes If a young man sows his wild oats, he has a period of his life when he does a lot of exciting things andhas a lot of sexual relationships for e.g He'd spent his twenties sowing his wild oats but felt that it was time to settle down If you spill the beans, you reveal a secret or confess to something Kế hoạch dẫn đến tai họa Tuổi trẻ nông nổi, tuổi trẻ thiếu kinh nghiệm Xát muối vào vết thương Người tử tế Cứu lấy thần xác Bán chạy tơm tươi Phân biệt tốt xấu, phân biệt hay dở Nho xanh chẳng đáng miệng người phong lưu Trải qua thời kỳ theo đuổi thú vui bừa bãi lúc trẻ Để lọt tin tức VII 90 Stew in your own juices 91 Sure as eggs is eggs 92 Teach your grandmother to suck eggs 93 Too many cooks spoil the broth 94 Two peas in a pod 95 Upper crust 96 Upset the apple cart 97 Walk on eggshells 98 Worth your salt 99 You can't have your cake and eat it 100 You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs If you leave someone to stew in their own juices, you leave them to worry about the consequences of what they have done wrong or badly These means absolutely certain, and we say 'is' even though it is grammatically wrong When people say 'don't teach your grandmother to suck eggs', they mean that people shouldn't try to teach someone who has experience or is an expert in that area This means that where there are too many people trying to something, they make a mess of it If things or people are like two peas in a pod, they look very similar or are always together The upper crust are the upper classes and the establishment If you upset the apple cart, you cause trouble and upset people If you have to walk on eggshells when with someone, you have to be very careful because they get angry or offended very easily.('Walk on eggs' is also used.) Someone who is worth their salt deserves respect This idiom means that you can't have things both ways For example, you can't have very low taxes and a high standard of state care This idiom means that in order to achieve something or make progress, there are often losers in the process Bị để mặc xác Chắc đinh đóng cột Trứng khôn vịt Lắm thầy thối ma, sãi không đóng cửa chùa Giống hai giọt nước, giống đúc Tầng lớp thượng lưu, tầng lớp xã hội Bác bỏ lý thuyết Hành động cách thận trọng dè dặt Xứng đáng với tiền kiếm Được Muốn đạt mục đích phải chịu gian nan tổn thất VIII APPENDIX 2: VIETNAMESE – ENGLISH IDIOMS OF FOOD AND DRINK Ai ma ăn cỗ 10 11 12 13 Ao sâu tốt cá Áo ấm cơm no Ăn bơ làm biếng Ăn cám trả vàng Ăn cay uống đắng Ăn cáy bưng tai Ăn rào Ăn táo rào sung Ăn cháo cầm Ăn cháo đái bát Ăn chó lơng Ăn chực đòi bánh chưng 14 Ăn cỗ trước, lội nước sau 15 Ăn cơm gà gáy, cất binh nửa ngày Ăn cơm nói chuyện cũ 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 (Who knows where the ghost is having its feast) Monkey business Deep lakes have meaty fishes Abundant clothing and food To be well-off To be lazy (repay gold for chaff) Repay manifold To drink the bitter cup; to suffer Go at it the wrong way; waste effort Don’t bite the hand that feeds you; be gratefull Bite the hand that feeds you; ungrateful Allay hunger by sipping porridge (eat porridge and urinate in the bowl); be ungratefull To be miserly, to be tight-fisted (eat othe’rs food and demand rice cakes) Ask for too much Always in front when eating is concerned Always behind when work is concerned; to prefer pleasure to work Dilly-dally, be a slowpoke (eat new rice, tell the old story) Speak of the old days in the present situation; reminisce Ăn cơm nhà vác ngà voi Neglect one’s responsibilities at home to practice charity Ăn cướp cơm chim To cheat the poor Ăn hương ăn hoa Eat very little; be a light eater Ăn mày địi xơi gấc Beggar cannot be chooser; don’t look a gift horse in the mouth Ăn mận trả đào Return gift for gift Ăn mật trả gừng (return ringer after eating honey); repay kindness with injury; ingratitude Ăn miếng chả trả miếng bùi Return gift for gift Ăn bát cháo chạy ba (To walk three miles for a bowl of rice) Not worth quãng đồng the trouble Ăn nói cà riềng cà tỏi Speak disrespectfully Ăn muối cịn chuối chát Of two evils, choose the lesser; choose the least of two ills Ăn ốc nói mị A wild guess; reckless talk Ba người sỏi đá Unity of hearts can turn earth into gold; organization thành cơm is power Bạn bè xôi thịt Good-weather friends Bình cũ rượu Use old forms to express new ideas Cà cuống chết đến đít cịn (cassia cicada remains bitter till dead) It’s difficult to cay change one’s nature IX 32 33 34 35 Cà riềng cà tỏi Cao lương mỹ vị Cắn cơm không vỡ Cơm tẻ mẹ ruột 36 Cơm tẻ no xơi vị chẳng thiết Câm hến 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 To pick up quarrel; disrespectful manner Rich food, delicacy A good-for-nothing; to be all thumbs Corn is the staff of life; there is nothing like plain bread Not want, not wait To clam up, not to utter a word; to be as close as a clam Chén chén anh To feast together Chén tạc chén thù To drink together; exchange repeated toasts Có nếp có tẻ To have both sons and daughter, to have both a boy and a girl Cơm bưng nước rót Be treated like a king; get red carpet treatment Cơm chẳng lành canh chẳng Discord between husband and wife Cơm hàng cháo chợ To be without a home Cơm niêu nước lọ To live on simple fare Cơm no rượu say To have eaten and drunk one’s fill Cơm thừa canh cặn Left over food; the miserable life of a servant Cơm đen vận túng Stroke of bad luck Củi quế gạo châu High living costs, the high cost of living Chạy tôm tươi To sell like hot cakes Chán cơm nếp nát As dry as dust; as dull as ditch-water Dây cà dây muống Cock-and-bull story Dùi đục chấm mắm cáy (dip a hammer in shrimp sauce); rude Đâm bị thóc chọc bị gạo Play off two adversaries Đo lọ nước mắm đếm củ Stingy, cheese-paring dưa hành Được diếc tiếc rô Get inch and want mile Gạo châu củi quế High cost of living; hard times Gạo chợ nước sông To wander around homeless; a miserable way of life Giá áo túi cơm (Racks for coats, sacks for rice) Useless men only concerned with their material needs and wans Giật đầu cá vá đầu tôm To rob Peter to pay Paul Hàng thịt nguýt hàng cá (the butcher hates the fish dealer); something out of envy Hàng tôm hàng cá (of women) quarrelsome Kén cá chọn canh Choosy Khát nước đào giêngs Act at last minute Khơng có cá lấy rau má làm If you cannot have the best, make the best of what ngon you have; there is small choice in rotten apples Khơng ưa dưa có giịi A stick is quickly found to beat a dog with; faults are thick where love is thin Láu tôm láu cá Cunning, foxy Liệu cơm gắp mắm Do things according to one’s ability; cut your coat according to your cloth; one must live according to X one’s means When you are rich you are powerful A heavy purse makes as light heart 69 Mạt cưa mướp đắng Sawdust and bitter melon 70 Màu mỡ riêu cua Put up a handsome outer appearance 71 Mật ruồi nhiều Many applicants for a post; little supply much demand 72 Mật chết ruồi We catch more flies with honey than with gall/ vinegar 73 Mèo mù vớ cá rán (Blind cat caught fried fish.) 74 Mọc lên nấm To spring up like mushrooms 75 Một sâu bỏ rầu nồi canh One rotten apple spoils the barrel 76 Mượn gió bẻ măng To fish in troubled water 77 Nát tương To be completely crushed 78 Nằm gai nếm mật To nurse vengeance 79 Nem công chả phượng (Peacock dumplings and phoenix pies); rare delicacies 80 Ngọt mía lùi As sweet as roasted sugar cane; as sweet as honey 81 Nhạt nước ốc Insipid 82 Nhẵn củ tỏi All finished, all gone 83 Quần nước sáo áo cháo lòng Dirty clothes 84 Rách xơ mướp Ragged, tattered 85 Rán sành mỡ Miserly, tight-fisted; to skin a flint 86 Rành rành canh nấu hẹ Clear as daylight 87 Rượu ngon chẳng nệ (kể) be Good wine does not mind an earthen container; a rose sành by any other name would smell as sweet 88 Rượu vào lời That’s wine that talks; drunkenness reveals what soberness conceals 89 Sẻ áo nhường cơm To share one’s food and clothing with others 90 Sơn hào hải vị Rare and fancy food 91 Thuộc cháo To know by heart 92 Tiền trao cháo múc If you dance you must pay the fiddler; if you call a tune you must pay the piper 93 Trà dư tửu hậu After- tea, after-drink 94 Tránh vỏ dưa gặp vỏ dừa Out of the frying pan into the fire; from bad to worse 95 Tre già măng mọc The young succeed the old 96 Trồng cà cà As you sow so shall you reap 97 Trứng chọi với đá Hopeless fight 98 Trứng khôn vịt Children smarter than their parents; don’t teach your grandmother to suck egg; don’t teach fish to swim 99 Vặt đầu cá vá đầu tôm To misapply 100 Xấu từ trứng Ignoble by nature 68 Mạnh gạo bạo tiền ... TRANSFER: THE CASE OF TRANSLATING IDIOMS OF FOOD AND DRINK (DỊCH THUẬT NHƯ SỰ CHUYỂN ĐỔI VỀ VĂN HÓA: ỨNG DỤNG TRONG VIỆC DỊCH THÀNH NGỮ VỀ ĐỒ ĂN THỨC UỐNG) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Linguistics... (2006), Kể chuyện Thành ngữ Tiếng Anh, NXB Tổng hợp Đồng Nai 23 Nguyễn Hùng (2005), Hướng dẫn kỹ thuật dịch Anh – Việt Hanoi: Social Sciences Publishing House 24 Nguyễn Hùng Tuyển tập Thành ngữ, tục... Minh (2006), Đi tìm Điển tích Thành ngữ, NXB Thông 28 Bùi Phụng (2006), Thành ngữ Việt Anh, NXB Văn Hóa Sài Gịn I APPENDIX 1: ENGLISH - VIETNAMESE IDIOMS OF FOOD AND DRINK Alike as two peas If