值得研究的遣词用语

译/孙巧

值得研究的遣词用语

Sherlock Holmes Words Worth Investigating

译/孙巧

The language in Sherlock Holmes is as intriguing as the stories.

歇洛克·福尔摩斯的遣词用语同其故事一样引人入胜。

T he Sherlock Holmes canon is fi lled with language worth exploring, either because of the rarity of the words or because of their unique context.

Deerstalker

De fi nition

a close- fi tting hat with a visor at the front and the back and with ear fl aps that may be worn up or down

或是因用词生僻，或是因语境独特，福尔摩斯探案集里满是值得钻研的语言。

猎鹿帽

释义

前后有檐的贴发帽，两侧护耳可以收上去也可以放下来。

关于本词

尽管阿瑟·柯南·道尔曾在《白额闪电》中形容“带护耳的旅行便帽如同一个画框，围住了他那张机敏热切的面孔”，但出乎意料的是，他从未在歇洛克·福尔摩斯故事中提到过猎鹿帽。猎鹿帽这一细节是由最初的插画家西德尼·佩吉特添加到福尔摩斯在乡下的场景里的。（在城里戴猎鹿帽不太合适，大礼帽或小礼帽才是人们常戴的。）与福尔摩斯联系在一起的弯柄海泡石烟斗在道尔的故事中也没出现过：烟斗是演员威廉·吉尔特的选择，由此成了这个角色的标志性特征。

About the word

Surprisingly, Arthur Conan Doyle never mentions a deerstalker hat in his Sherlock Holmes stories, though he describes Holmes’s “sharp, eager face framed in his ear-flapped travelling cap” in Silver Blaze. It was the original illustrator, Sidney Paget, who added this detail to scenes of Holmes in the country (it would have been inappropriate to wear a deerstalker in town, where a top hat or homburg would have been more likely choices).The curved meerschaum pipe associated with Holmes was not in the Doyle stories, either: it was the choice of actor William Gillette and stuck with the character.

Sociopath

De fi nition

Merriam-Webster defines sociopath as a synonym of psychopath:

a mentally ill or unstable person; especially: a person affected with antisocial personality disorder

Antisocial personality disorder is de fi ned as:

a personality disorder that is characterized by antisocial behavior exhibiting pervasive disregard for and violation of the rights, feelings, and safety of others starting in childhood or the early teenage years and continuing into adulthood

反社会者

释义

梅里亚姆韦氏词典将sociopath（反社会者）定义为psychopath（精神病患者）的同义词：

精神有疾病或精神不稳定的人，尤指患有反社会型人格障碍的人。

反社会型人格障碍的定义为：

具有反社会行为的一种人格障碍，表现为不尊重和侵害他人的权利、感情及安全，始于童年或青少年早期，一直持续到成年。

关于本词

为回应他人将其归为“精神病患者”，本尼迪克特·康伯巴奇所饰演的歇洛克自称具有“高智商反社会人格”。反社会者与精神病患者之间的差别非常细微，韦氏词典认为它们基本上是同义词。两个词都没有被列入标准心理学参考书——《精神疾病诊断与统计手册》，此书更倾向于使用 “反社会人格障碍”这一术语。一些心理学家认为，反社会者一般紧张不安，情绪反复无常，无纪律性，而精神病患者则一般小心翼翼，善于操纵他人，有魅力。反社会者还有一点儿良知，但精神病患者一点儿都没有。

About the word

Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock describes himself as a “high-functioning sociopath” in response to being characterized by others as a “psychopath.”The distinction between sociopath and psychopath is subtle; the dictionary regards them as virtually synonymous. Neither term is entered in the standard psychology reference, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders1简称DSM，诊断精神疾病的常用指导手册，书中对精神疾病进行定义和分类，并制定精确和具体的诊断标准。,where the preferred term is antisocial personality disorder. Some psychologists assert that sociopaths are nervous, volatile, and disorganized, while psychopaths are careful, manipulative, and charming. A sociopath has a bit of a conscience, but a psychopath has none at all.

Gooseberry

De fi nition

Gooseberry can mean a kind of berry, but it also has a very speci fi c de fi nition found only in the Oxford English Dictionary and Webster’s Unabridged from 1934:

A chaperon, esp. one who is indulgently unobservant; as, to play gooseberry; a super fl uous third person

夹在情侣之间不识趣的人

释义

gooseberry可以指一种浆果，但还有一个非常特殊的用法，只见于1934年版的《牛津英语词典》和《韦氏大辞典》：

监护人，尤指特别不善于观察、不识趣的人，用法如to play gooseberry（当电灯泡）；多余的第三者。

关于本词

在《巴斯克维尔的猎犬》中，因为“恶犬”诅咒的缘故，福尔摩斯严禁亨利·巴斯克维尔爵士离开华生的视线，但爵士却不顾此令与斯泰普顿小姐约会。亨利爵士坚持独自前往，在一段为电视剧版本设计的对话中（杰里米·布雷特饰演福尔摩斯，爱德华·哈德威克饰演华生），对华生说道：“我知道你会是个有教养的陪护者，但不行——恐怕我得独自赴约。”原著中这一幕出现在华生写给福尔摩斯的信中，该词的选用也是模仿维多利亚时代英语的一处妙笔。

About the word

In The Hound of the Baskervilles, a romantic meeting between Sir Henry Baskerville and Miss Stapleton takes place despite Holmes’s strict orders that Sir Henry never leave Watson’s sight because of the curse of the “ fi end dog.” Sir Henry insists he must go alone, saying to Watson, in dialogue that was invented for the TV version (with Jeremy Brett as Holmes and Edward Hardwicke as Watson): “You’d make a very civil gooseberry, but no—I’m afraid I have to go alone.” Since the scene is recounted in a letter from Watson to Holmes in the original story,this word choice represents a charming piece of faux2模仿的。Victorian English.

Valetudinarian

De fi nition

a person of a weak or sickly constitution; especially : one whose chief concern is his or her ill health

About the word

The strange character of Thaddeus Sholto in The Sign of Four is presented as a fi dgety and nervous person. Conan Doyle’s description (in Watson’s voice) shows how varied and interesting his vocabulary was (befrogged here means“adorned with a front fastening of braid in an ornamental looped design”and closeness means “hot and stuffy conditions”):

体弱多病的人

释义

体质虚弱或多病的人，尤指特别担心自己身体欠佳的人。

关于本词

《四签名》中的奇怪角色萨德乌斯·舒尔托是以坐立不安、神经紧张的形象出现在读者面前的。柯南·道尔（借华生之口）的描述展示了他丰富有趣的词汇（此处befrogged意为盘扣，装饰用编织结环扣眼，用来扣住衣服前襟；closeness指闷热的环境）：

Our new acquaintance very deliberately coiled up the tube of his hookah, and produced from behind a curtain a very long, befrogged topcoat with astrakhan collar and cuffs. This he buttoned tightly up, in spite of the extreme closeness of the night, and fi nished his attire by putting on a rabbitskin cap with hanging lappets which covered the ears, so that no part of him was visible save his mobile and peaky face. “My health is somewhat fragile,”he remarked, as he led the way down the passage. “I am compelled to be a valetudinarian.”

我们的新相识慢条斯理地把水烟壶的吸管盘好，又从一道帘子后面拿出了一件非常长的轻便大衣，大衣上装饰着盘花纽扣，领子和袖口都用的是俄国羔皮。这天夜里非常闷热，他却把大衣扣得紧紧的，还加上了一顶带护耳的兔皮帽子。这么着，他把自己从头到脚包了起来，只有那张表情多变的瘦削脸庞露在外面。“我身子骨不太结实，”领我们顺着过道往外走的时候，他说道，“不得不格外留意自个儿的健康。”

Valetudinariancomes from the Latin word for “sickly” or “in fi rm.”

该词源于拉丁语，意为“多病”或“虚弱”。

Queer Street

De fi nition

an embarrassing situation or condition;especially: a condition marked by fi nancial dif fi culties

About the word

Queer Streetis used twice in the Holmes stories. Here, by Inspector Lestrade, upbraiding an inattentive constable:

It’s lucky for you, my man, that nothing is missing, or you would find yourself in Queer Street.3出自福尔摩斯探案故事《第二块血迹》。

And here it is used by Watson describing a hotheaded and financially unwise racehorse owner:

Well, he has the name of being a dangerous man. He is about the most daredevil rider in England—second in the Grand National a few years back. He is one of those men who have overshot their true generation. He should have been a buck in the days of the Regency—a boxer, an athlete, a plunger on the turf, a lover of fair ladies, and, by all account, so far down Queer Street that he may never fi nd his way back again.4出自福尔摩斯探案故事《肖斯科姆老宅》。

困境（负债或破产）

释义

窘迫的情况或境地，尤指经济困难导致的情形。

关于本词

该词在福尔摩斯故事集中出现了两次。一次是雷斯垂德督察责骂一个粗心的警员时：

你运气不错，伙计，房间里没少什么东西，要不然的话，你的麻烦可就大了去了。

还有一次是华生描述一个性急、不善投资的赛马主人时：

这么说吧，他确实有危险分子的名声。他差不多可以算是英格兰最不要命的骑手，几年前还在全国大奖赛当中得过亚军呢。他属于那种生错了时代的人，活脱脱是一个摄政时期的花花公子——他集拳击手、运动员、赛马场上的滥赌鬼和女人堆里的花蝴蝶于一身，还有啊，大家都说他已经债台高筑，再也翻不了身啦。

Tri fl e

De fi nition

Something of little value, substance, or importance

About the word

Holmes does use the wordclue, as we might expect, but he often usestri fl eto describe the kind of small detail, usually missed by others, that leads him to the solution of a case. He says to Watson:“You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of tri fl es,”5出自福尔摩斯探案故事《博斯库姆溪谷谜案》。and: “It is, of course, a tri fl e, but there is nothing so important as tri fl es.”6出自福尔摩斯探案故事《翻唇男子》。

The idiomatriflemeaning “to some small degree” or “slightly” is also used in the stories: “a trifle rusty”; “a trifle before your time”; “a tri fl e too obvious.”7依次出自福尔摩斯探案故事《驼背男子》《证券行办事员》《诺伍德的建筑商》。

Triflealso can mean “a dessert typically consisting of plain or sponge cake often soaked with wine or spirits (as brandy or rum) and topped with layers of preserves, custard, and cream.”Holmes appears not to have been very interested in complicated desserts.

小细节/乳脂松糕

释义

不值钱、无关紧要或不重要的东西。

关于本词

正如我们所料，福尔摩斯确实会用clue这个词，但是他经常用trifle来形容某种小细节，通常会被别人忽略，却会引领他破案。他曾对华生说：“我的方法你也知道，一切的基础不过是留心观察琐细事物而已。”还说过：“当然喽，这只是一个琐碎的细节，话说回来，琐碎的细节恰恰是最重要的东西。”

习语a trifle是指“有点儿”或“稍微”，故事当中也出现过：“有点儿生锈”“到得稍微早了一点儿”“一目了然得有点儿过了头”。

trifle还可以指“一种甜点，主要是在清蛋糕或海绵蛋糕上浇上葡萄酒或烈性酒（白兰地或朗姆酒），上面铺几层果酱、蛋奶冻和奶油”。福尔摩斯似乎对精致的甜点不怎么感兴趣。□

（译者单位：四川大学。译者曾获第五届“《英语世界》杯”翻译大赛优秀奖。）