从“亚历山大”到“压力山大”

王逢鑫

Alexander是英语男性名字（first name），源自古希腊语，译名为“亚历山大”。例如：

1. British writer Alexander Pope was a central figure in the Neoclassical movement of the early 18th century. 英国作家亚历山大·蒲柏是18世纪初新古典主义运动的中心人物。

2. Alexander as a first name originally meant “defender of men”. Historically， it gained worldwide fame through Alexander the Great. “亚历山大”作为名字原义为“人的保护者”。从历史上看，“亚历山大”因亚历山大大帝而世界闻名。（亚历山大大帝即古希腊北部小国马其顿的国王亚历山大三世，是古代著名军事家和政治家。）

当今社会，人们在升学、就业、工作、婚姻、住房、子女教育、健康、养老诸方面面临巨大压力。人们用“亚历山大”的谐音“压力山大”，以诙谐、调侃的方式表达“压力像山一样大”或“压力比山大”的焦虑和紧张心情。

“压力山大”的英译，一是与“紧张”（stress）相关：名词为stress，形容词为 stressful、stressed，动词为to be/feel stressful、to be/feel stressed out。例如：

3. As a heavy mortgage is strangling me， my stress is mountainous / is as large as a mountain！ 沉重的房贷压得我透不过气来，我压力山大啊！

4. This heavy job is really stressful. 这繁重的工作真是压力山大！

5. At the end of a long， stressful day， all he wants to do is to go home and zone out in front of the television. 在漫长而压力山大的一天结束时，他想做的就是回家坐在电视机前发呆。

6. I have been so stressed in the pandemic days. 在疫情流行的日子里，我一直压力山大。

7. Whenever I get together with the bad-tempered man， I will feel upset， anxious， and stressed out. 每当我跟这个坏脾气的人在一起的时候，我会感到不安、焦虑和压力山大。

8. He often feels stressed out with too much of workload. 他因工作负担太重而经常感到压力山大。

9. I badly need a vacation， because Im stressed out with this tiring job. 我非常需要休假，因為这份累人的工作让我压力山大。

“压力山大”的英译，二是与“压力”（pressure）相关，包括under enormous pressure、under far too much pressure、under a mountain load of pressure。例如：

10. Im under enormous pressure because I have to finish all the work by Friday！ 我压力山大，因为我得在星期五之前完成所有工作。

11. Most of his peers have got married and had children. But he is still single， so he feels he is under far too much pressure. 他的同龄人大多数都结婚生子了。但是，他依然单身，因而他觉得压力山大。

12. The general manager of the company is under a mountain load of pressure， because his company has plunged into a debt crisis due to shortage of funds. 这个公司的总经理压力山大，因为公司由于资金短缺而陷入债务危机。

pressure cooker的原义是“压力锅”或“高压锅”，比喻义是a situation or environment that is fraught with emotional or social pressures，即“充满情感压力或社会压力的高压形势或高压环境”。例如：

13. Pressure cooker was invented by a Frenchman Denis Papin in 1697. It is a strong metal pot with a tight lid that cooks food quickly by steam under high pressure. 高压锅是法国人丹尼斯·帕潘在1697年发明的。它是一种带有密封盖的坚固的金属锅，通过蒸汽在高压下快速蒸熟食物。

14. The new boss of the company has turned the office into a pressure cooker. 这个公司的新老板已将办公室变成一个高压环境。