Interpreting Idioms
Both English and Chinese are particularly rich in idioms. Idioms are so vivid, terse, colloquial, and forcible in conveying a particular meaning that they are frequently used by speakers of both languages. Chinese and English idioms came into being under different historical, geographical, cultural and social backgrounds, so they contain different stories reflecting different environment, life, history, culture and values of the native speakers. It is surely no easy thing to understand idioms, let alone interpret them off-handed. One can hardly expect to provide a satisfactory rendition of an idiom unless he is guided by the correct method and, at the same time, manages to get an accurate understanding of its implied meaning through its surface structure according to the context.
1. Definition of Idioms
Idioms can be understood both in a broad sense an din a narrow one.
In the narrow sense, they simply refer to the set phrases or clauses used in a language. Broadly speaking, they comprise all the idiomatic and special expressions in that language, including, in this context, all the set phrases, colloquialisms, proverbs, slang and clichés in English, and all the four-character set phrases（成语）, common sayings（俗语）, proverbs and two-part allegorical sayings(歇后语) （of which the first part is descriptive and the second part carries the message）in Chinese. It is their broad sense that we are discussing in this unit. Hence, an idiom can be defined as a group of words with meaning different from the combined meanings of its component words. It is a combination of two or more words which are usually structurally fixed and semantically hard to understand, and function as a single unit of meaning. For example, “red tape” is an English idiom which mea ns “official rules and procedures that seem unnecessary and cause delay.” But one can hardly guess its meaning from the individual words that form it, for these words have already lost their original meaning.
An idiomatic expression is an established form that has been accepted by traditional usage. The words in it cannot, as a rule, be depleted or replaced by synonymous words, or put in a different order, without
affecting or destroying the meaning. Therefore, the component words, the word order and the meaning of each idiom must be remembered as a whole.
2. Methods of Interpreting Idioms
2.1. Borrowing (借用法) or Idiom for Idiom (以习语译习语)
As we mentioned previously, both Chinese and English abound in idioms. Some idioms in one language contain images, descriptions and meanings identical to idioms in the other language. This is because certain natural and human experiences are shared by the whole mankind wherever they live. There are also idioms that express the same meanings though they don’t have identical metaphors or images. In both cases, we might as well borrow them directly from the target language so as to retain their vividness and achieve equivalence in effect. For example:
一箭双雕（一举两得）
混水摸鱼fish in troubled water
三思而后行 Look before you leap.
有志者，事竟成。
无风不起浪。There is no smoke without fire.
饥不择食 Hungry dogs will eat dirty puddings.
一朝被蛇咬，十年怕井绳。A burnt child dreads fire. / Once bitten, twice shy.
滴水穿石Constant dripping wears the stone.
破釜沉舟to burn one’s boat
隔墙有耳 Walls have ears.
积少成多 Many a little makes a mickle.
一言既出，驷马难追 What is said cannot be unsaid.
谋事在人，成事在天。 Man proposes, god disposes.
既往不咎 Let bygones be bygones.
有钱能使鬼推磨。Money makes mare go; money talks.
一寸光阴一寸金。
The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.
Birds of a feather flock together.
Two heads are better than one.
Give him an inch and he will take an ell.
