| 罗格究竟说的是什么意思？ |
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| 2008-09-16 12:00 文章来源：商务部外事司 |
| 文章类型：原创 内容分类：新闻 |
激动人心的北京奥运会终于结束了，不同人对这次盛会有各自的看法，而国际奥委会主席罗格的评价尤其有份量。罗格先生也是绞尽脑汁，不仅要让中国人满意，而且还要考虑以后奥运会如何评价的问题。最后真相大白，罗格一句“These were truly exceptionnal Games!”揭开了谜底。随之而来的问题是：怎么翻译？央视、北京奥组委网站、新华网都用了“这是一届真正的无与伦比的奥运会。”这应该是官方译文吧。
但这真的是罗格想说的吗？网上有人提出质疑，他们一方面认为罗格的评价是赞扬之意，另一方面有坚持认为这里exceptional是超出常规、例外、特殊的意思，应该翻译为“出色”或者“卓尔不群”。我查了手头的几本字典，发现exceptional除了very unusual的意思以外，还有其它意思。新牛津英语大辞典解释是unusually good; outstanding。英汉大词典解释是“优越的，杰出的”。美国传统字典的解释是well above average; extraordinary。 韦氏词典的解释是better than average（近义词:superior）。朗文词典的解释是unusually good （近义词：outstanding）。加上前面的副词truly，翻成“无与伦比”虽然程度略重了一点点，但并无明显不妥之处。
另外一个原因是汉语和英文的tone是不一样的，中到英的时候要适当的降一降。比如“中国在改革开放中取得了举世瞩目的成就”这句话不宜翻译为：China has made world-acclaiming achievements since the introduction of reform and opening-up policies。翻成impressive progress就可以了。同理，在英到中的翻译中，可以根据情况把调子升一点，罗格这句话就是一个很好的例子。如果只翻译成“出色”，让人感觉很不够味；翻译成“卓尔不群”会把不懂英语的人搞糊涂。
翻译时，要根据实际情况增词或减词，例如“奥运/残奥大家庭”（Olympic/Paralympic Family）这种说法，英语中并没有big或great一词。但翻译成中文，就必须加上，否则反而会引起歧义。
再回过来，罗格既然放弃了best这种说法，自然就更不会用unmatched，unrivaled这类词汇了。细细体会，罗格的评价暗合我们在奥运会之前的口号“举办一届有特色，高水平的奥运会”（a high-level/high-standard Olympic Games with distinctive features）。加上truly一词强调语气，暗示中国已经兑现了赛前的承诺。这实际上是非常高的褒奖。
这届奥运会取得空前的成功，开幕式新颖独特场面宏大，没有发生针对参赛人员的恐怖袭击和刑事案件，菲尔普斯和博尔特在水立方和鸟巢连破世界记录，中国代表团金牌榜稳居第一，志愿者热情周到，交通顺畅，事先担心的空气污染也远没有想象的严重。虽然观众上座率没有达到事先预期，但瑕不掩瑜，国际媒体给予了充分评价。取得这样的成绩，国人没必要妄自菲薄，用上“无与伦比”是有根据的，是理直气壮的。
附罗格闭幕式致辞英文原文：
Dear Chinese Friends,
Tonight, we come to the end of 16 glorious days which we will cherish forever.
Thank you to the people of China, all the wonderful volunteers and BOCOG!
Through these Games, the world learned more about China, and China learned more about the world. Athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees came to these dazzling venues and awed us with their talent.
New stars were born. Stars from past Games amazed us again. We shared their joys and their tears, and we marveled at their ability. We will long remember the achievements we witnessed here.
As we celebrate the success of these Games, let us together wish the best for the talented athletes who will soon participate in the Paralympic Games. They also inspire us.
To the athletes tonight: You were true role models. You have shown us the unifying power of sport. The Olympic spirit lives in the warm embrace of competitive rivals from nations in conflict. Keep that spirit alive when you return home.
These were truly exceptionnal Games!
And now, in accordance with tradition, I declare the Games of the XXIX Olympiad closed, and I call upon the youth of the world to assemble four years from now in London to celebrate the Games of the XXX Olympiad.
Thank you!
剑清
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