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糊口在中国，我有不少来自英国、爱尔兰、加拿大、南非、澳大利亚、新西兰和印度等国度的外籍同事和朋侪。从他们那边，我领会到不少分歧的英语表达。但是，我老是在想，弄清这些对付一个英语为母语的人来讲已很难了，那些在中国和其他国度进修英语的学生必定感触很困扰。
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By Matt Prichard
The joke goes like this: A business executive from the United States walks into a London hotel and asks a clerk where the elevator is.
有如许一个笑话：一名美国的公司高管走进伦敦一家旅店，用隧道的美式英语向酒伙计工扣问电梯（elevator）在哪儿。
The clerk answers, “The lift, sir, is just to the left.”
员工则用纯洁的英式英语答复：“师长教师，电梯（lift）就在左侧。”
The businessman says, “Don’t tell me how to say ‘elevator’ – we invented it.”
商人说：“别奉告我 ‘电梯’ 怎样说——电梯就是咱们发现的。”
The clerk answers, “Quite right, sir, but we invented the language.”
伙计答复说：“师长教师，您说得很对，可是英语是咱们发现的。”
Actually, we in the US didn’t invent the elevator (or the lift), just a new form of the English language.
究竟上，咱们美国人没有发现电梯，咱们只是发现了一种新的英语情势。
Living in China and having foreign colleagues and friends from such countries as the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and India, I have learned much more about the rich variety of my native tongue.
糊口在中国，我有不少来自英国、爱尔兰、加拿大、南非、澳大利亚、新西兰和印度等国度的外籍同事和朋侪。从他们那边，我领会到更多丰硕多样的英语。
I have learned that “sleepers” are not necessarily weary people – they can be planks that form the foundation of railroad tracks. In the US, we call them “crossties.” “Hoardings” may not be the stashes of compulsive collectors but advertisements we call “billboards”.
我晓得了“sleepers”不但指倦怠的人——也能够指铁轨的枕木。在美国，咱们称枕木为“crossties”。另有，“hoarding”可能不是采集家的保藏，而是咱们称之为“billboards”的告白牌。
I already knew some terms, having long been a fan of British films, television and novels. But I have often thought of how confusing this must be to students of English in China and other countries. It’s hard enough for native English speakers to keep it straight.
因为持久热中于英国片子、电视剧和小说，我已晓得一些表达。但是，我老是在想，那些在中国和其他国度糊口的进修英语的学生必定感触很困扰。弄清这些对付一个英语为母语的人来讲已很难了。
Of course, this variety is evidence that languages are living things, and while some co妹妹onality is needed in order to co妹妹unicate, the world would be less interesting if we all expressed ourselves in the same way.
固然，这类多样性印证了说话是活的，固然为了交换咱们必要说话有必定的共性，可是若是咱们都用一样的方法表述，这个世界就太无趣了。
In China, linguistic differences have their roots in ancient times. While it is practical to make sure all children learn Putonghua (the people’s language), or Mandarin, it is encouraging that there also are efforts to save regional tongues. In Shanghai, classes are given in Shanghainese, a subgroup of Wu Chinese that is only partially understood by many Mandarin speakers.
在中国，说话的差别性源于古代。中国固然尽力推广所有儿童进修平凡话，但同时也在尽力庇护方言。在上海，本地人开设了上海话课程，上海话是吴语的分支，很多讲平凡话的人只能听懂少部门吴语。
In today’s hurry-up world, it would be unfortunate if these living remnants of the past are extinguished. The key to keeping them alive is to cultivate an interest among the young.
在现今忙碌的社会，若是这些曩昔的遗产消散了，那将很是不幸。将遗产保存下去的关头在于培育年青人对它们的乐趣。
Because I was raised partly by my grandparents, there are some antiquated expressions in my vocabulary. When someone is sore or injured from exercise or overwork, I might say they’re “stove-up”. Most people nowadays are puzzled by that. When I looked for it on dictionary.com, it replied, “Did you mean ‘stovetop’?”
小时辰祖怙恃也带过我，以是我的话语中总会有一些过期的表达。当
或人由于活动或过分劳顿而受伤时，我可能会说他们“stove-up”。@如%3i542%今大大%7e315%都@人不睬解这个说法。当我试着在dictionary.com上查找这个词时，搜刮成果倒是“你想要查找的词语是‘stovetop’吗？”
Merriam-Webster tells us it’s an adjectival form of the verb “stave up”. “Staves” can be pieces of wood used to make a barrel, and Southern Mountain Speech by Cratis D. Williams says “stave” also can mean to break to pieces, splinter, shatter – the apparent origin of my peculiar expression.
韦氏辞书的查找成果是，这是动词‘stave up’的形容词情势。“stave”指可以用来做木桶的板子，而Cratis D. Williams则在《南部山区的说话》（Southern Mountain Speech）一书中说，“stave”还可以暗示碎片、碎了——很明显我的怪异表达就来历于此。
It gives me hope that the expression is found in the youth-oriented Urban Dictionary, so it might yet survive.
厥后我在《青年都会字典》中找到了这个表达，这给了我但愿，这个词仍是有人在利用的。
All of this may seem academic, but it shows that language is a mirror on life and a way to examine culture and history. Also, it’s comforting that my wife — raised in a similar environment, influenced by her grandmother and great-grandmother — understands when I say I’m stove-up.
这些看起来可能有些学术，可是这表白说话是糊口的一壁镜子，也是审阅文化和汗青的一种方法。此外，我的老婆和我在类似的情况中长大，深受她的祖母和曾祖母的影响，当我说本身“stove-up”的时辰，她能懂我说的是甚么意思，这一点真的很使人欣慰。
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Matt Prichard is a copy editor and writer who works on the front page team of China Daily. He has lived in China for more than four years, in Shanghai and Beijing. Before that, he had a 30-year career as a reporter and editor in the United States and Latin America. He has an ABJ from the University of Georgia and did postgraduate work at the Universidad Nacional del Sur in Argentina. He speaks Spanish fluently and is still learning Mandarin.
