Chinese Restaurant Sells "Lottery"——张叶
中文恐怕是世界上最适合写诗的一种文字了。"独立寒秋"，就四个字，多少英雄气概；翻译成英文，读作"独自一人站在寒冷的秋天"，整个一失恋。在国外，对这一点感受最深是关于中国菜的英文名。
Chinese might be the most suitable language to write poems. " Du Li Han Qiu"(独立寒秋), the four characters give such a heroic feeling. When translated into English, it would be "to stand alone in a cold autumn day.", which gives a perfect impression of being crossed in love. When you are abroad, English translation of Chinese dishes will strike you most in this aspect.
老外们常说中国的菜单厚得像本书，其实更准确一点说，中国的菜单应该是像诗集。无论多复杂的菜到了菜单上一般都得四个字，而且听起来还得美。"宫爆鸡丁"让人垂涎，换成"花生鸡肉"，胃口全倒了。这么大的区别逼着古往今来大大小小的餐馆们绞尽脑汁起菜名，可以说，中国菜单集了五千年群众性诗歌艺术的大成。
Foreigners always say that Chinese menu is like a book. To be more precise, Chinese menu is more like an anthology of poetry. No matter how complicated the dish is, the name is normally consists of four Chinese characters. "Gong Bao Ji Ding" "宫爆鸡丁" makes you feel mouthwatering. If we use "Huang sheng ji rou" "花生鸡肉", you will lose all the appetite. Such a big difference forces people in Chinese restaurants from past to present to rack their brains and make beautiful names for dishes. We can say that Chinese menu can represent Chinese folk poetry of five thousand years.
到了英文环境中，中文的字、词、韵、味全没了，中国菜名的翻译也就只能将就材料了。没错，中国菜的英文名基本上就是材料的罗列，比如，"清炒虾仁"的英文名是"在葱姜汁中的炸虾仁"，至于"在青椒和豆瓣调料中的牛肉"，就是中国的"黑椒牛柳"。第一次去国外的中餐馆吃饭，这种英文菜单给我的感觉就像本谜语书，害得我一个标准的中国人在中餐馆里竟然不知道要点什么菜。
In English environment, characters, words, rhymes and flavor of Chinese language are all lost. The translation of names of Chinese dishes can only focus on materials. It is right that the English translation is to list the materials. For example, the English name of "qing chao xia ren" (清炒虾仁) is the fried shrimps in leek and ginger sauce. As to "beef in the green pepper and soy source" is "Hei jiao niu liu" in Chinese. The first time when I went out to eat in a Chinese restaurant abroad, the English menu there was like a riddle book to me. As a standard Chinese, I even did not know what to order in a Chinese restaurant.
这就是为什么中国菜的英文名就都比较长，这种菜名不但难记，而且点起来也绕嘴。老外们想了个对策：点菜单上每个菜标上号码。所以，在中餐馆里你经常可以听到这样的说法：我来一个5号、一个17号......。我的一个老外朋友曾经开玩笑说："你们中国人真有本事，居然能把数字都做成美味佳肴。"我也针锋相对地回了一个玩笑，说："我都弄不清你们到中国餐馆是去吃饭还是去买彩票。"
That's why the English names of Chinese dishes are so long. They are not only difficult to remember but also difficult to read. Foreigners have found a solution: give each dish on the menu a number. Therefore, in restaurants abroad, you can often hear: I want to order No.5, No.17.... One of my foreign friends once joked, "You Chinese are really capable. You can make numbers into delicious meals." I also tossed a joke back, "I am also confused. I was not sure if you wanted to order a meal or buy lottery."
我曾经很严肃地告诫国内的朋友们：在中国请老外吃饭千万别太盛情，尤其不能借机弘扬中华美食。要考虑老外们的接受能力，多点像"辣子鸡块"这样容易理解的庄户菜，否则一解释起菜名来，吃饭肯定变成讲课。
Once I seriously advised my fellow Chinese: In China when you invite foreigners to dinner, you should not be too hospitable and order too many dishes. It would not be a good opportunity to show Chinese food. We should consider their acceptance and order dishes such as "la zi ji kuai" (spicy chicken). Otherwise, when it comes to explain the names of the dishes, to have a meal is just like to give a lecture.
本文转载自张叶的个人空间，要阅读更多作者文章，请移步作者个人空间http://i.myechinese.com/index.php?s=/space/1253 。To see more, please visit 张叶's space athttp://i.myechinese.com/index.php?s=/space/1253
图片来源：http://www.lzbs.com.cn/wb/2007-08/30/content_1224095.htm
- restaurant [´restərɔnt]
n.饭店，菜馆 (初中英语单词)
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