2013年末

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capricious

“任性”只有这一种说法吗？

两会美女翻译爆红网络
近日微信朋友圈里的热门话题是“大家都很任性”。这个话题让一位美女翻译红了。全国政协十二届三次会议3月2日下午在人民大会堂召开新闻发布会，大会新闻发言人吕新华回答香港卫视记者关于反腐问题时，答了一句“大家都很任性”，让现场记者为一袭白衣的美女翻译捏了把汗。没想到美女翻译转过头来与吕新华交流，确认是“任性”后，吐出一个非常精准的英文单词capricious。此后，有网友对这位女翻译的英姿大肆赞扬；也有网友提出“任性”这个词还可以有其他更好的翻法。有网友提出用wayward、wilful或是arbitrary这些词可能会更好。这几个词都有任性的意思，让我们来看看他们的细微区别吧。


1. capricious
capricious  /kəˈprɪʃəs/
adjective

❏ 情绪和行为上的突然且不明原因的改变

Given to sudden and unaccountable changes of mood or behaviour

例如：

a capricious and often brutal administration

无理而又时常粗暴的管理

❏ 不按常理发展；无法预测

Changing according to no discernible rules; unpredictable

例如：

a capricious climate

多变的天气

2. wayward
wayward
/ˈweɪwəd/ adjective

❏ 由于恣意或是不正当行为导致难以控制或预测

Difficult to control or predict because of wilful or perverse behaviour

例如：a wayward adolescent

不良少年

Many religious texts legitimise keeping wayward women under control through the use of physical violence.
许多宗教文本都将用暴力控制出格的女人合法化a。


3. wilful

❏ （坏的或是有伤害力的行为）故意的；肆意的

(Of a bad or harmful act) intentional; deliberate:

例如：

wilful acts of damage
故意破坏行为
This willful act was in direct violation of Article 5 of the United Nations Convention on children.
这种故意的行为直接违反了联合国海洋公约关于儿童的第五条。

❏ 具有或是表现出一种固执的决绝的意图去做任何想做的事，不计后果

Having or showing a stubborn and determined intention to do as one wants, regardless of the consequences

例如：

a spoiled, wilful child
一个被宠坏的为所欲为的小孩
4arbitraryarbitrary /ˈɑːbɪt(rə)ri/adjective

❏ 基于随便的选择和个人冲动，而非逻辑或体系

Based on random choice or personal whim, rather than any reason or system

例如：

an arbitrary decision一个随心所欲的决定

❏ （权力机关或管制机构）独裁且滥用职权

(Of power or a ruling body) unrestrained and autocratic in the use of authority

例如：a country under arbitrary government

由独断政府控制的国家

5. everyone is very duang

此外，有网友明确指出，“大家都很任性”的翻译应该是

everyone is very duang

那么“有钱就是任性”该怎么说？

知乎网上有个牛人给出了这样的答案：

Rich and bitchy！

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2013年末

purple2001 发表于 2015-3-5 18:42
1. Capricious is used to describe a person's personality/propensity. Capriciousness is one of the as ...

wowwww!!!!! Thank you so much purple2001! This helps a lot!

purple2001

1. Capricious is used to describe a person's personality/propensity. Capriciousness is one of the aspects of personalities/Propensities, opposite of steadiness/consistency.

2. Wayward is used for the situation where the way of behavior is bad/repulsive.

3. Willful describes people mainly in two ways, personality and action. In personality case, it means self-willed, unreasonable stubborn, or headstrong; while in the action case, it defines an unapproved/illegal/unexpected action committed with knowing/conscious of the violation.

4. Arbitrary applies only to the part owing the power/right of judgment/decision. It indicates that unreasonable, planless, or unfair situations exist in an action or decision.

5. The original expression is kinda “The riches can as want”, expressing the economic status of a person for whom any material needs would be affordable. Here, the speaker extended the expression to say the power status of many government officials. Likewise the riches, the officials can do what they want.

However, special attention needs to be paid to the tone of the speaker on that exact spot. Quite possibly, Mr. Chang intended to lighten the heavy atmosphere with the funny and ironic expression.

Language is a tool of communicating information. The process is accomplished through message sending and receiving under certain tacit agreement between two parts. The best language is the one coded into message by the sender in the way that is the easiest to be decoded by the receiver.

By now, it might be clear that no word of the above-mentioned could perfectly carry the message the speaker wanted to send. With both parties’ tacit agreement, “everyone can as want” may better to serve as the intended message.

Helped with several dictionaries, this is my personal understanding without any warranty. Hope it helps in any way.


Good luck!