有的通俗谚语、成语只能意译,如“一马平川” (a wide expanse of flat land;vast-stretching plain)之类。意译是常见的翻译手法, 翻译的效果孰优孰劣也是众说纷纭,但不太涉及典故、文化持色的对应的意译普遍易于被人接受。如下面的例子。
分道扬镳to break ranks
墨守成规 to slick to the mud
铜墙铁壁 bastion of iron
不辞而别 to take French leave
临危不惧to face the music
风平浪静 be right up and down
拾人牙慧 second-hand ideas
捉襟见肘 to be out at elbows
自讨苦吃 be riding for a fall
实事求是 come down to earth
了如指掌 at one's fingertips
废话连篇 to beat one's gums
根深蒂固 to be in the grain
深恶痛绝 to hate like poison
归根结底 in the final analysis
寻根究底 get down to bedrock
各行其是 to blow one's own horn
改过自新 to turn over a new life
狐假虎威 the tiger behind the fox
风餐露宿 to brave the wind and dew
天伦之乐 primordial human joys