問:小女的英文填充練習有以下一句:I was disappointed ___ my result(我對自己的成績失望)。小女在disappointed之後用at,老師卻說用with才對。Disappointed at和disappointed with有分別嗎?
答:Disappointed with / at / about something都是說「對某事物失望」,意思沒有什麼不同,劍橋英文詞典 Cambridge International Dictionary of English disappointed條有以下例句:We were deeply disappointed at / about the result(我們對這結果深感失望)。《朗文實用英漢詞語搭配辭典》也有以下例子:「disappointed at (with) the results對結果感到失望的。」此外,英文還可以說I was disappointed by my result。讀者所說那位老師堅持用with,也許是被「標準答案」所誤。
要說「對某人失望」,disappointed之後則多用with或in,例如:He was disappointed in / with his son(他對兒子失望)。In所說的失望較with深沈。
問:外國年輕人常說的hang out,應怎樣翻譯?有沒有褒貶含義?可不可以用於書面?
答:Hang out有幾個意思,這位讀者所說的,應是「(在某處)消遣不少時間」那個意思的hang out,例如:He used to hang out at the pub in the evening(從前,他傍晚時候常到酒家消遣)。
這個hang out是俚語,不宜用於嚴肅文件之中,意思則不褒不貶。至於譯法,不可能有固定答案。中文翻譯,必須看上下文意,否則只會淪為今天觸目皆是的下流現代漢語。