美國多地俚語集錦

文/克莉絲汀·亨特 譯/藍(lán)嵐

美國多地俚語集錦

文/克莉絲汀·亨特 譯/藍(lán)嵐

We as a nation have embraced all kinds of dumb slang, from“swag1swag一些歌手用在歌詞中，顯示炫酷、有型。” to “hepcat22 hepcat熱愛爵士樂的人。.” (Never mind, hepcat is awesome.) But some words never get out of speci fi c pockets of America,where they easily weed out3weed out除去；淘汰。the locals from the transplants44 transplant遷移者。. Because we have an af fi nity5affinity喜好；喜愛。for funny words and inside jokes, we rounded up6round up集攏；找來。a few of our favorites from all over the US.

[2] Jawn

Philadelphia, PA

What it means: Almost anything.“Jawn” could be a person (i.e. “I was talking to this jawn...”), a song (i.e. “You hear that new Drake7=Aubrey Drake Graham奧布里·德雷克·格雷厄姆，加拿大說唱歌手、演員。jawn?”), or even a collapsed building (i.e. this real news story).

Should we all start using it? Only if we want to confuse the hell out of the general public.

[3] Bubbler

Wisconsin

What it means: A drinking fountain.The name supposedly comes from the local Kohler Co., which made fountains with a “bubbling valve8valve閥門。” in the middle of the bowl in 1915. People started calling the things “bubblers,” and the term was soon applied to any drinking fountain. (Also, while this is mostly a WI word, it pops up in Portland and pockets of New England as well.)

Should we all start using it? It’s shorter and more whimsical9whimsical異想天開的；滑稽可笑的。than “water fountain,” so sure, why not!

[4] Cattywampus10 wampus cat是美國民間傳說中的一種動物，類似美洲獅。

The South

What it means: All out of sorts,askew111 askew歪；斜。, craaaazy.

Should we all start using it? If it’s good enough for Mr. Krabs12動畫《海綿寶寶》里的角色，是一只螃蟹，蟹堡王餐廳的老板，本名蟹阿金，視錢如命，經(jīng)常為了一塊錢而去冒生命危險。, it’s good enough for us.

[5] Pre-funk

Paci fi c Northwest

What it means: Pre-game. As in,drinking before another event that likely involves more drinking.Should we all start using it? Obviously the rest of the country already has a word for that, but “funk” is more appealing than “game,” so let’s go for it.

[6] Tump (over)

Texas

What it means: To tip, fall, or spill over. While some people peg13peg固定，限定。this term solely to Texas, it also has a big following in Arkansas and other Southern states.

Should we all start using it? It is kinda funny that it’s practically an onomatopoeia14onomatopoeia象聲；擬聲。of the action (thump),and since we’ve been hung up on15hung up on全神貫注于；被……迷住。onomatopoeia since that one spelling bee16spelling bee〈美〉拼字比賽。,we’re going to say yes.

[7] Shoots

Hawaii

What it means: A general affirmative, like “yeah.” Can be followed with“then” or “brah.” One of the more allpurpose words from Hawaii’s pidgin17pidgin （不同語種的人在商業(yè)交往中形成的）混雜語言，混雜行話。slang.

Should we all start using it? Shoots,brah.

[8] Devil strip

Akron, Ohio

What it means: That little grassy area between the sidewalk and the street. One theory says the term was invented by West Virginian transplants who came to Akron to work the rubber factories. They told their kids the grass was the “devil’s strip” so they wouldn’t run out into the streets. Another theory maintains it was actually overworked WWII moms. They still supposedly made it up to scare their kids, though,so either way, dumb children are the root cause18root cause根本原因。.

Should we all start using it? Yes.It’ll make that very specific patch of grass so much more metal.

[9] Yamom’n’em

New Orleans

What it means: Basically, your family. People will say, “How’s yamom’n’em?” instead of, “How are your folks?” You can also tell someone to, “Say hi to your mom’n’em for me,”so go nuts, Mark Wahlberg19美國影視演員，他家有9個孩子，他是家中的老小。.

Should we all start using it? It seems like a recipe for20a recipe for很可能是造成……的原因。confusion, but also looks like fun to say. Maybe just bring it out on special occasions.

[10] Pogonip

Nevada

What it means: A freezing fog that shows up in deep mountain valleys of the Western U.S. While Nevada tends to monopolize211 monopolize獨占。it as a term, you’ll hear it in other parts of the West. Also, beware it.

Should we all start using it? Yes.It’ll at least make talking about the weather more interesting.

[11] Yinz

Pittsburgh

What it means: A second-person plural pronoun. Think “y’all” or “youse guys” but with a “z.”

Should we all start using it? People from Pittsburgh are awfully proud of this word, but it doesn’t really sound anything like “you.” It sounds more like a very small, shaky dog, and no one wants to be equated22equate使等同。with a nervous Chihuahua.

[12] Pinkletink

Massachusetts

What it means: A tiny frog. The little guy’s known as a spring peeper everywhere else.

Should we all start using it? Yes. We don’t know how often specific amphibians23amphibian兩棲動物或植物。come up in your everyday conversation, but seize every opportunity to casually drop the word “pinkletink.”

[13] Whoopensocker

Wisconsin

What it means: Something “extraordinary of its kind.” That could mean a lot of things, but, as theWall Street Journalnoted, it’s probably a big beer.

Should we all start using it? Are you kidding? It sounds ridiculous and can be used in bars. Yes. A thousand times yes. ■

美國人民接納了各種讓人無語的俚語，前有“帥格”，后有“爵士貓”（那啥，“爵士貓”是個好詞兒）。但有些俚語地域性極強(qiáng)，一下就能將本地人和外來戶區(qū)分開來。因為向來對喜感詞匯和圈內(nèi)笑話情有獨鐘，我們搜遍全美，找到一些深入人心的詞匯在此奉上。

[2]啅

賓夕法尼亞州費城

意義：差不多能指代萬物，形容人（“我正跟這個啅說話呢……”）、歌曲（“德雷克的新啅聽了沒？”），甚至還指倒塌的大樓（這可是新聞里的真事）。

大家都該用？只要不怕把大家都搞糊涂就行。

[3]泡泡樂

威斯康辛州

意義：自動飲水器。據(jù)說該詞源于1915年威斯康辛州的科勒公司推出的一款飲水器，接水盆中央有個“泡泡閥”。人們開始把這種樣子的飲水器稱作“泡泡樂”，很快所有自動飲水器都被冠以這一稱呼。（還有，雖然這個詞大多出自威斯康辛人之口，但俄勒岡州波特蘭和新英格蘭某些地區(qū)也有人會冷不丁用一下。）

大家都該用？這比“自動飲水器”簡短，也更好玩，當(dāng)然要用，干嘛不用？

[4]奸猾獅

南方地區(qū)

意義：一切讓人不爽的、跑偏的、極度瘋狂的。

大家都該用？要是《海綿寶寶》里的蟹老板都可以用，我們也可以。

[5]預(yù)熱

太平洋西北沿岸地區(qū)

意義：預(yù)熱活動。比方說，在另一場可能讓你喝高的酒局前先喝上一頓。

大家都該用？美國其他地方顯然已經(jīng)有了一個表達(dá)此含義的詞，但是 funk比game更吸引眼球，用吧用吧。

[6]咣（或咣倒）

得克薩斯州

意義：翻倒、摔倒或潑灑。這個詞有人認(rèn)為僅限得克薩斯用，但其實在阿肯色和其他南方州也有很多擁躉。

大家都該用？這個詞挺有意思，它實際上是“暴打”這個動作發(fā)出的聲音。既然我們自小參加過拼字比賽后就對象聲詞念念不忘，那“咣”或“咣倒”也可以接受。

[7]是嗚茨

夏威夷

意義：常見的肯定詞，和“是的”差不多，后面經(jīng)常接“那么（then）”或者“老兄（brah）”。夏威夷的“洋涇浜”俚語很多，“是嗚茨”是其中的百搭詞之一。

大家都該用？是嗚茨，老兄。

[8]魔鬼地帶

俄亥俄州阿克倫

意義：人行道和街道之間狹窄的草坪。有一種說法是，這個詞是到阿克倫橡膠廠工作的西弗吉尼亞州外來戶發(fā)明的。他們嚇唬孩子說這種草坪是“魔鬼地帶”，這樣孩子就不敢越過草坪跑到街上去了。還有一種說法是，這個詞其實是二戰(zhàn)期間超額工作的媽媽們造的。不過也說是為了嚇唬孩子，所以不管哪種說法，反正這個詞就是為傻孩子而造的！

大家都該用？用吧。這會讓那一小片草地顯得更迷人。

[9]你媽媽他們

新奧爾良

意義：基本上，說的就是你全家。人們一般不問“你家里人好嗎？”，而是問“你媽媽他們好嗎？”你也可以跟別人說：“替我跟你媽媽他們問好。”馬克·沃爾伯格恐怕會崩潰。

大家都該用？這個表達(dá)看起來讓人摸不著頭腦，但是好像很好玩。也許特定場合可以用一下。

[10]凍霧

內(nèi)華達(dá)州

意義：美國西部深谷幽壑中出現(xiàn)的霧凇。雖然內(nèi)華達(dá)人有意將這一術(shù)語據(jù)為己有，但西部其他地方也有人用。前方凍霧，高能預(yù)警。

大家都該用？用唄。至少用這個詞跟人聊天氣還挺有趣的。

[11]你們幾

匹茲堡

意義：第二人稱復(fù)數(shù)代詞。跟y’all（你們）或 youse guys（你們幾個）意思差不多，就是在后面多加個z。

大家都該用？匹茲堡人對這個詞特別自豪，但它聽著確實不太像“你們”，更像一只顫巍巍的小小狗。誰想被當(dāng)成一只神經(jīng)兮兮的吉娃娃啊？

[12]娉婷蛙

馬薩諸塞州

意義：一種微型蛙。這個小家伙在美國其他地方又叫“春雨蛙”（“春天的窺探者”）。

大家都該用？用吧。我們不知道日常聊天用兩棲動物詞匯的頻率有多高，但逮著機(jī)會就順便用下唄。

[13]吾本所可

威斯康辛州

意義：屬于“類中極品”的某物。可以指很多東西，但是《華爾街日報》解釋，這個詞有可能說的是一大桶啤酒。

大家都該用？你在逗我？這個詞聽起來很滑稽，可以在酒吧里用。用吧，百分百贊成。□

The Best Regional Slang Words from Around the Country

ByKristin Hunt

（譯者單位：廣西醫(yī)科大學(xué)外國語學(xué)院。譯者曾獲第五屆“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽優(yōu)秀獎。）