Analysis of the Translation Skills of American Slang from Cultural Perspective

【Abstract】In English-speaking countries， especially in the United States， slang is favored by a lot of people in their colloquial conversation. It has become a very important communication tool in people’s daily life. Meanwhile， American slang is a special cultural carrier with rich cultural connotation. Only by analyzing slang from the perspective of American culture can we better understand it and know how to use it. This paper introduces American slang from the aspects of its definition， characteristics and American culture’s influence on it and analyzes some feasible translation skills.

【Key words】slang； American culture； characteristics； translation skills

【作者簡介】王曼，齊魯工業大學（山東省科學院）外國語學院。

Introduction

Slang is a highly accessible language with local touch created by ordinary people in their daily life. It mainly derives from the unconventional use of standard language. Oxford Advanced Learner’s English-Chinese Dictionary defines it as “very informal words and expressions that are more common in spoken language， especially used by a particular group of people， for example， children， criminals， soldiers， etc.” Most of the slang terms become widespread and some of them are accepted as formal language through the use of great writers and elocutionists.

Characteristics of American Slang

1. Humor and Irony

The reason why slang is widely used by ordinary people is mainly because of its humorous and ironic characteristics. It is totally based on people’s daily life and has broad mass base. For example， the US government has always pursued hegemony in the world and intervened in the internal affairs of other countries. Therefore， once a country wants to retaliate against it， the Pentagon， where the US Department of Defense is located will be very likely to be the first target. So in American slang， “the Pentagon” is often called “target A” which shows deep irony towards the US government.

2. Conciseness and Vividness

Compared with standard language， slang is characterized by conciseness and vividness which can reflect strong personality and expressive power. For example， “hop” is the slang term for “dance”. However， “hop” seems to be much livelier which is suggestive of grass hopper jumping on the lawn. That’s why more and more people tend to use slang terms instead of standard language to express their vivid emotions.

American Culture’s Influence on Slang

The United States is a multinational country composed of different kinds of immigrants. Most of slang terms which embody certain way of thinking and lifestyle are created by sub-cultural groups. People in those groups are unwilling to let the outsiders understand their words because of their special identity and status. For example， the prisoners used to call the prison guard “baser” and this kind of slang term was just created in such special situation. Whereas， with the development of times， some slang terms are used by upper-class elites and then accepted as standard English.

Translation Skills of American Slang

First of all， we have to consider slang’s historical cause and function. For example， “on the house” literally means a place， but actually it means “free”. The word “house” in this phrase does not refer to the real house but public house which means tavern （酒館）. In the past， there was a tradition that you could have a drink for free after consuming three glasses of wine. In other words， the house paid for the extra glass.

Secondly， we have to take cultural equivalence into account. It’s not an easy task to keep cultural equivalence in E-C translation of slang because this kind of translation requires the embodiment of culture. For instance， “skate on the ice” is translated into “如履薄冰” and “icing on the cake” is translated into “錦上添花”.

Last but not least， it’s important to pay attention to the translation of swear words. We have to use liberal translation according to different language habit. For instance， some girls use the word “shoot” instead of “damn” when they are very angry because they think this word is more elegant. So in this case， “shoot” should be translated into “該死的” rather than “開槍”.

As second language learners， only when we have a clear knowledge of the definition， characteristics of American slang and the cultural influence can we better understand it and translate it correctly to express the vividness and liveliness of language.

References：

[1]Hu Jiaying，Basic Characteristics and Social Functions of American Slang[J].Academic Exchanges，2003，（8）：154-156.