The Power of Simple Words - Terin Izil

简介词句的力量 —— Terin Izil

翻译人员: Minji Seo 校对人员: Dong Mao

We all know the scene: Dorothy closes her eyes,

我们都熟悉这样一个场景, 桃乐丝闭上眼睛

and repeats the Good Witch's mantra,

然后念着女巫的箴言

"No coordinates exist like one's domicile,

“这地球上没有任何一个坐标是像居住地一样存在的”

no coordinates exist like one's domicile,

“这地球上没有任何一个坐标是像居住地一样存在的”

no coordinates exist like one's domicile."

“这地球上没有任何一个坐标是像居住地一样存在的”

Only Dorothy doesn't say that. She says five one-syllable words,

可是桃乐丝并没有那样讲 她只说六个简单的词

"There's no place like home."

“哪都比不上家”

Each a word you probably learned in your first year of speaking,

这些词应该是我们在一年级就学到的

each perfectly concise.

尽管如此 这些字一语中的 言简意足

It's not that L. Frank Baum didn't have a thesaurus,

并不是说L. Frank Baum (《绿野仙踪的作者) 没有字典 (去查那些高级词汇)

it's that in most cases $10 words fail.

而是大多数情况下 晦涩的语言都并不会有很好的效果

Would Aerosmith have had a hit with

如果当初史密斯飞船乐队把那首歌‘走这边’("Walk this way") 起名叫

"Ambulate This Direction?"

‘踯躅于此方向’("Ambulate this direction"), 它还会火起来吗

Probably not.

大概不会吧.

Would Patrick Henry have ignited a revolution by saying,

如果当初Patrick Henry当初振臂高呼的不是“不自由, 毋宁死”

"Provide me with liberty or bestow upon me fatality?"

而是"予吾等以自由, 或赐吾等以死亡", 那么革命之火还会被点燃吗?

Unlikely.

不太可能.

When it comes to words, bigger isn't always better.

当遣词造句的时候, 冗长晦涩并非一定就好

Ten-dollar words are rendered worthless if they're not understood.

所谓的高级词汇 如果大家都不理解的话 也没有任何意义

That's not to say every piece of literature

这并不意味着所有的文学作品

should be written at a fourth-grade reading level,

都应该简单的像给低年级学生的指定阅读篇章一样

but it is important to know your audience.

但这也说明我们应当了解受众群体的需要

If you're a novelist, your audience is probably expecting

如果你是一個小說家 那你的读者会期待看到

300 pages of vivid descriptors.

三百多页的生动详细的描述

At the very least, they're expecting

他们不太可能在期待

you won't use the same 50 words to fill those pages.

连篇累牍 空洞无物的相似文字

But most of us don't have the luxury of a captive audience.

可惜的是绝大多数人都不会奢侈的拥有忠实的受众观众

We're competing against a whole world of distractions

我们在和整个世界骚动的眼花缭乱竞争

and we're fighting for space in an attention span

尝试争取到一点点注意力

that continues to shrink across generations.

而这可怜的注意力还在世代缩减

So get to the point already.

那么直切主题

Variety may be the spice of life, but brevity is its bread and butter.

多样性也许是生活的调味剂 但是简洁性才是生活的必需品

So when it comes to $10 words,

所以要是那么想用复杂的高级词汇

save your money and buy a Scrabble board.

攒钱去买拼词游戏好了