Buffalo buffalo buffalo: One-word sentences and how they work - Emma Bryce

翻译人员: Yuezhu Cheng 校对人员: Sanqiang Xiao

You may think you know the words that sit plainly in black on your page,

你也许认为你知道你纸上清晰的黑字是什么意思

但不要被骗了

but don't be fooled.

Some words are capable of taking on different guises,

有些字能够换上不一样的面孔

masquerading as nouns, verbs and adjectives

伪装成名词、动词和形容词

that alter their meanings entirely.

就能完全改变他们的意思

This seeming superpower is called lexical ambiguity.

这种看似强大的能力叫做词汇歧义

It can turn words and sentences into mazes that mess with our minds.

它可以将单词和句子变成让我们头脑混乱的迷宫

For example, consider the following:

比如说，思考一下这句话：

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

水牛水牛水牛水牛水牛水牛水牛水牛

That may sound like nonsense,

这听起来就像胡言乱语

但这其实是一句语法正确的句子

but it's actually a grammatically correct sentence.

How? Well, Buffalo is proper noun, a noun, and a verb.

怎么会呢？因为英文的“水牛”是一个专有名词，一个名词和一个动词

It refers to an animal also known as a bison,

它代指一种又叫做野牛的动物

an American city,

又代指美国城市布法罗

and it can also mean to bully.

也能表示动词欺负

These different interpretations create a sequence of words

这些不同的解释创造出了一连串词

that is grammatically correct as it stands,

按这种样子是语法正确的

加上隐含短语及标点

though it helps to add in a few implied phrases

and punctuation marks to reveal what's really going on.

能够更好地理解其真实含义

Buffalo buffalo are bison from the city of Buffalo,

“水牛水牛”指的是布法罗的水牛

and this sentence has three groups of them.

这个搭配在句中出现了三遍

Group A, which is bullied by Group B, bullies Group C.

被第二组欺负的第一组欺负第三组

In other words, bison from Buffalo that other bison from Buffalo bully

也就是说，被一群布法罗水牛欺负的布法罗水牛

also bully bison from Buffalo.

欺负另外一群布法罗水牛

If you let each buffalo perform its role, the meaning becomes apparent.

如果你让每个“水牛”发挥它的角色，句意就很明了了

What if the bunch of bullying buffalo decides to cross the ocean?

要是这群恶霸水牛决定漂洋过海呢？

Not just on any ship,

不是一艘普通的船

but a ship-shipping ship shipping shipping-ships?

而是一条运船的船运航船呢？

That sentence sounds just as outrageous, but there's logic to the babble.

这句话听起来同样无法理解，但看似胡言乱语其实也有逻辑

“船”可以指船舶和运输

Ship can mean a vessel and to transport.

When we sub in those meanings, a clearer picture emerges.

当我们把这些意思代进去，一幅清晰的画面就显现出来了

Here we have a huge ship-carrying vessel

我们有一条巨大的运船的轮船

transporting ships that themselves are designed to carry goods across the sea.

它运输那些被设计用来跨洋运输货物的船

A ship-shipping ship, shipping shipping-ships.

那么它就是一条运船的船运航船

How about some entertainment on board this unusual vessel

要不要在这条非同寻常的船上找点有意思的东西

to offset the scuffling buffalo?

来弥补乱斗的水牛带来的不快呢？

想想“可以可以”

Consider the can-can.

Can-can can-can can can can can can-can.

“可以可以”“可以可以”可以可以可以可以“可以可以”

这里，“可以”这个词以各种伪装出现

Here, the word can comes in many guises.

“可以可以”，是指康康舞，一种浮夸的舞蹈

There's can-can, the flamboyant dance,

can, that means able to,

“可以”，意思是能够

and can, figuratively meaning to outperform.

在比喻意义上说，还可以指超过

By sticking in a comma and including the implied meanings,

通过加上一个逗号，并且考虑到暗指意

this sentence becomes clearer.

这个句子就清楚一些了

Can-can dances that can-can dances are able to outperform,

被另一种康康舞超过的康康舞

能够超过其他的康康舞

can also outperform other can-can dances.

You wouldn't necessarily use any of these sentences in a conversation.

你在对话中未必会用到任何这些句子

They're just too ridiculous.

它们都太荒谬了

Yet they serve as an extreme example

但它们可以作为一种极端的例子

on just how tangled everyday language can be.

来表现日常语言可以有多么复杂

Lexical ambiguities sail into our speech and writing all the time,

词汇歧义总是出现在我们的讲话和写作之中

spreading confusion and misunderstanding wherever they can-can.

造成困惑和误解，只要它们可以-可以