北京
最近，清华食堂的一张菜单引起了热议。
图源：小红书截图
网友纷纷评论：“差点把价格看成了影响因子。”
有网友提出了“修改意见”：“这边建议改成Table 1.1清芬园午餐价目表。”“做成三线表就更像了。”
A canteen menu at Tsinghua University has sparked online discussions for its uncanny resemblance to an academic paper. Netizens joked about mistaking the price column for "impact factors", with some suggesting the menu should be reformatted as "Table 1.1: Qingfenyuan lunch price list" to complete the scholarly aesthetic.
菜单上除菜品名称和价格外，还清晰地列出了主辅料和过敏原，更贴心配上了英文翻译。不少网友表示意外学到了原来它们的英文译名是这样。
比如，八宝粥的英文名就是字面组合“八”“宝”“粥”（Eight-treasure Porridge）；豆腐脑则被译为“Bean Curd Jelly”，读着十分形象。
Beyond listing dish names and prices, the menu provides detailed ingredient breakdowns, allergen information, and English translations, revealing some delightfully literal interpretations.
图源：小红书截图
这也让网友不禁联想起一些中国美食的“灵魂翻译”，比如……
重庆毛血旺，“Chongqing is full of blood”。
加油麦菜，“Come on, Mai Cai”。
图源：小红书截图
随着越来越多外国游客来到中国，一些外国朋友在碰到中餐厅菜单上的“神翻译”时，也不免举着菜单陷入沉思，甚至产生了“这真的能吃吗”的疑惑。
The discussion revived memories of other infamous "creative translations", such as "Chongqing is full of blood" for mao xue wang, a spicy blood stew, or the motivational "Come on, Mai Cai" for stir-fried greens.
在美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）刊发的一篇探讨中国菜名英语翻译的文章中，多年来专注研究中餐的英国美食作家扶霞·邓洛普（Fuchsia Dunlop）提到，尽管现在翻译软件进步不少，但她在中国旅行时还是会遇到一些令人发笑的误译。
In a CNN article exploring Chinese culinary translations, Fuchsia Dunlop, a British food writer specialized in Chinese cuisine, noted that despite advances in translation technology, she still encounters unintentionally humorous menu mistranslations during her travels in China.
炒包菜（stir-fried cabbage）就是其中最典型的一个例子。
菜单上，“炒包菜”被翻译成了“手提包食物”（handbag food）。包菜被拆分成了单独的两个字，“包”翻译成“handbag”（手提包），“菜”则对应为“food”（食物）。
邓洛普认为，之所以翻译这些食物的名称如此困难，很大程度上是因为中餐里的很多词汇在英语中根本没有对应词汇。比如，英语中用“dumpling”这个词泛指各种带有馅料的面食，但中文里饺子、云吞、烧麦、汤圆等却各有其名。
Dunlop says much of the problem with translating the names of these foods stems from the fact that certain words don't even exist in English.
For example, in English, the word "dumpling" is a catchall phrase, referring to everything from
jiaoziand wonton to
xiaolongbao
邓洛普建议，英文翻译可以直接借用中文原本的说法，就像是英文中沿用了法语词汇“chef”（厨师）和“omelet”（煎蛋卷）那样。
Dunlop suggests borrowing terms in Chinese, similar to how they use French words like "chef" and "omelet".
▌夫妻肺片（Husband-and-wife lung slices）
在这道名为“夫妻肺片”的四川名菜中，既没有夫妻，也没有肺片。它实际上是一道辣味切片牛杂，因一对经常走街串巷叫卖凉拌小菜的夫妻而得名。
邓洛普认为如果将其译为“Sliced beef offal in a spicy sauce”（辣味牛杂切片）会缺乏特色，也削弱了用餐体验，不如把“夫妻肺片”直译成英文“husband-and-wife lung slices”，再单独解释这道菜的成分。
One could easily translate it to be "sliced beef offal in a spicy sauce", but this would lack flair and take away from the experience. Dunlop recommends it's fun to keep the original meaning in the translated name — husband-and-wife lung slices — but a description would be a nice menu addition.
“随着外国人越来越熟悉这些菜，他们也会逐渐熟悉这些菜名。”
▌鱼香茄子（Fish-fragrant eggplant）
鱼香茄子也是相似的情况，很多时候这道菜里并没有鱼，而是因为使用了以鱼为原料的菜肴中常使用的调料而得名。
邓洛普说，有时人们会将其直译为“spicy Sichuan eggplant”（川味麻辣茄子），但这样会失去当地的文化特色。她总是将其翻译为“fish-fragrant eggplant”（鱼香茄子），既好听，还能让人们去了解名字背后的故事。
"Sometimes people just translate it as 'spicy Sichuan eggplant', which is helpful, but loses the local cultural flavor. I always translate it as 'fish-fragrant eggplant' anyway because it sounds lovely, and I hope English speakers will get to know this dish," says Dunlop.
▌狮子头（Lion's head）
对于这道因形状酷似狮子头而得名、实际是猪肉做成的大肉丸的菜肴，邓洛普建议在保留“lion's head”的表述的基础上，注明其烹饪方法，翻译为“红烧狮子头”（braised lion's head）。
美国有线电视新闻网这篇文章中，另一位来自香港大学翻译学专业的副教授则认为：“无论是译作‘中式肉丸’（Chinese meatball），还是直译成‘红烧狮子头’（braised lion's head），都无法完全体现这道菜的精髓和文化背景。”
"You can translate
shizitoufiguratively as 'Chinese meatball' or literally as ' braised lion' s head' but neither fully captures the dish's essence or cultural context," said an associate professor of translation at the University of Hong Kong and a scholar of Chinese gastronomy literature.
来源：“中国日报双语新闻”微信公众号、21世纪英文报
新媒体编辑：曾煜婷
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