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《新概念英語點津系列輔導叢書》重磅推出!
【小編按】
出國在外,難免一不小心就得個什麼小病需要看醫生,但是到了醫院我們又該如何用英語向醫生描述自己的病情呢?
也許大家都學過一些常見疾病的名稱表達,但具體如何描述病情,估計知道的人還是不多的。Liz Walter在劍橋英語在線詞典的博客裡給我們提供了一些常用的表達,今天小編就把Liz的文章進行梳理總結,供大家不時之需所用。
【Talking about illness】
1. General words for describing medical problems
對各種病症的籠統描述
1)ill與sick
Firstly, a note about a UK/US difference: the word ill is used more frequently in British English, while sick is more common in US English. If a British person says they were sick, they usually mean that they vomited.
英美語在這兩個詞的使用上有所差別:ill偏英式英語的用法,而sick則偏美式英語的用法;如果英國人用了sick,往往要表達「噁心;嘔吐」的含義。
2)病症描述
(1)We often use the verbs feel and have to describe our symptoms:
常用來描述病症感受的是動詞feel和have,如:
I feel tired all the time. (我一直覺得很累。)I have a headache. (我頭疼。)
(2)Useful adjectives to go with 『feel』 are dizzy (as though the room is turning round), faint (as though you might fall over), sick (UK) or queasy / nauseous (as though you might vomit).
常跟在feel後面用來描述病症的形容詞有dizzy(暈頭轉向的)、faint(快要昏厥的)、sick、queasy、nauseous(三個詞都表示「噁心的;想吐的」)。
(3)We also often use the slightly informal phrase I'm having trouble, followed by an –ing verb or with:
病症描述還可以用I'm having trouble,後面緊跟doing或者with,如:
I'm having trouble sleeping. (我睡不著覺。)I'm having trouble with my knees. (我膝蓋不舒服。)
(4)It can sometimes be necessary to describe pain to a doctor. The most common ways to do this are:
最為常見的描述疼痛(pain)的表達有:
My leg/finger, etc. hurts.I have a pain in my foot/ear, etc.
A dull pain or ache is unpleasant but not severe, and is usually continuous (doesn't stop). A sharp or stabbing pain is usually more painful and may be intermittent (starting and stopping).
輕微但持久的疼痛一般用a dull pain/ache來表達,嚴重但間歇性的疼痛一般用a sharp/stabbing pain來表達。
(5)Other symptoms(其它症狀)
A part of the body that hurts when you touch it is sore or tender, while if you can't feel it at all, it is numb. 如果用手去觸碰會痛,一般用sore或tender(疼痛的)來描述;如果毫無知覺,則用numb(沒有感覺的)。If part of your body is bigger than normal, it is swollen. 身體某個部位比平常要大了,就用swollen(腫大的)。Small, red marks on the skin are called a rash, and if you feel you want to scratch them, they are itchy. 皮膚上長了小紅點,就用rash(疹子);如果想用手去抓,就用itchy(癢的)。If blood is coming from part of your body, you say that it is bleeding. 如果流血了,就用bleeding(出血的)。If you fell over because you were dizzy, you fainted and if you remained in a condition where you could not see or think, you were unconscious. 如果因為dizzy而摔倒,就用faint(暈倒);如果你看不見東西,也不會思考了,就用unconscious(失去知覺的)。To talk about how an illness started, you could say that it came on gradually or came on suddenly. 如果病情來得慢,用come on gradually;如果來得急,就用come on suddenly。You may also want to explain what makes your symptoms worse or better. 如果要解釋自己的病情惡化或好轉,可以用如下表達:It's not as bad when I lie down. (我躺下時會好一點。)Standing for long periods makes it worse. (站久了更糟糕。)Painkillers help it a bit. (止疼藥有點幫助。)
2. More specific words and phrases
更加詳細的描述用語
1)呼吸問題
We talk about people having breathing difficulties or being short of breath. 呼吸問題:呼吸困難;呼吸短促。Sometimes they feel tight across the chest. 胸部感到緊張。If you have to breathe fast after making only a small physical effort, you can say that you get out of breath very easily. 容易喘不過氣來。Someone who breathes in a noisy, uncomfortable way is wheezing. 大口喘氣。If they are taking quick, frightened breaths, we say they are gasping for breath. 上氣不接下氣。
2)心臟問題
If we feel that our heartbeat (the rhythm of our heart) is irregular, we say we are having palpitations. 心悸:心跳不規則。The speed at which our heart beats is called our pulse. If our pulse is very fast, we often say our heart is racing. 脈搏(pulse)過快,叫racing。Chest pains can be another sign of heart problems, and may even mean that someone is having a heart attack. 胸口疼可能意味著患上了心臟病發作(heart attack)。
3)癌症
Cancer is one of the illnesses we dread the most. Most people see a doctor if they find a lump somewhere on their body.
如果身體某個部位有瘤腫(lump),可能就要看醫生確認是否得了癌症了。
4)體重下降和盜汗
Other symptoms may include sudden weight loss or night sweats. A typical way for a patient to express these symptoms would be. 常見的體重下降和盜汗的表達有:
I've lost a lot of weight recently. (我最近體重下降得比較厲害。)I wake up in the night drenched in sweat. (我一覺睡醒,滿身都溼透了。)
5)疲倦
A very common symptom, which can have many causes, is tiredness. A more formal word is fatigue. Common ways of talking about this are. 常用來表達疲倦(tiredness)的詞語是fatigue。其他常用表達有:
I feel tired all the time. (我一直感覺很疲倦。)I have no energy. (我沒精神。)I feel very lethargic. (我感到四肢乏力。)
6)腸胃問題
Problems with digestion (the way food goes through our body) are also common.
An uncomfortable feeling in your stomach after eating is called indigestion, and a more severe pain caused by acid rising upwards is called heart burn. 吃完東西胃不舒服,叫做indigestion(消化不良);胃酸上湧導致的嚴重胃疼,叫做heart burn(胃灼熱)。Bloating is when your stomach becomes swollen after eating, while short, severe pains in the stomach are known as cramps. 吃完東西覺得胃膨脹,叫做bloating(胃脹氣);短暫但嚴重的胃部疼痛,叫做cramps(胃痙攣)。If you are constipated, it is difficult to pass solid waste from your body when you go to the toilet. The opposite problem, when the waste is like liquid, is called diarrhoea (UK)/diarrhea (US). 排便困難,叫做constipated(便秘);肚子拉稀,叫做diarrhoea/diarrhea(腹瀉)。
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