中式英語中最經典的用法,莫過於對人山人海的翻譯了:people mountain people sea
這麼說,老外肯定不會明白是什麼意思:用人做的山? 用人做的海?
當我們說人山人海,我們是想描述一個很多很多人的場景,用山和海作比喻
那麼當你想表達很多人,用下面這些都沒問題:
LARGE NUMBERS OF PEOPLE
NUMEROUS PEOPLE
LOADS OF PEOPLE
CROWD OF PEOPLE
TONS OF PEOPLE
MASS OF PEOPLE
HUGE AMOUNT OF PEOPLE
然而,老外,用山和海,也確實可以比喻多的意思,可以這麼說
用海往往比喻,很多很多都長的一樣的東西,比如:
She looked out over a sea of smilingfaces.
The crowdstood under a sea of brightlycolouredumbrellas.
To a sleep in a sea of stars
當然你可以說 a sea of people
用山往往比喻,一個東西的數量太多,太多了,難以讓人達到目標, 比如:
I』ve got mountains of paperwork to deal with.
A mountain of trouble in life maks her not sleep well at night.
I have a mountain of laundry to do this weekend.
明白了嗎?