English 中文网 漫画网 爱新闻iNews 翻译论坛
中国网站品牌栏目(频道)
当前位置: Language Tips> 译通四海> 翻译服务

有趣的willy-nilly

[ 2009-03-19 16:15]     字号 [] [] []  
免费订阅30天China Daily双语新闻手机报:移动用户编辑短信CD至106580009009


有趣的willy-nilly

Nancy Matos

Reader question: “He recognized that you can't just abrogate contracts willy-nilly, but he moved to do what could be done.”

Could you please explain willy-nilly?

My comments: Ah, yes. Willy-nilly. It’s a fun phrase to say and looks and sounds a bit odd. It’s not a phrase you will hear very often, and if you do, it will most likely come from the lips of a British person.

Willy-nilly means something done at random and in a scattered way, all over the place or erratically. The original saying of the phrase was will I nill I or will ye nill ye or will he nill he. You can clearly see the similarity in the word origin of the phrase and in its current spelling. Also, as with many words and phrases in the English language, willy-nilly comes from the Latin nolens volens. Nolens means "being unwilling" and volens means "being willing" or "wanting".

The phrase was used in the popular (and very funny) UK comedy series The Office in Series One, Episode 2. David Brent’s character, played by British comedian and actor Ricky Gervais, scolds an office worker after making a derogatory remark about a new female employee in the office with the comment: “"I will not have her…banded around this office willy-nilly".

Madonna, someone who isn’t British but sometimes thinks she is, was quoted as using willy-nilly when referring to a dinner she once attended with Prince Charles: “He's [Prince Charles] very relaxed at the table, throwing his salad around willy-nilly. I didn't find him stiff at all.”

本文仅代表作者本人观点,与本网立场无关。欢迎大家讨论学术问题,尊重他人,禁止人身攻击和发布一切违反国家现行法律法规的内容。

 

About the author:
 

Nancy Matos is a foreign expert at China Daily Website. Born and raised in Vancouver, Canada, Nancy is a graduate of the Broadcast Journalism and Media program at the British Columbia Institute of Technology. Her journalism career in broadcast and print has taken her around the world from New York to Portugal and now Beijing. Nancy is happy to make the move to China and join the China Daily team.

 

 
中国日报网英语点津版权说明:凡注明来源为“中国日报网英语点津:XXX(署名)”的原创作品,除与中国日报网签署英语点津内容授权协议的网站外,其他任何网站或单位未经允许不得非法盗链、转载和使用,违者必究。如需使用,请与010-84883631联系;凡本网注明“来源:XXX(非英语点津)”的作品,均转载自其它媒体,目的在于传播更多信息,其他媒体如需转载,请与稿件来源方联系,如产生任何问题与本网无关;本网所发布的歌曲、电影片段,版权归原作者所有,仅供学习与研究,如果侵权,请提供版权证明,以便尽快删除。
 

关注和订阅

本文相关阅读

人气排行

翻译服务

中国日报网翻译工作室

我们提供:媒体、文化、财经法律等专业领域的中英互译服务
电话:010-84883468
邮件:translate@chinadaily.com.cn