翻译“无语凝噎”，用“speechless”可好？

词人柳永曾在《雨霖铃》中写道：“执手相看泪眼，竟无语凝噎。”若翻译成英文，此情此景岂一句“have nothing to say或“speechless”能道尽。

今天，我们就来学习一下“无话可说”在英语中几种不同的表达。

1. Speechless

因为厌恶或者吃惊而无语~

If you are speechless, you are temporarily unable to speak, usually because something has shocked you.

例：

I'm so tired of my friend's excuses that I am speechless.

我朋友总是找各种理由来搪塞我，简直无语了我！

亚历克斯又生气又绝望，几乎说不出话来。

Alex was almost speechless with rage and despair.

亚历克斯又生气又绝望，几乎说不出话来。

2. Bite back (something)/ bite (something) back

隐忍不言；绷紧嘴巴

If you bite your lip or your tongue, you stop yourself from saying something that you want to say, because it would be the wrong thing to say in the circumstances.

想说又不能说，话到了嘴边只能咽回去。英文里bite有“咬”的意思，bite back“咬回去”，这个短语形容“欲言又止”是否很生动呢？

例句：

I attempted to smile sweetly while biting back angry comments.

我尽量挤出一丝讨喜的微笑，把一肚子气话都咽了下去。

I must learn to bite my lip.

我必须学会不乱说话。

He bit his tongue as he found himself on the point of saying 'follow that car'.

他想说“跟上那辆车”，话到嘴边又咽了回去。

3. Have nothing to say for oneself

不打算说，也不想说，总之不准备向别人透露自己的想法~

例句：

She doesn't have much to say for herself.

她自己无话可说。

4.Not be on speaking terms (with somebody)

见面交谈的；不相识的

If you are not on speaking terms with someone, you arenot quite friendly with them and often donot talk to them.

这个短语的意思是因为还在生某人的气，不愿意跟他讲话。它的肯定形式则表示发生争论后愿意友好地和某人讲话。

例：

She's not been on speaking terms with her uncle for years.

她已经好几年没再跟她叔叔说过话了。

For a long time her mother and her grandmother had hardly been on speaking terms.

很久以来，她的母亲和外婆两人之间几乎不怎么说话。

5. Lost for words

震惊得说不出话来

If someone is lost for words, they cannot think of anything to say, especially because they are very surprised by something.

有种没话说是因为不知所措。当你感到非常惊讶或困惑时，有时真的不知道该说什么好。这个短语说的就是这种情况。

例句：

I was so surprised to see her that I was lost for words.

见到她太意外了，我一下子不知道该说些什么了。

I'm lost for words — it's fantastic...

我无以言表——太精彩了。

She was gaping at it, lost for words.

她目瞪口呆地看着这场面，一时语塞。

6. be dumbstruck.

吓呆的;惊讶得目瞪口呆

If you are dumbstruck, you are so shocked or surprised that you cannot speak.

例句：

We were dumbstruck. We just couldn't believe our eyes when she appeared.

我们惊呆了。她出现时我们简直不敢相信自己的眼睛。

另一个类似的词也与dumb有关，即dumbfounded，意思是“因受到惊吓而哑然的”

If you are dumbfounded, you are extremely surprised by something.

例句：

The star was dumbfounded by the interview's question.

这个明星被采访者的问题吓得目瞪口呆。

I stood there dumbfounded.

我站在那儿目瞪口呆。

7. hold one's tongue

一言不发;保持缄默

If you hold your tongue, you do not say anything even though you might want to or be expected to, because it is the wrong time to say it.

例句：

Douglas held his tongue, preferring not to speak out on a politically sensitive issue.

道格拉斯沉默不语，不愿谈论政治敏感问题。

另外，另一个词tongue-tied 也可以表示说不出话来，不过，意思则与汉语成语“瞠目结舌”的意思相同，用来比喻“一个人的舌头就好像打结了一样，说不出话来”。

例句：

The police interrogation has left the suspect tongue-tied.

警察的审讯让嫌疑犯紧张得吐不出半个字来。

8. There’s nothing I can say.

我不知道说什么好。

你可以用这句话来表达自己对一件事情或一句话感到非常无奈，所以“无话可说”

9. Keep (yourself) to yourself

离群索居；不与人来往

If you keep yourself to yourself or keep to yourself, you stay on your own most of the time and do not mix socially with other people.

真正的“独孤求败”来啦！沉默寡言，对别人的事情从来不感兴趣。总之，自己的想法自己知道就好~

例句：

Nobody knows much about him; he keeps himself very much to himself.

谁都不了解他，他这人很少与人来往。

He was a quiet man who kept himself to himself.

他是个喜欢安静、不爱与人来往的人。

Since she knows little Italian, she keeps to herself.

因为不怎么懂意大利语，她很少和人交往。

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