About time, too 是什么意思？

■本站特約作者  陳根花

▲上海外語教育出版社翻譯出版的《柯林斯·高級英語用法詞典》的第61頁有這樣一組對話：

—They’ve finished mending the road.

—About time, too!

該書給出的翻譯是：

—They’ve finished mending the road. 他們把路修好了。

—About time, too! 時間也差不多了！

但我們認為譯文將 About time, too 譯成“時間也差不多了”不妥。

▲查《麥克米倫高階英語詞典》（Macmillan Essential Dictionary for Advanced Learners of British English），該詞典在 time 詞條對 about time 的用法歸納了以下兩條：

1. used for showing that you are annoyed because something has happened later than it should（用于表示因某事發生比應該發生的時間要晚而感到生氣）

Here they are, and about time too. 《麥克米倫高階英語詞典》對該例句的翻譯是：他們來了，真拖拉。

2. used for saying that someone should do something soon:

Isn’t it about time we got a new car?

▲再查《劍橋高階英漢雙解詞典》（Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary）time詞條，該詞典在 time 詞條對 about time 的用法說明是：about time (too) (ALSO not before time) INFORMAL said when someone does something or something happens that you think should have been done or have happened much sooner（與《麥克米倫高階英語詞典》的解釋一致）

“So Ben’s finally found a job.” “Yes, and about time too.”

《劍橋高階英漢雙解詞典》對該例句的翻譯是：“這么說，本終于找到工作了�！薄皩�，早就該找到了�！�

▲很顯然，上面《柯林斯·高級英語用法詞典》中的對話將“About time, too!”譯成“時間也差不多了！”不妥，可考慮改為“早就該修好了”。即：

—They’ve finished mending the road. 他們把路修好了。

—About time, too! 早就該修好了！

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