蘇老師專欄

[ 2019-11-01 ]

<談文論譯>CLIL英文:虎頭蜂, venomous 與 poisonous   蘇正隆

2019-07-26 媒體報導,宜蘭有位八十七歲婦人到自家附近菜園拔菜,慘遭一旁高壓電桿上築巢的黑腹虎頭蜂襲擊,被螫了二十多個包送醫,當天下午不治。

黑腹虎頭蜂 (Vespa basalis) 英文叫 black-bellied hornet,維基百科英文簡介如下:
The black-bellied hornet, or Vespa basalis, is a species of hornet native to Taiwan. It is one of the most dangerous species of hornet on the island, and its venom induces edema. Colonies may have as many as 5,000 individual hornets.

維基同時提供中譯如下:(我加標 * 號的地方是誤譯)
“黑腹大黃蜂(Vespa basalis)是一種原產於台灣的大黃蜂。它是島上最危險的大黃蜂之一,其毒液引起水腫。*殖民地可能有多達 5,000只個體大黃蜂。”

這裡 colony 的意思是指動植物的「群,群落」;edema 指「浮腫、水腫」;至於venom 則是「毒液」。

台灣常見的虎頭蜂有:台灣大虎頭蜂、姬虎頭蜂、擬大虎頭蜂、黑腹虎頭蜂、黃腳虎頭蜂、威氏虎頭蜂以及黃腰虎頭蜂等,其中黃腰虎頭蜂 (lesser banded hornet, Vespa affinis) 最常見、較溫馴,黑腹虎頭蜂最兇,會主動攻擊人。

毒蛇 venomous snakes,台灣很多人都說成 poisonous snakes,但嚴格說來,這種講法不符科學上的定義與習慣。(But this phrase is not technically correct—strictly speaking, they are venomous.)

大英百科對 venomous 與 poisonous 的區別解釋得很清楚: 
According to biologists, the term venomous is applied to organisms that bite (or sting) to inject (注入) their toxins, whereas the term poisonous applies to organisms that unload (釋出) toxins when you eat them.
What's the Difference Between Venomous and Poisonous? https://www.britannica.com/.../whats-the-difference-between-...

因此,venom, venomous 是給有毒動物咬或螫,注入 (inject) 毒素;poison, poisonous 是攝食/吃進 (ingest/eat) 有毒的東西。(Jerome Su, July 31, 2019, Revised)

黑腹虎頭蜂 Vespa basalis (black-bellied hornet)

黃腰虎頭蜂 Vespa affinis (lesser banded hornet)