第580期：曲解别人的话英文怎么说

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每个人都被人曲解过，每个人也都曲解过别人。

这个曲解用英文怎么表达呢？

这就是我们今天要讲的专题：曲解别人的话，别人的意思，用英文怎么表达。今天我们讲两三种地道的说法。

1. 最简单的可以说：get someone wrong 误会某人的意思

You say ‘Don’t get me wrong‘ when you want to make sure that someone does not get an incorrect idea about what you are doing or saying, or about why you are doing or saying it. (Collins)

例句：

I mean, don’t get me wrong. Joanie’s my best friend, but she can be kind of a pain
sometimes.

我的意思是，别误会，我是说Joanie是我最好的朋友，但她有时候也很烦人。

这种说法最简单，口语中也最常见。不用过多解释，大家都会说。

2. 还可以说 ：twist someone’s words 曲解某人的话

say or imply that someone has said a thing which he or she did not precisely or directly say

这种说法很形象，twist这个词很好，扭曲、扭动、歪曲的意思。

*扩充：英语中还有个成语叫 twist one’s arm，强迫某人做某事的意思。你看多形象，就像一个人拧着另一个人的胳膊，像抓坏人那样。这个成语好理解，不多讲。

3. 还有一个地道的说法：put words in someone’s mouth.

字面意思是“往某人嘴里塞话/词“，其实也是”曲解某人“的意思。但语气似乎比前两种说法更重一点，不仅是理解错了某人的话，而且可能还故意歪曲了人家的本意。

佛老认为这句成语可以更准确地理解为“把某人没说过的话强加给某人”。

– say or suggest that somebody has said something, when they have not. （这句英文释义很好，简单又准确）

– To say or imply that someone has said something which he or she did not precisely or directly say.

例句：

I never said you should leave – don’t put words in my mouth.

我从来没说过你应该走——别杜撰我从没说过的话。

在Quora上读到一位答友举的例子觉得很好（Donald Tepper, Quora):

It
means to paraphrase, to interpret, what someone else said or meant. And
often the implication is that the interpretation isn’t totally correct.

Literally, the sense is that someone else is putting words (the someone else’s words) into the mouth of another person.

For
instance, defenders of Donald Trump would accuse his critics of
“putting words into his mouth” when they accuse him of being a racist.

For
instance, defenders of Hillary Clinton would accuse her critics of
“putting words into her mouth” when they accuse her of not caring about
the people killed at Benghazi. (Quora)

当你听完别人的一段话之后，你再用你的话复述一遍（paraphrase)，但你的复述跟说话人的意思并不一样，或者歪曲了人家的意思。这就叫put words in someone’s mouth. 当然也可以更简单地说是 paraphrase incorrectly.

今天讲的这三种说法中，第三种说法是一句英语成语，前两种都不算成语，大概算习惯表达吧。

*Put words in one’s mouth除了曲解之外，还有一层不同的意思。

有兴趣的读者可以自己研究一下，欢迎留言讨论。

No, I didn’t say you guys go and figure it out yourselves, don’t put words in my mouth, what I said was you could look it up and leave a comment to share your understanding.

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