詞典中值得商榷之處

美國傳統詞典(雙解)中可能的錯譯：

An excerpt from the dictionary:

"Mayday, mayday!」 comes the international distress signal over the radio, and nobody stops to ask why the first of May is being mentioned at a time of crisis.   Mayday, in fact, has nothing to do with the first of May. Instead, it is a spelling that represents the pronunciation of French  m'aidez, 「help me,」 or the latter part of the phrase  venez m'aider, 「come help me,」 either of which are quite appropriate at such a critical juncture.
「救命，救命!」無線電接收機中傳來國際遇險呼救信號，總有人詢問為何在危急時刻使用五月的第一天作為信號。實際上， Mayday和五月份的第一天沒有任何關係。相反，它只是和法語中 m'aidez「幫助我」或短語 venez m'aider「來幫助我」的後半部分的讀音相同的一種拼寫，均適用於指緊要關頭"

My comment:

"nobody stops to ask"  = 總有人詢問? 總有人詢問 may be the case in real life. But it is not what the English mean.  Besides this error-could-be, the translation is fine.
My translation: 沒有人停下來問問
If the words are "nobady stop asking", I'd translate as 人們不停地問。
In my opinion, stop to ask = stop and ask. For example, "Why don't men ever stop to ask for directions? "
"stop to ask" does not mean "stop asking".  For example, when people want to quit smoking, they may say "stop smoking", not "stop to smoke".  The latter means 停下來，抽煙。

i think this is one emphatic, and concise, way to speak of "this is a question that's always being asked" -- everybody keeps asking why, or nobody stops to ask why. [:792:]

I have edited my article.  Please read the new version and make a comment.

[:478:] [:478:]

i was wrong. nobody stops to ask why is just the opposite of everybody keeps asking why. and i agree with you that the original chinese translation is incorrect!

Thank you for 加精。 Knowing your rich knowledge in English, your agreement give me a lot of more confidance.
It is my believe that, like everything else, dictionaries are not perfect.  Although the content of a dictionary should have been checked over and over before publishing.  But in real life, just because something should happen does not necassarily mean it does or will (happen).
An expert, no matter how smart he or she is, may have overlooked something.
Some of the well-known scholars listed on the front page may not have done much for the dictionary.  It is their assistants and students who did the work and they may have done the hard work the easy way.  
Nowadays, quiet a few young men and women 雖然學問不大，但是膽子不小，敢想敢說又敢幹，速成出書，有的學英語讀物居然把長頸鹿翻譯成 long neck deer。

thank you for the nice words and it makes me a little, actually a lot, embarrassed as i felt i might well be just another pupil of the masters, as being depicted above, who fears less because of knowing little. "we read to know we are not alone." your sharp eye on errors in English Chinese bilingual texts and your critiques on a variety of topics give the forum very needed sparkles for being lively.

[:460:]

Thanks.  You have a bigger vocabulary than I do. I need to enlarge mine. I have to use a dictionary to find out what does "emphatic, and concise" mean.

then i guess you must have another separate vocbulary that you would never use here in the english corner for conversation.

i saw guys and gals on the chinadaily community having huuuge vocabulary that stunned me...

an invaluable thread, indeed!@

My vocabulary is quite limited but adquet for my reading. I am not a big fan of big words and other less-frequently-used words. I can get better return by investing my time and enegy in other areas.

Who are the guys and gals in the China Daily community having huge vocabulary? Teachers? Students? Do they have enough professionals and semi-professionals?

yes. i guess many of them are english majors and teachers. a few of them engineers, part-time or full-time translators in specialized fields. there are also students and teachers from abroad taking part in discussion there. summarily, most are language majors...

it was said that the english tests back at home emphasize vocabulary and grammar so the trend was set...

Do you think it is wise to emphasize vocabulary so much that even you are stuned by their huge vocabulary?  Some of the big words they have learned may never or rarely be needed in future.  

After all, some words can be learned later when needed.

否定之否定之否定

歡迎你來評論。我曾用其他例句證明我是對的。請你也用其他例句證明你是對的。
既然「stop to ask for directions " 的意思是「停下來問路」，那麼為什
么"nobody stops to ask" 就不是「沒有人停下來問問」呢？人們忙於各種事情，
來不及停下來問問一個詞的詞源這種小事，這不是很正常嗎？這麼說有什麼讓你難
受的呢？
在這個問題上，Adelyn 和我這兩個勤奮發帖者意見一樣。現在是兩票對一票。歡迎別人表
態。

oh, weiguang JJ, you'll greet usbusb with this welcome message?

hey, buddie, i know you are a tech guru! please stay, and give us your comments, in just a little more detail, would you?  

[:473:]

歡迎反對派。有人反對也比沒人理好。
Adelyn 最初也是像你這樣想的，後來通過研究其他例句改了看法。
在這場學術討論中，我已經陳述了我的理由，而你只是重申了你的觀點，現在球在
你那邊。

我只是胡亂說（胡攪蠻纏）而已，還是你的對，但那句「沒有人停下來問問」我認為還是可以改得更好一點。

各抒已見，何言胡攪蠻纏？你言重了。歡迎你和我們統一認識。
聽說你很懂技術，今後請不吝賜教。

[:430:] [:478:]

An excerpt of at least two English-Chinese dictionaries:
"OK
adj.
1.很好的 2.還不錯的"

Is this explanation OK? Yes and no.  When OK used as an adjective, in most cases, it means 還不錯的, not 很好的. Therefore, 很好的 should not be the first explanation.  Instead, 還不錯的, 還行的 and/or 還可以的 should be put in the first place.
Generally speaking, you can not say "You are OK" if what you really mean is "You are great!"   You should not say "Thank you for your OK job" when you mean "Thank you for your remarkable job."  It could make the other party unhappy and ask, "Just OK? Nothing better?"
This is why I disagree with the lyric "簡直OK頂呱呱".

Definitions of OK on the Web:

"Okay is a term of approval or assent, often written as OK. When used to describe the quality of a thing, it denotes acceptability, being neither poor nor perfect. However, its usage can be strongly approving; as with most slang, its usage is determined by context. "
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ok

"O.K.: an endorsement; "they gave us the O.K. to go ahead"
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

金山詞霸2005 "修補3800多處錯誤，更正了詞典中的數據錯誤，並對《美國傳統詞典》等重新進行了整理。"

[QUOTE=weiguang]But in real life, just because something should happen does not necassarily mean it does or will.[/QUOTE]
Correctionof a spelling error:
But in real life, just because something should happen does not necessarily mean it does or will.