趣味英语：与“房奴”有关的英语表达

　　句子：这么高的房价已将我沦为房奴。

　　误译：Such high housing prices have rendered me a house slave.

　　正译：Such high housing prices have rendered me a mortgage slave.

　　解释：不可将house slave 译成“房奴”。house slave与field slave形成对比，指当年美国从事家务劳动的黑奴，即“家奴”；而field slave是从事农耕劳动的黑奴，即“田奴”。

　　“房奴”的意思是“按揭购房者”。英语可以译为mortgage slave。例如：1. 房奴一词被用来描述那些按揭还款超过月薪一半的人。Mortgage slave is adopted to describe those people whose mortgage payment is more than half of their monthly salary.2. 约翰是个心力交瘁的房奴，挣扎着在压力大的职业、不愉快的婚姻和四个小孩的需求之间争取平衡。John is a stressed mortgage slave, struggling to balance a high- pressure career, an unhappy marriage and the demands of four small children.

　　西方有钱人除了买房和买车，还买游艇或帆船。mortgage-slave 的本义是“按揭购买者”，除了“房奴”，也可以指“车奴”或“船奴”。例如：

　　3. 他把自己描述为他的公寓的房奴和他的汽车的车奴。He described himself as a mortgage slave to his apartment and car.

　　4. 我想你只是一个买帆船给你的邻居们留下好印象的船奴。I think you are just a mortgage slave buying boats to impress your neighbours.

　　mortgage(按揭)是一种购房或购物的贷款方式，以所购房屋或物品为抵押向银行贷款，然后分期偿还。例如：5. 我以我的新居为抵押得到了一笔固定利率的按揭贷款。I've got a fixed-rate mortgage on my new home.