Willy-nilly_其他_趣味英语-查字典英语网

Willy-nilly

Reader question:

How to express the idea of something that is"不以人的意志为转移的"? Give examples.

My comments:

How about "there's nothing I can do about it".

Or "it's not up to us," or "whether you like it or not", or "willy-nilly".

Willy-nilly indeed, that's the question being asked. And I don't enjoy translation questions because first, I'm not a practitioner of the trade, second and frankly speaking, I don't always have a good answer to match the odd question. Yet, this particular question is interesting enough to merit an exercise. So here is my fumbling attempt.

In translating something from Chinese to English, one has to, first of all, understand the Chinese. That may sound obvious but it's not always easy of accomplishment. Take this, for example: "有关部门正在积极处理". How do you put that across in English? If you enjoy gobbledygook, you may say: "all departments concerned are actively working together to seek a resolution." If you prefer plain-speak, you might say "things are getting done". Or if you really see through the euphemism, you might point out bluntly that "nothing's yet to be done", because, you see, when "concerned departments" are "actively" working on something, it often means nobody's really doing anything at all. In short, whether you like it or not, it's up to you to read the situation and use your judgment in order to bring across the essential message.