【精英翻譯】的部落格

Legal Here, Illegal Theres 什麼？！這是違法的？

精英翻譯社轉自http://paper.udn.com/udnpaper/POH0058/256269/web/

Laws differ from country to country, so what is acceptable where you live may be illegal somewhere else. Knowing this can give you some insight into the values of other societies. It can also help you stay out of trouble when traveling.

法律因國家而異，所以在你住的地方可以接受的事物在別處可能不合法。知道這點可以讓你對其他社會的價值觀有些深入的了解。這點也可以幫助你在旅遊時避開麻煩。

For example, ketchup may be just an ordinary food dressing for us, but in France, it is seen as a cultural threat. The French government has banned this American condiment from school and college cafeterias across France to preserve French cuisine. It did make one exception, though: Ketchup may be served with French fries.

舉例來說，番茄醬對我們而言也許只是一種平常的食物醬料，但在法國則被視為一種文化威脅。法國政府已在全國各級學校和大學的自助餐廳裡禁止這種美式調味料，以保存法國美食。不過確實有個例外：番茄醬可以配薯條。（編註：薯條的英文 French fries字面意思指「法式炸物」）

While France banned ketchup to protect its culture, Canada, the United States, and several European countries have blocked the sale of fruit jelly cups to save lives. Governments decided to ban these bite-sized snacks following reports of people choking to death from eating them.

法國禁用番茄醬以保護自己的文化，而加拿大、美國及幾個歐洲國家則為了拯救生命而禁止販賣小果凍。在出現有人吃這種一口大小的零嘴噎死的報導後，各國政府決定予以禁止。

Environmental protection is another reason that certain products have been made illegal. To maintain its image as a clean country and to prevent public spaces from being littered with gum, Singapore banned the sale and import of chewing gum. Therefore, if you're going to Singapore, leave your packs of gum at home!

環境保護是另一些產品被列為非法的原因。為了維持其乾淨國家的形象以及避免公共空間被亂丟口香糖，新加坡禁止口香糖的販賣及進口。因此，如果你要去新加坡，就把口香糖留在家裡吧！