你的“蛙儿子”回家了吗？丨外刊语言表达（二十一）
最近朋友圈突然多了很多魂不守舍的“空巢老人”。在外旅行的蛙儿子，不知有没有按时吃饭，有没有冻着，长时间没收到寄回的明信片，甚至会担心蛙儿子被坏人捉走下了火锅……而你能做的，就是像老母亲一样独守空房盼儿回家。在漫长的等待中，查一查有没有小蛙的信件、接待一下前来做客的小蛙的朋友，仅此而已。
这是一款新爆款游戏，由日本Hit-Point制作(create, develop)，中文名叫《旅行青蛙》，英文名叫"Tabikaeru"，也叫"travel frog""journey frog""travelling frog"等。
"Tabikaeru"是一个双关名字，"Tabi"是“旅游”的意思，"Kaeru"作名词表示“青蛙”，作动词是"归来，回家"的意思，我们看《Shine》的报道：
In Japanese, “kaeru” pronounced in Japanese means “frog” as noun, it also means “homecoming” as a verb.
"homecoming"的意思是“回家，返乡”，即可以作形容词也可以作动词。中文中有一句话：“近乡情更怯”，我们用"homecoming"可以这么说：My homecoming was tinged with nervousness.
文章开头说道，《旅行青蛙》是一款爆款游戏，提到“爆款”，我们应该能想到昨天推文“外刊中有哪些表示“流行”的词语或搭配？丨外刊语言表达（二十）”中讲到的go viral, all the rage, prevailing, be the mode等表达，《Shine》在报道的第一段就用到了"go viral"：
Japanese mobile game “Tabi Kaeru,” or “Traveling Frog” in English, has gone viral among local youth, particularly among female players.
而新华网的报道更生动一些，文章标题是这么说的：
star本是“星星，明星”的意思，这里名词动用，比喻旅行青蛙这款游戏像明星一样受到中国人的欢迎。
最近《无问西东》大火，我们也可以用star这个词：
Forever Young stars among China's movie-goers.
新华社在引言中对star进行了同义替换：
A Japanese mobile-game named Travel Frog has captured hearts of millions of Chinese mobile users.
Capture是“捕捉”的意思，捕捉到别人的心，就是“引起关注、引起兴趣、受到追捧”的意思，注意，新华社的表达不是很准确，漏掉了定冠词the，正确的表达是：capture the heart(s) of...
capture the heart(s) of...是一个动词表达，根据在句中的不同位置，也可以用形容词表达well-liked, favored, sought-after, desired, wanted来替换，
新华社在第一段详细描述了《旅行青蛙》的火热情况：
Travel Frog, developed by Japanese game company Hit-Point Co., Ltd., has become the most downloaded free app in the simulation game section of the Apple store. Tips of the game have even soared to the list of most popular search items on Sina Weibo, China's Twitter-like social media platform.
我们看这一段的翻译：日本游戏公司Hit-Point开发的“旅行青蛙”已成为苹果商店模拟类游戏中最热门的免费应用。该游戏的攻略甚至飙升至新浪微博的热搜榜，新浪微博是中国的社交媒体平台，类似于推特。
文中分别用了become the most downloaded free app和soar to the list of most popular search items on Sina Weibo来形容这款游戏的火热。
我们看"China's Twitter-like social media platform"这一部分。"Twitter-like"是形容词，意思是“像推特一样的”，"social media platform"是对新浪微博的定位，即“社交媒体平台”。
我们也可以换一种表达：Sina Weibo, China's equivalent of Twitter,...
还可以说：Sina Weibo, China's answer to Twitter,... Answer一词在这里是熟词僻义，在“外刊语言表达（十六）丨外刊中的熟词僻义现象”中讲过，可以点击链接进行复习。
其实，有很多场合都需要用上这种表达，比如你在向老外介绍中国的某个事物，可能由于背景知识的不足，老外听不懂，这时，你需要用上equivalent或answer. 举个例子，前几年微信还没那么火，老外也不知道Wechat是什么东西，这时，你可以这么介绍：
①Wechat is China's equivalent of Whatsapp.
②Wechat is China's answer to Whatsapp.
③Wechat is China's Whatsapp-like social media platform.
④Wechat is China's version of Whatsapp.
《旅行青蛙》是一款佛系游戏，《Shine》是这么报道的：
The game is popular among young people as it shows a Buddhism concept. The concept refers to people who see through the emptiness of the material world and follow their heart. They find relationships troublesome and prefer to be alone.
我们看一下这段的翻译：该游戏受到年轻人的欢迎，因为它传递出了佛系观念。佛系观念指那些看破红尘皆虚妄，追逐内心的人。他们觉得处理关系很麻烦，更喜欢独处。
这段中我们可以学到两个表达：
看破红尘皆虚妄：see through the emptiness of the material world.
追逐内心：follow their heart.
我们再来看新华网上的一段相似的报道：
This game is said to reflect the Buddhist lifestyle and its spirit of "whatever will be, will be," since it is not predetermined whether you see the frog having returned home, when you open the app.
因为你打开游戏时无法事先知道你的青蛙是否已经回来，因此人们认为，这一游戏体现了佛系生活方式以及“一切随缘”的精神。
这一段我们可以学到一个表达：
一切随缘：whatever will be, will be.
然而正是这款小小的游戏，能够让人们体会到母亲的辛酸，我们看《Shine》的报道：
“The game reminds me of my time at university away from home,” said Dong Xiaoqi, who works in Shanghai but is from Ningbo in Zhejiang Province. “I thought my mother was nagging at the time when she constantly asking me about my life here. Isn’t it grotesque to understand a mother’s mind via such a game!”
再来看新华网的报道：
Many players say the game makes them feel like an old parent waiting for their children to come home, and that it is lots of fun without too much commitment.
"I am eager to open the app, hoping my frog is coming home. It is something like a mother anxiously waiting for her child," says Zhao Wenqi, a student from the Communication University of China.
慈母手中线，游子身上衣。
临行密密缝，意恐迟迟归。
谁言寸草心，报得三春晖。