本次翻译竞赛讨论

J.H. Wang wrote:

看了前面几个新贴，现在我倒是更觉得关于 encyclopedia 那句是在用双关手法。

关于encyclopedia 一词，可参考：

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encyclopedia

其中，pedia 的意思是：儿童培养、教育的意思。而前面的 encyclo 与 cyclo或 Velocipede 等都有相似之处。因此，这里Yogi 可能想说，他不打算给孩子买辆单车，让孩子骑车去上学。结果，“一不小心”就成了 encyclopedia。

That brings us to Chris and the Encyclopedia Britannica
salesman. It was every mother and father's dream to be able
to afford a set of encyclopedias for their children. This
was long before you could use your computer as a reference
book. No computers in the fifties. So the EB salesman would
turn up about once a year and hope your circumstances had
improved since his last visit.

The books were very expensive and it was a real distinction
to have a set in your home. He would open the books to an
interesting page and spread the volumes all over your living
room floor. Then he would have you ask him questions and he
would look it up as quickly as he could and proudly give you
the correct answer.

That brings us to Chris and the Encyclopedia Britannica salesman. It was every mother and father's dream to be able to afford a set of encyclopedias for their children. This was long before you could use your computer as a reference book. No computers in the fifties. So the EB salesman would turn up about once a year and hope your circumstances had improved since his last visit.