honour

in one's honour, on one's honour

两者意思并不相同:in one's honour的意思是“为了祝贺某人”,而on one's honour的意思则是“以人格担保”。例如:

The Chinese residents of San Francisco gave a party in our honour.旧金山的华侨为我们举行了欢迎宴会。

He was on his honour not to tell the secret.他以名誉担保不把这个秘密告诉别人。

honour, award, prize

这三个词都可作“奖励”解。它们的区别在于:

1.award指对于优异成绩或卓越贡献经评定后正式授予的奖励; prize指确认某人在竞赛中所获得的优异成绩并给予特殊的奖励,也含有优胜者几经拼搏、胜利来之不易的意思; honour可指正式授予的精神奖励,也可指个人在公开场合下对某人所表达的高度评价与尊敬。例如:

The new library has won an architectural award.新图书馆赢得了建筑奖。

He finished only a yard behind the winner of the race but he had to be content with the second prize.比赛到达终点时,他虽仅以一码之差输给了第一名,但获得了二等奖他也应心满意足了。

She brought honour to her family.她给家庭带来了荣誉。

2.award, prize既可指精神上的奖励,也可指物质上的奖励; honour只指精神奖励。例如:

The Golden Rooster Award is given out once a year.每年授予一次金鸡奖。

Her book gained several literary prizes.她写的书获得好几种文学奖。

Such a man is honour to his country.这种人是国家的光荣。

honour, fame, reputation

这组词都可指在公众中的“名声”“声誉”。它们的区别在于:

1.reputation强调在人们心目中的印象,即公众评价,一般译为“名誉”; fame强调本身品质的高尚、能力高超、业绩非凡,一般译为“(较高的)知名度”; honour强调因本身的忠心、诚实和优良品质而获得的好名声、荣誉。例如:

His fame spread all over the country.他名扬全国。

Edison is a man of world-wide reputation.爱迪生是一个举世闻名的人。

He has received many honours for his research into cancer.他因在癌症方面的研究工作而得到了许多荣誉。

2.fame用于人; reputation和honour可用于人,也可用于事物。例如:

She didn't pursue fame.她不追求名声。

This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.这家商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。

3.fame和reputation可用于好名声,也可用于坏名声; honour一般只用于好的“荣誉”。例如:

She is a woman of ill fame.她是个名声不好的女人。

A few years after his graduation from a university the man acquired the reputation of being a philosopher.这个人从大学毕业后不久就获得了哲学家的名声。

The winning of the Nobel Prize is one of the highest honours an author can achieve.获得诺贝尔奖金是一个作家能够获得的最高荣誉之一。