“餉”原指“舊時軍警的薪金”。英語可以譯為 soldier's or policeman's pay。例如：1. 20世紀40年代，物價一直飛漲。這個警察領(lǐng)了月餉就趕緊買糧食養(yǎng)家糊口。 In the 1940's, prices kept soaring. Immediately after the policeman got his monthly pay, he went to buy food to keep his family alive.2. 解放前，這個警察局在每月月初給警員關(guān)餉。Before liberation, the police station issued pay to its policemen at the beginning of every month.3. 20世紀30年代，一些地方軍閥克扣軍餉以中飽私囊。In the 1930's, some local warlords docked part of their soldiers' pay and provisions for their own use.“吃空餉”，指“有人在工資冊有其名，但是不上班而領(lǐng)工資”或“多報在冊名額，騙領(lǐng)多余工資”。英語名詞可以譯為 payroll fraud。例如：4. 解放前，這個縣長靠吃空餉發(fā)橫財。In the pre-liberation days, the county magistrate got his fortune by payroll fraud.5. 這些“官二代”有自己的辦法吃空餉。These children of officials have their own ways to commit payroll fraud.“吃空餉”，英語動詞可以譯為 to get pay from the government without working。例如：6. 在這個政府部門，發(fā)現(xiàn)有人吃空餉。In this governmental department, a few people were found to get pay from the government without working.“吃空餉人員”，英語可以譯為ghost employee, phantom employee。例如：7. 吃空餉人員是工資冊上有名，但實際上不工作的人。A ghost employee is a person on the payroll who doesn't actually work.8. 在河北、四川、河南和吉林四省，10余萬省政府吃空餉人員已被清理出公務(wù)員隊伍。More than 100,000 phantom employees of provincial governments have been cleaned out of the teams of civil servants in Hebei, Sichuan, Henan and Jilin provinces.有人將“吃空餉”譯為 to freeload，不太準確。to freeloader 的意思是to accept free food and accommodation from other people without giving them anything in exchange，即“吃白食”、“白吃白住”、“揩油”，而缺乏“在工資冊上有名字”的內(nèi)涵。例如：9. 咱們各付各的，因為我不喜歡吃白食。 Let's go Dutch, as I don't like to freeload on others.▲（本欄目供稿：王逢鑫教授）