“黄粱美梦”常见的英文表达是 “pipe dream” 或 “a fond/wild dream”。
“pipe dream”:是最常用的对应表达,“pipe”原指烟斗,在俚语中“pipe dream”形象地比喻像在吸着烟斗时产生的虚幻、不切实际的幻想,与“黄粱美梦”中不切实际、难以实现的梦想含义相符。例如:Winning the lottery is just a pipe dream for most people.(对大多数人来说,中彩票只是一个黄粱美梦。)
“a fond/wild dream”: “fond”有“喜爱的、充满深情的”之意,这里“a fond dream”可理解为一种美好的、但可能是不切实际的愿望;“wild”有“狂野的、不切实际的”意思,“a wild dream”强调梦想的荒诞、不切实际,也能传达出“黄粱美梦”那种虚幻的感觉。例如:He had a fond dream of becoming a famous writer, but it never came true.(他有一个成为著名作家的黄粱美梦,但从未实现过。) Their plan to build a castle in the air was nothing but a wild dream.(他们建造空中楼阁的计划只不过是个黄粱美梦 。)