在有关编程的英文书籍中,经常遇见单词 recipe 。
一般的中文翻译把它直译成“菜谱、菜单”之类。
我最近在读 《Python Machine Learning Cookbook》(作者 Prateek Joshi),
书中多处出现 recipe 一词,例如,本书正文前的第一页,写着:
Python Machine Learning Cookbook
100 recipes that teach you how to perform various machine learning tasks in the real world
意思是:“《Pyrhon 机器学习专题手册》100个专题教你如何完成机器学习的各种实际任务”
再如:
In this book, you will find several headings that appear frequently (Getting ready, How to do it,How it works, There's more, and See also).To give clear instructions on how to complete a recipe, we use these sections as follows:
意思是:“在本书中,经常出现这样一些标题:Getting ready, How to do it,How it works, There's more, See also 等。为了明确指出如何完成某一专题(recipe), 我们使用如下节段”
把 recipe 译成 专题 是准确恰当的。
相应地,cookbook 应该译成“专题手册”。