# to culminate



## prejudicial matches

culminate 在各大字典的解释都只是结束的意思，但我看网上很多人都把culminate翻译成高潮，一开始我觉得使他们翻译不够准确，可是后来看到陆谷孙老师的英汉大词典也将其成高潮。我又在English only板块里确认，现代英语中好像确实没有climax的意思。

下面是一些翻译成高潮的例句：
Sunday's event culminated in a march around the local area by tens of thousands of gay rights supporters.
周日，成千上万名同性恋支持者聚集在一个地点时，这次活动达到了高潮。

They use bulldozers and explosives to blow up its walls. The video culminates in a montage of explosions.
他们使用推土机和炸药炸毁这些墙面，视频最关键的地方是有关爆炸场面的剪辑。

A global day of protest against climate change has culminated in New York City where tens of thousands people marched to demand urgent action.
全球气候变化抗议活动在纽约达到高潮，成千上万人走上街头要求采取立即行动。

Culminate本意是结束的意思，按照我的理解，这些例句应该翻译成 XX活动/视频在XX中结束。 翻译成高潮的问题是并不能让读者知道活动结束了。请问各位老师有何看法？


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## SimonTsai

prejudicial matches said:


> culminate 在各大字典的解释都只是结束的意思，但我看网上很多人都把culminate翻译成高潮。


You may want to see the definition:
_reach a climax or point of the highest development._​


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## prejudicial matches

Thanks Simon, but in that dictionary, it doesn't mention the most common meaning "sth comes to an end" but only "reach a climax", which really confuses me. So culminate doesn't mean " end " according to that dictionary ? I still can"t get it.

Then that dictionary (it's not the authoritative OED, don't be fooled by the word Oxford) is making the same mistake as the others. In that example sentence, where is the implication that the violence continued at a lower level after the murder? I can't see it. Evidently they chose this sentence because it could possibly fit their out-of-date definition. But if you click on the 'More example sentences' button, you get real examples, and it is clear it always means "end".

this is the reply from a native speaker, which seems to be more reasonable.


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## SimonTsai

Wow, that is something new to me. Would you be kind enough to give us the thread that you created in the English-Only forum so that we may read it?


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## prejudicial matches

‘culminate’ in British English


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## brofeelgood

最終(怎樣)。


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## SuperXW

那这个词有高潮的意思吗？OP的例句应该怎么翻译才对呢？


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## Ghabi

常常要调动一下语序,譬如:

Sunday's event culminated in a march around the local area by tens of thousands of gay rights supporters.
最后成千上万支持同性恋权益的人士在当地游行一圈,为周日的活动划上句号。


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## Skatinginbc

culminate in/with: (1) end in 在...中落幕, end with 以...收官, (2) result in 以...告終
周日的活動在數萬人參與的同志權益遊行中落幕


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## prejudicial matches

Skatinginbc said:


> culminate in/with: (1) end in 在...中落幕, end with 以...收官, (2) result in 以...告終
> 周日的活動在數萬人參與的同志權益遊行中落幕





Ghabi said:


> 常常要调动一下语序,譬如:
> 
> Sunday's event culminated in a march around the local area by tens of thousands of gay rights supporters.
> 最后成千上万支持同性恋权益的人士在当地游行一圈,为周日的活动划上句号。



在查过母语词典后，我重新整理了下思路，目前困惑是，culminate解释主要有两个：

A：reach a climax （which usually nears to the end）.所以包含快结束之意。但仍然翻译成高潮，比如这个例句：_weeks of violence culminated in the brutal murder of a magistrate._

B. the end.   仅仅意味着结束，并不知道是否是高潮，也就是说之前某个事件是顶峰，而此事件只是结尾。比如：
 A series of events for teachers and students will culminate in a Shakespeare festival next year.

以上两个例句比较好理解，因为A是情节发展到了高潮，事情变得“热闹”。B是因为还未发生，不可能是高潮。那么回到BBC的这个例句，是如何判断出这里和B一样是结束，翻译成“画上句号‘”落幕“，而不是高潮呢？


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## prejudicial matches

Skatinginbc said:


> culminate in/with: (1) end in 在...中落幕, end with 以...收官, (2) result in 以...告終
> 周日的活動在數萬人參與的同志權益遊行中落幕


OED中给出的解释是：Reach a climax or point of highest development. 所以在具体语境中分辨”高潮“和”落幕”并不容易，高潮（climax）自带结束之意，但落幕并没有高潮的意思。所以你是如何判断这个游行不是此次活动的高潮，而只是落幕呢。
一般来说我们可以查看上下文理解，但这个例句我查了，是新闻导语的第一句，所以无法通过语境判断更多，仅从这一句就真的可以的得出，这个游行是当天活动的结束，而不是高潮吗？


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## Skatinginbc

有看煙火比賽的經驗嗎? 通常是在百花齊放、震撼人心的煙火中落幕 (to end on a high note, to finish at a climactic point).  中文怎麼稱這 "結尾的高潮" (climax) 呢? 我想到"收官" (最關鍵的結尾部分), 也想到"壓軸" (只可惜"壓軸"指倒數第二個劇目, 並非最後).  在 "魚" (peak, 突出顯著的高峰) 與 "熊掌" (end, 結尾, 收場) 無法同時翻譯出的情況下, 我會犧牲"魚"而取"熊掌", 因為"突出顯著", 已在上下文暗示了 (e.g., "數萬人參與的", "百花齊放、震撼人心的"), 若沒暗示, 就稱不上高潮. 另外, 前文若指"活動"(an activity, e.g., "周日的活動")或"過程"(process or series of events), 我也會犧牲"高潮"而取"收場".

_weeks of violence culminated in the brutal murder of a magistrate_ 幾週的暴力行為(series of events)最後以殘殺法官收場. "高潮"已在上下文暗示了: "殘殺法官"比平描淡寫的"暴力行為"更突出顯著. 既已暗示, 就可犧牲不翻.


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## SuperXW

也就是说，这个词本身还是具有双重含义，意味着“在高潮中落幕”吧？


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## Skatinginbc

SuperXW said:


> 也就是说，这个词本身还是具有双重含义，意味着“在高潮中落幕”吧？


Yes, usually (but not always).


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## prejudicial matches

感谢！


SuperXW said:


> 也就是说，这个词本身还是具有双重含义，意味着“在高潮中落幕”吧？


未必，比如柯林斯高阶中给出的例句：They had an argument, which culminated in Tom getting drunk. 可以理解为 ：在汤姆喝醉的高潮中结束争吵吗？我觉得不可以，这里的culminate就仅仅指结束而已，而不带高潮的意思。


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## SuperXW

那就是有两个含义，根据语境判断了。


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## Skatinginbc

語義變化三階段: (1) to reach the highest point --> (2) to reach a climax (or decisive point) as an end, or to end in a climax (or at a decisive point) --> (3) to end, to bring to a conclusion
(1) is outdated. 
(2) and (3) 都有可能, 依語境判斷.


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