中文原文：

他干活儿常常泡蘑菇。

错误译文：

He is often slow at work.

正确译文：

1) He is often intentionally slow at work.

2) He often dawdles at work.

翻译加油站：

泡蘑菇”具有“故意慢慢干活儿”的意思。to be slow at work 仅有“工作慢”的意思，可能是天生就慢，而不是故意的。“泡”的第一个意思是“浸在水或其他液体里”。

英语用 to steep, to soak, to pickle表示。例如：

这个理科学生做实验太忙顾不上去食堂，就用开水泡方便面当午饭吃。
As the science student was too busy making experiments to go to the dinning room, he soaked the instant noodles in boiling water as lunch.

许多老人仍然保持泡腊八蒜的习俗。
Many old people still keep the custom of preserving garlics by soaking them in vinegar on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month.

现在的孩子是泡在蜜罐里长大的。
Nowadays the children are growing up sweetly as if they were soaked in a honey jar.

女主人给客人们泡了一壶绿茶。
The hostess steeped a pot of green tea for her guests.

她把脏衣服泡在水里。
She soaked the dirty clothes in the water.

“泡”的第二个意思，从消极方面讲，是“长时间在一个地方无所事事或做一件无聊的事”；英语用 to dawdle表示。从积极方面讲，是“长时间在一个地方专注做一件事”，英语用 to keep doing sth表示。例如：

这个青年中了网瘾，整天泡在网吧里。As the young man has been addicted with the Internet, he dawdles all day long in a cyber bar.

这个学生不上课时就泡在图书馆里。
The student keeps studying in the library when he has no classes.