要说“发烧友”就得先从“发烧”说起。“这个孩子发高烧而且说胡话。”应该任何翻译呢？是翻译成“The child had a high fever and talked nonsense.”吗？“to talk nonsense”是胡说八道的意思，因发高烧而说胡话是指在神志不清的情况下语无伦次地说话，英语更适宜翻译为“to be delirious¹”.因此可以这样翻译“ The child had a high fever and became delirious. ”或“The child became delirious with a high fever.”例如“ During the fever, the child became delirious and said some strange things.”（这个孩子在发高烧时说胡话，讲了一些奇怪的事。）

“发烧”在汉语里第一个意思是“超过正常体温”。英语可以译为“ to have/run a fever”或“ to have/run a temperature”。例如“ If you get/are running a temperature, you should stay in bed.”（如果你发烧就应该卧床休息。）

“发烧”的第二个意思是“狂热爱好或迷恋音乐或某些高科技产品”。英语可以翻译为“ to be infatuated with”或“ to be obsessed² with”。例如“ The student is infatuated with the Web.”（这个学生对网络发烧。） “The young man is obsessed with cars. ”（这个青年对汽车十分着迷。）

而“发烧友“则指“狂热爱好或迷恋音乐或某些高科技产品的人”。英语可以这样表达如enthusiast、zealot、–facnier、–phile” 或–manic。这里有一些例子：“These car–fanciers have recently organized a club.”（这些汽车发烧友最近组织了一俱乐部。） “Most classic music–manics are keen on Mozart.”（大多数古典音乐发烧友都喜欢莫扎特的作品。） “As an audio fancier, he has the experience of working in a recording³ studio.”（作为音响发烧友，他具有在录音棚里工作的经历。） “I’ve been a web zealot for about seven years.”（我当网络发烧友大约有七年了。）