小三(儿)
xiǎo sān (er)
mistress/paramour/kept woman/fancy woman
Mistress
Mistress是比较正式的表示"情妇"的用法,这个词比较有历史感,路易十五的情妇Madame de Pompadour还以智慧和风情著称.现在多用来指婚外情,"a woman who has an ongoing extramarital sexual relationship with a man".
例句：
Genji, when still very young, has a passionate affair with his father's mistress. （New Yorker）
源氏年轻时和父亲的情妇爱得不可自拔.
Former U.S. military commander and CIA director David Petraeus will appear in federal court in North Carolina on Thursday to face sentencing for allegedly leaking secrets to a mistress who was writing his biography. （AP）
美国前指挥官、CIA主任David Petraeus周四在北卡罗来纳联邦法庭受审,面临向为其写传记的情妇泄露机密的指控.
Paramour
Paramour来自法语,by love的意思,曾经被女性用来表示基督,男性用来表示圣玛丽,后来这个词渐渐失去了宗教意味,变成了"小甜心",最后还有了"小三儿"、"傍尖儿"的意思.相比于mistress,这个词比较温和,更强调婚外情中"情"的那个方面,也用来表示"情夫".
例句：
The authorities were apparently planning to transfer his paramour to another correctional facility.
当局显然计划把他的情妇转到另一个劳教机构中去.
kept woman
An adulterous woman; a woman who has an ongoing extramarital sexual relationship with a man.可以理解为被已婚男人包养的女人.
例句：
She has never seen the film, but knows that presenting becoming a kept woman as a viable career option is a risqué (伤风败俗的) business. （Washington Post）
她没看过这部电影,可她知道把给人做小三当成一种人生选项是伤风败俗的事.
fancy woman
和Kept woman一样,fancy woman可以更准确的翻译为"被包养的人",通常有道德水准存疑的色彩.可fancy man的意思略有不同,fancy man可以指"情夫",也可以泛泛地用来说"帅哥",甚至"同人".fancy woman和fancy man的不同感情色彩也暗示了性别不平等存在于语言深处.
doxy
doxy可以用来简称orthodoxy(宗教教条),可更多情况下有着完全相反的用法,"小蜜"、"小狐狸",差不多就是这个意思,没有mistress那么正式,有丰富的感情色彩.
courtesan
欧洲王室和贵族们包养的情妇.
和concubine一样,courtesan是个"古香古色"的词,因为住在宫廷,所以和court看起来很像,实际上,随着民主化的发展,这种职业正在式微,但也并未消失,现在典型的courtesan,主要是生意,无关感情.
例句；
Dutch exotic dancer, courtesan, and accused spy who was executed by firingsquad in France for espionage for Germany during World War I.
她生前曾是一名荷兰脱衣舞娘、情妇、间谍,最终因在一战期间为德国做间谍而被法国行刑队处死.
