句子：欺世盗名的人早晚会栽跟头。

误译：Those who try to win popularity by deception will fall down sooner or later。

正译：Those who try to win popularity by deception will make a fool of themselves sooner or later。

解释：这句话的“栽跟头”不是“摔倒”的意思，而是“出丑”。to fall down 的字面意义是“摔倒”，而其比喻意义是 to be not true or not good enough，即“不够好”，都没有“出丑”的含义。

“跟头”的第一个意思是“身体向下弯曲而翻转的动作”，亦作“筋斗”。可以译为 somersault。“翻跟头”，英语可以译为 to do/make/turn/perform a somersault, to somersault。例如：

1. 孙悟空一个筋斗十万八千里。Starting with a somersault, the Monkey King could cover as far as one hundred and eight thousand li。

“跟头”的第二个意思是“失去平衡而摔倒的动作”。英语可以译为fall。“栽跟头”或“摔跟头”。英语可以译为to have a fall, to fall down, to go head over heels。例如：

2. 她在结冰的道路上摔了一个大跟头，结果摔断了胳膊。She had a bad fall on the icy road and broke her arm。

“跟头”的第三个意思是比喻“遭遇挫折，犯错误，失败或出丑”。表示这个意义的“栽跟头”或“摔跟头”，英语可以译为to make a mistake, to meet with a setback, to suffer a setback, to make a fool of oneself, to come to a failure。例如：

3. 如果你这么胡来，早晚是要栽跟头的。If you keep on acting recklessly like this, you’ll suffer a setback sooner or later。