和二十年，甚至十年前相比，我们的社会都改变了很多。生活节奏越来越快，享受生活却越来越难；赚的钱多了，物价涨得却比工资还快；世界越来越小，找位合意的伴侣却越来越难；拍拖好像越来越容易，结婚却越来越难。于是就有众多大龄男女青年们被家长赶着去相亲、结婚；也有相恋多年的情人之间上演“逼婚”这场戏。



不管是被情人逼婚还是被家长逼婚，总是有点不大情愿，需要武力来迫使某人就范，这样的婚姻就是 forced marriage，也就是被逼成婚啦。那要表示“强迫某人和谁结婚”怎么说呢？可以用force someone to marry someone，例如：


My cousin was forced to marry a girl he doesn't love.


我表哥被迫与一个他不爱的女孩结了婚。　　


My girlfriend force me to marry her within one month.


我女朋友逼我一个月内跟她结婚。


曾经看过一条消息，说一个阿拉伯人被父母逼着结了四次婚，原文是这样写的：A Saudi man is in hospital after his divorced parents forced him to marry four times within six months. （就算可怜天下父母心，这样做是不是也太过分了？）这里的marry 是用做不及物动词，表示“结婚”，比如 They married in their twenties.


如果不出现结婚对象，只是表示“被逼结婚”的话，还可以说 force into a marriage，在英国 Citizens Advice Bureau 的网站上关于 forced marriage 有这样的陈述：It is a criminal offence to force a person to marry under duress. If you are afraid that you may be forced into a marriage in this country, the police should be contacted. This is also the case where there is concern that another person may be forced into a marriage. If you are afraid that you may be forced into marriage overseas, you should, before travelling, contact the address below for advice.


“逼婚”除了用force 表示“强迫”外，还可以用make。如果你说“make”一个人做什么事情，就有“迫使”人家的意思，例如：Why People want to make you marry?


那如果是因为怀孕了而被迫结婚要怎么说呢？就是 shotgun marriage，也叫做 shotgun wedding。Shotgun 的意思是霰弹枪，shotgun wedding 原指女方拿枪逼男方结婚，如今则指因为怀孕而被迫结婚的婚礼，也叫 military wedding。