2012年是龙年（the year of the dragon）。“龙”在英语中的对应词是dragon。“龙”和dragon都是神话传说中想象或虚构的动物。
1. The dragon is a legendary animal, similar to a huge lizard or snake, that appears in stories and art from all over the world. (Britannica Online Encyclopedia) 龙是一种传说动物，类似大型蜥蜴或蛇，出现在全世界的故事和艺术作品中。（《在线不列颠百科全书》）
2. The dragon is a mythical animal that was revered in ancient times by all kinds of civilizations. It is an imaginary animal, which does not exist as a physical entity. The Chinese dragon is a fictitious animal long celebrated for its benevolence, intelligence and good will. 龙是一种在古代被所有文明崇敬的神话动物。它是一种想象的动物，并不作为一个实体而存在。中国龙是一种虚构的动物，久以仁慈、智慧和友善而闻名。
但是，中国龙与西方龙有各自不同的历史渊源，代表了不同的文化传统。
3. A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern mythologies, and the Chinese dragon, with counterparts in Japan, Korea and other East Asian countries. (Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia) 龙是一种传说动物，明显具有蛇类或者说爬行类动物的特征，在许多文化的神话中占有重要地位。龙有两种截然不同的文化传统：其一是欧洲龙，源自欧洲民俗传统，而最终与希腊和中东神话相关；其二是中国龙，以及日本、朝鲜和其他东亚国家的龙。(《维基百科，自由的百科全书》)
东方和西方对龙的体型和外观的描述是大相径庭的。
4.龙是我国古代传说中的神异动物，身体长，有鳞，有角，有脚，能走，能飞，能游泳，能兴云降雨。（《现代汉语词典》) The dragon was a miraculous animal in ancient Chinese traditional legends, with a long body, scales, horns and feet, which could walk, fly, swim and gather clouds to pour down rain.
5. The dragon is a large aggressive animal with wings and a long tail, that can breathe out fire. (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 7th edition) 龙是一种大型的好斗的动物，有翼和长尾巴，能吐火。(《牛津高阶英语词典》第7版)
龙在西方仅仅是一种传说动物，并不具有太多的文化内涵（cultural connotation）和联想意义（associative meaning)。《牛津高阶英语词典》告诉我们，dragon另有一个意思是a woman who behaves in an aggressive and frightening way，即“行事气势汹汹和令人恐惧的女人”，相当于汉语的“悍妇”、“泼妇”、“母夜叉”或“母老虎”。有趣的是，描述这样的女人，英语用的是“龙”，汉语用的是“母老虎”，都以强势动物作比喻，都是表示女性，都带有贬义，例如：
6. She looks like an ordinary old lady, but in fact she is a dragon who will eat you alive. 她看上去像个平常老太太，可事实上她是个能把你生吃的母老虎。
7. She is a dragon who is nice but has an explosive temper, and when angry she might just hit you. 她是个可爱但脾气火爆的母老虎，一旦生气就会攻击你。
英语有个成语 to sow dragon's teeth，源自希腊神话。
8. The Greek Cadmus fought a terrible battle against the powerful dragon. The dragon used every possible trick, and the brave warrior fought valiantly. Finally, Cadmus killed the dragon, and on the advice of the goddess Athena, ploughed a field and sowed the dragon's teeth. A regiment of fully armed fighting men sprang from the ground, charged, and turned on each other until all but five were killed. 希腊的卡德摩斯与这条巨龙展开了殊死搏斗。这条龙使尽各种可能的招数，而这位勇敢的武士奋勇战斗。最后，卡德摩斯杀死了巨龙，然后依照女神雅典娜的建议，犁出一片地，种下龙牙。一队全副武装的战士从地里跳出来，向前猛冲，相互厮杀，直至剩下五人。
