世界最驕傲的老人：英國(guó)老頭老太

　　在英國(guó)待上一段時(shí)間后，就發(fā)現(xiàn)這里的老人家和國(guó)內(nèi)非常不一樣：在街上看到的老爺爺老奶奶們通常精神矍鑠，穿著干凈考究。不少老奶奶們甚至全身套裝出行，穿高跟鞋、戴墨鏡、還化著精致的妝容。和人說起話來也是不緊不慢，帶著驕傲的神色。仿佛腦門兒上就寫著“不服老”三個(gè)字!他們少了一份中國(guó)老人的慈祥和鄰家，多的是堅(jiān)強(qiáng)和少許距離感。我對(duì)這樣氣質(zhì)的老人打心里佩服，并暗暗決心要變成那樣的老人。

　　后來才知道英語里有一個(gè)專門的詞組形容這樣的生活態(tài)度：stiff upper lip，直譯過來就是“堅(jiān)強(qiáng)到嘴巴”——是不是和漢語里的“武裝到牙齒”有點(diǎn)異曲同工呢?這個(gè)詞組經(jīng)常用作“keep a stiff upper lip”，意思就是“克制情緒、堅(jiān)強(qiáng)點(diǎn)”!

　　這個(gè)詞組也常被理解為英國(guó)人的典型特征，就好像人們提到意大利人就想到熱情、提到法國(guó)人想到浪漫，提到英國(guó)人，這個(gè)詞組就呼之欲出啦。來看看這個(gè)詞組的英語解釋：

　　One who has a stiff upper lip displays fortitude in the face of adversity, or exercises self-restraint in the expression of emotion. The phrase is most commonly heard as part of the idiom keep a stiff upper lip, and has traditionally been used to describe an attribute of (particularly upper middle and upper class) British people, who are sometimes perceived by other cultures as being reserved and brave.