英國(guó)文化：為什么英國(guó)人喜歡說(shuō)sorry？

A survey reveals that the average British person will say 'sorry' more than 1.9 million times in their lifetime.

一項(xiàng)研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，英國(guó)人一生說(shuō)“對(duì)不起”的平均次數(shù)有每人190多萬(wàn)次之多。

Of course, 'sorry' has a multitude of uses in this country. It might be deployed apologetically in response to stepping on someone's foot or indignantly in response to them stepping on your foot - or sarcastically in response to them glaring at you for stepping on their foot. In the U.S., there are no such nuances. Over there, 'sorry' tends to mean sorry.

當(dāng)然，“對(duì)不起”這個(gè)詞在英國(guó)能發(fā)揮多重功能。或許你不小心踩著了某人的腳所以想表示歉意，或者你被別人踩到自己的腳，所以要表示憤慨，抑或當(dāng)你踩到了別人的腳，對(duì)方對(duì)你吹胡子瞪眼時(shí)表示諷刺。美國(guó)人可沒(méi)這么多講究。在美國(guó)，“對(duì)不起”一般僅指對(duì)不起。

Evidently, the word 'whinge' has been in steady use in Britain since the 1500s, possibly because we haven't stopped whingeing since.

眾所周知，“抱怨(whinge)”這個(gè)詞自16世紀(jì)以來(lái)就成為英國(guó)人的常用語(yǔ)匯，這或許是因?yàn)樽赃@個(gè)詞誕生以來(lái)，我們就從未停止過(guò)抱怨。

Yet we are no good at actual complaining. '[The British] habitually refuse to tackle an issue head on,' 'A common response to "How are you?" in Britain is "Can't complain".'

然而真正抱怨的時(shí)候我們又乏于技巧。“(英國(guó)人)習(xí)慣性的在遇到問(wèn)題的時(shí)候拒絕正面處理問(wèn)題。”“當(dāng)被問(wèn)及‘你好嗎’(How are you)時(shí)，英國(guó)人的慣常回答是‘還算好。’(Can't complain)”。

It's quite true: we can't. Not nearly as well as our more direct transatlantic cousins, anyway. As Moore observes: 'If you ever accidentally cut someone in a line in Britain, what you’ll hear will be grumbling, whingeing, under-the-breath comments and sighs: the barely audible sounds of half-a-dozen people deciding, all at once, not to confront you.

的確如此，我們的確不能夠正確的抱怨。這一點(diǎn)與大西洋彼岸那些性情直率的美國(guó)兄弟不盡相同。摩爾教授據(jù)自己的觀察發(fā)現(xiàn)，“在英國(guó)，如果你無(wú)意間插隊(duì)到別人的前面，你只會(huì)聽(tīng)到小聲的埋怨、嘀咕、耳語(yǔ)式的指摘和嘆氣聲：被你插隊(duì)的半打英國(guó)人都會(huì)在瞬間決定不與你正面沖突，而只用勉強(qiáng)聽(tīng)到的聲音發(fā)泄不滿。

'While an American might just say: "Hey, buddy - the end of the line is over there."

“而一位美國(guó)人則會(huì)說(shuō)，‘嘿，老兄，隊(duì)伍的末尾在那兒!”

Howerver, I’m gratified to learn that millions of Americans, in turn, have adopted the British way of using 'cheers' to mean thanks or goodbye.

不過(guò)，令人欣慰的是，我發(fā)現(xiàn)數(shù)以百萬(wàn)的美國(guó)人反過(guò)來(lái)學(xué)會(huì)了英國(guó)人用“cheers”來(lái)表示感謝或告別。

Moore quotes a British banker living in New York, who says: 'I'm getting sick of my clients saying "Cheers" to me. Americans say "Cheers" with too much enthusiasm. It must be delivered laconically.'

摩爾教授引用了一位居住在紐約的英國(guó)銀行家的話，他說(shuō)到，‘我的顧客總會(huì)對(duì)我說(shuō)‘Cheers’，對(duì)此我不得不感到厭煩。美國(guó)人對(duì)‘Cheers’這個(gè)詞太有熱情了。這個(gè)詞本應(yīng)用得更加簡(jiǎn)明直接。”