英國文化：為什么英國人喜歡說sorry？

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

一項研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，英國人一生說“對不起”的平均次數(shù)有每人190多萬次之多。

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.

當然，“對不起”這個詞在英國能發(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，抑或當你踩到了別人的腳，對方對你吹胡子瞪眼時表示諷刺。美國人可沒這么多講究。在美國，“對不起”一般僅指對不起。

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)”這個詞自16世紀以來就成為英國人的常用語匯，這或許是因為自這個詞誕生以來，我們就從未停止過抱怨。

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".'

然而真正抱怨的時候我們又乏于技巧。“(英國人)習慣性的在遇到問題的時候拒絕正面處理問題。”“當被問及‘你好嗎’(How are you)時，英國人的慣?；卮鹗?lsquo;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。這一點與大西洋彼岸那些性情直率的美國兄弟不盡相同。摩爾教授據(jù)自己的觀察發(fā)現(xiàn)，“在英國，如果你無意間插隊到別人的前面，你只會聽到小聲的埋怨、嘀咕、耳語式的指摘和嘆氣聲：被你插隊的半打英國人都會在瞬間決定不與你正面沖突，而只用勉強聽到的聲音發(fā)泄不滿。

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

“而一位美國人則會說，‘嘿，老兄，隊伍的末尾在那兒!”

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，令人欣慰的是，我發(fā)現(xiàn)數(shù)以百萬的美國人反過來學(xué)會了英國人用“cheers”來表示感謝或告別。

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銀行家的話，他說到，‘我的顧客總會對我說‘Cheers’，對此我不得不感到厭煩。美國人對‘Cheers’這個詞太有熱情了。這個詞本應(yīng)用得更加簡明直接。”