Quora精選：美國人覺得英國哪些方面很奇怪

What do Americans find strange about the UK?對美國人來說，英國的哪些方面很奇怪？

 

來自@Stephanie Garcia的回答：

 

I grew up in California but have spent about four years living in various parts of the UK – South, Midlands, and North.我是在加利福尼亞長大的，但是在英國生活了4年，南部、中部、北部都住過。The first thing I noticed was that my West-Midlands host family did not sound like the queen.我注意到的第一件事就是：我房東這一家人（中西部人）講話的口音和女王完全不一樣。I’ve since learnt that accents change every five miles or something insane .之后我才知道，英國的口音每隔5公里甚至更短就會變。As far as America goes, I can tell the West Coast from The East or the South, but I couldn’t tell you a state, much less a county.而在美國，我能分辨出西岸、東部和南部的口音，但我判斷不了他們具體來自哪個州，更不用說哪個郡了。And Americans often find it difficult to know if the person they’re talking to is even American, or if they’ve come down from Canada!而且美國人在交談的時候，甚至都不敢肯定對方是不是美國人，他們有可能是從加拿大南下的！

 

The next thing I found a bit bizarre was the quiet, stare ahead norm of public transportation – if you talk to somebody on the Tube, you’re probably a serial killer (or a lost tourist, which to a Londoner seems to be just as bad).我覺得奇怪的第二件事是英國的公共交通，上面的常態(tài)是：所有人都保持安靜、往上看?！绻阍诘罔F里跟人講話，那你很有可能是個連環(huán)殺手（或者是個迷路的游客，而這對倫敦人來說和連環(huán)殺手一樣糟）。I’ve had to deal with the Tube from Heathrow to Victoria with heavy bags more times than I care to count, and Victoria Station is not exactly tourist friendly.我已經(jīng)好多次不得不提著沉重的大袋子從西斯羅機場坐地鐵去維多利亞火車站了，而維多利亞火車站對游客一點都不友好。Each time I’ve had someone walk up and ask to help with my bags. Not once have they been English.每次如果有人走過來問我需不需要幫忙，那這個人都不是英國人。In America, at least from what I’ve experienced, people will start a chat if they see you’re travelling by yourself, and I always immediately have someone taller offer to put my stuff in an overhead bin.而在美國，至少是據(jù)我的經(jīng)驗而言，大家如果看見你是獨自旅行的話，都會跟你說上兩句；過不了多久就會有個長得高的人過來，幫我把東西放到頭頂上的儲物箱里。Although this may be 50% good manners and 50% fear that I’ll drop it on someone’s head!當然，這可能一半是出于禮貌，另一半是因為怕我的東西砸到別人的頭！

 

Opening hours – especially Sunday trading laws have also taken so much getting used to.營業(yè)時間——尤其是周日交易法，同樣需要花些時間才能適應(yīng)。In America, 24/7 fast food, grocery stores, petrol stations, etc. are the norm, and if I want Chinese food on Christmas Eve at 9PM, I have five options.在美國，7天24小時營業(yè)的快餐店、雜貨店、加油站等等都是很正常的東西，而如果我想在平安夜的晚上9點吃中國菜，我有5家可以選。In my first year, I forgot it was Easter Sunday, and was so proud of myself for remembering to go into town for food at 2PM – imagine my surprise when all of city centre was deserted, and there wasn’t a single car at Tesco.而我（在英國）的第一年，有一次我忘了當時是復(fù)活節(jié)的星期天，下午2點我突然記起來得去城里吃頓飯了，還覺得挺自豪的——結(jié)果我發(fā)現(xiàn)整個市中心都被遺棄了，樂購門口一輛車都沒有，你們想象一下我當時驚訝的心情吧。I couldn’t have read the time wrong, right?我肯定不是看錯時間了，對不對？Approaching the building, I saw a large banner announcing opening times, and resigned myself to a life of plain pasta and dry cereal until 9AM Monday, when I’d be able to pay for groceries again.走近那棟建筑之后，我才看見那條寫著營業(yè)時間的大告示牌，于是只能灰溜溜地回去靠不加菜的意大利面和干谷物片過活，直到周一早上的9點我才能買雜貨。Speaking of groceries, it took so many people telling me I was crazy to convince me to eat eggs here – they’re not refrigerated, and they’ll often have bits of feather or chicken poo on the outside.說到雜貨，我是在被好多人勸過之后才敢吃這里的雞蛋的，他們都認為我瘋了——這里的雞蛋是不冷藏的，而且上面通常還有點雞的羽毛或者雞屎。I am now aware that they’re safe, but coming from a childhood of identical perfectly clean, white, large AAA eggs, I was convinced I’d die a terrible salmonella death.我現(xiàn)在知道這些蛋是安全的了，但是我小時候見過的蛋可都是那種又干凈、又白、又大、形狀還一樣的3A級蛋，所以我以為吃了這里這種蛋之后會慘死與沙門氏菌。

 

（翻譯：能貓）

(來源:滬江)