一项研究发现,英国人一生说“对不起”的平均次数有每人190多万次之多。
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.
当然,“对不起”这个词在英国能发挥多重功能。或许你不小心踩着了某人的脚所以想表示歉意,或者你被别人踩到自己的脚,所以要表示愤慨,抑或当你踩到了别人的脚,对方对你吹胡子瞪眼时表示讽刺。美国人可没这么多讲究。在美国,“对不起”一般仅指对不起。
Evidently, the word 'whinge' has been in steady use in Britain since the 1500s, possibly because we haven't stopped whingeing since.
众所周知,“抱怨(whinge)”这个词自16世纪以来就成为英国人的常用语汇,这或许是因为自这个词诞生以来,我们就从未停止过抱怨。
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".'
然而真正抱怨的时候我们又乏于技巧。“(英国人)习惯性的在遇到问题的时候拒绝正面处理问题。”“当被问及‘你好吗’(How are you)时,英国人的惯常回答是‘还算好。’(Can't complain)”。
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