A survey reveals that the average British person will say 『sorry』 more than 1.9 million times in their lifetime。
一項研究發現,英國人一生說「對不起」的平均次數有每人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。
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於技巧。「(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。摩爾教授據自己的觀察發現,「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衝突,而只用勉強聽到的聲音發泄不滿。
『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,我發現數以百萬的美國人反過來學會了英國人用「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。『