【大家说英语】 第193期:我说错了什么?

 Lesson 9 Culture 第九课 文化

June 18 6月18日

What Did I Say? 我说错了什么？

Read it! 读读看！

Alex asked Carol's age. 亚力克斯问卡萝几岁。

That's a personal question and impolite in Western culture. 在西方文化里，这是个私人的问题，而且这么问是不礼貌的。

"Are you married?" and "How much is your salary?" “你结婚了吗？”以及“你的薪水多少？”

are other examples of personal questions. 也都属于私人问题。

You also shouldn't say something about people's looks. 你也不该评论别人的外貌，

Don't say, "You look tired today." “你今天看起来很累。”

That can make people embarrassed. 这么说可能会让人觉得尴尬。

Conversation A 会话A

Susie, can I ask you a question? 苏希，我可以问妳一个问题吗？

Sure, Alex. What's up? 当然可以呀，亚力克斯，怎么了？

Am I rude? 我很粗鲁没礼貌吗？

No! 不会啊！

Who said you were rude? 谁说你没礼貌？

Carol did. Maybe I said something wrong. 卡萝啊。也许我说错了什么话。

Maybe. What were you talking about? 有可能。你们在谈什么？

We were talking about her grandchildren. 我们在谈她的孙子，

I asked her age. 于是我问了她几岁。

Uh-oh. You never ask an older woman her age! 糟糕，你绝对不能向年纪较大的女士询问年龄！

Why not? 为什么不行？

It's impolite in Western culture. 这样在西方文化中是不礼貌的行为。

Conversation B 会话B

It's a personal question. 这是个私人问题。

Right. You shouldn't ask people personal questions. 没错，你不该问别人私人问题。

But I ask personal questions all the time in Taiwan. 可是我在台湾经常问别人私人问题。

You do? 真的吗？

Yes. It's just small talk. 是啊，只是闲聊而已。

For example, I can ask, "Are you married?" “你结婚了吗？”

You can't ask that in American culture! It's too personal. 你在美国文化里不能问这种话！这样是太个人的问题了。

Oh, really? What about, "How much is your salary?" 真的吗？那么“你的薪水多少？”这个问题呢？

Don't ask that, either. 这个问题也不要问，

That's also personal information. 这也属于私人信息。

Conversation C 会话C

Can I say something about people's looks? 我可以评论别人的外貌吗？

Maybe, maybe not. For example? 也许可以，也许不可以。举个例子？

Can I say, "You look tired today"? 我可不可以说：“你今天看起来很累？”

You can, if you know the person well. 如果你和对方很熟就可以。

But I shouldn't say that to Carol. 可是我不该对卡萝这么说。

No. That's not a good idea. 不行，这样不好。

Why not? 为什么？

Because she will be embarrassed. 因为这样她会觉得尴尬，

No one wants to look tired. 没有人会想要看起来很累的模样。

But I am concerned. I want to show that. 可是我想表达的是我担心她。