英美音的区别：对不起，您说的是英语吗?
你是不是常常为听不懂老外说的英语而感到无比受挫?其实，即使是说同一种语言的的英国人和美国人交谈时也会遇到听不懂的尴尬情况。就像在中国，一个北方人听不懂南方方言一样，英语中也存在诸多差异。对这些差异，你知道多少呢?下文就我们一同来了解英式英语和美式英语中那些有趣的差别。Sorry, but Do You Speak English?
对不起，您说的是英语吗?
Not long ago, an American friend was driving rather too vigorously in the
west of Ireland when he was pulled over by a Garda (police officer). “What would
happen if you were to run into Mr. Fog?” the Garda inquired gruffly1) in his
thick Irish brogue2). Stung by this patronizing3) query, my friend replied with
heavy sarcasm, “Well, I guess I’d put Mr. Foot on Mr. Brake.” Whereupon the
officer stared at him rather strangely and growled, “I said mist or fog.”
My friend, as it happens4), is an anthropologist. For one enthralling5)
moment he thought he had stumbled upon6) a tribe in the west of Ireland which
personified aspects of the weather, speaking of Mrs. Hailstorm, Master Sunshine
and so on. But it was just another case of international miscommunication.
Most people know that when a British schoolteacher asks his pupils to take
out their rubbers7), he is inviting them to produce their erasers, not about to
give them a lesson in contraception8). British people who live in flats9) do not
set up home in burst tires. The word “bum10)” in British English means buttocks
as well as vagrant11).
People in Britain do not usually say “I appreciate it,” have a hard time,
zero in12), reach out to13) other people, stay focused, ask to be given a break,
refer to the bottom line or get blown away14). The word “scary,” as opposed to
“frightening” or “alarming,” sounds childish to British ears, rather like
talking about your buttocks as your bottie. Brits tend not to use the word
“awesome,” a term which, if it were banned in the States, would cause airplanes
to fall from the sky and cars to lurch15) off freeways.
本文选自新东方英语中学生2014年6月刊
Using the word “aggressive” positively also sounds strange across the pond.
In Britain, it sounds almost as bizarre as complimenting someone on being as
ugly as sin16). The habit of using the word “like” every four seconds,
widespread among American youth, has now caught on17) in Britain as well.
Perhaps it has to do with an attempt not to sound dogmatic18). “It’s 9 o’clock”
sounds unpleasantly authoritarian, whereas “It’s, like, 9 o’clock” sounds
suitably tentative and nondoctrinaire. It is rumored in Europe that you can now
find tombstones in the U.S. reading “To Our Beloved Son, Brother and, Like,
Husband.”
The phrase “to feel comfortable with” is quintessentially American. The
British would not usually say “we feel comfortable with using this taxi firm,”
any more than they would feel comfortable with being scourged19) until the blood
ran down their thighs.
Americans tend to say “Excuse me” when they accidentally get in your way,
while the British say “Sorry.” Americans say “Excuse me” even when they are 10
paces away from you, since they are accustomed to a lot more space than we are
in Europe. One knows one is back in the U.K. when everyone is constantly saying
sorry for no reason whatsoever.
What you say in Britain when you mishear what someone says depends on your
social class. The working class say “Aye?”; the lower middle class, “Pardon?”;
the middle class, “Sorry?”; and the upper class, “What?”
Americans tend to lapse into20) the present tense when speaking of the past
much more commonly than Brits do. “I’m in the kitchen and there’s this terrific
bang and I dive under the table” is distinctively American. Perhaps the British
rate21) the past more highly than their trans-Atlantic cousins. People in
Britain might call children kids, but not in newspaper headlines or on
television news. Americans tend to prefer the ugly monosyllable “kids22)” to the
rather beautiful word “children,” seemingly content to regard their offspring as
small, smelly goats.
American road signs tend to be more colloquial23) than British ones. “Wrong
Way—Go Back” or “Ped Xing24)” are too idiomatic25) for the British. The road
sign “Way Out” in the U.K. is not a relic of the hippie era but means “Exit.”
There used to be signs on garbage cans in Britain which read “Refuse26) to Be
Put in This Basket,” which are puzzling only until you realize that “refuse” can
mean “trash.”
Brits and Americans, in short, are more alien to each other than they
usually imagine. Every now and then, an American will reveal that he or she does
not understand the word “fortnight,” has never used a teapot or does not know
how to boil an egg. At such times one can feel the NATO alliance straining and
buckling.
不久前，一位美国朋友由于开车过于生猛，在爱尔兰西部被警察(译注：在爱尔兰，Garda是“警察”的意思)勒令靠边停车。“要是撞上雾先生(Mr.
Fog)怎么办?”这位警察带有浓重的爱尔兰口音，问起话来也粗声粗气的。我的这位朋友被这种高高在上的发问惹恼了，反唇相讥道：“哦，我想我会把脚先生(Mr.
Foot)放在刹车先生(Mr. Brake)上吧。”结果这位警官用古怪的眼神盯着他看，咆哮道：“我刚才说的是如果碰到雾天(mist or
fog)该怎么办!”
碰巧，我朋友是一位人类学家。有那么一瞬间，他好像被迷了心窍一样，以为自己无意间在爱尔兰西部撞见了一个喜欢将天气情况拟人化的部落，比如“冰雹夫人”“阳光大师”等等。其实这不过是国家之间交流不畅的又一个案例而已。
大多数人都知道如果一位英国老师让小学生们拿出“rubber”，意思是请他们拿出自己的橡皮，而并非要上一堂有关避孕的课(译注：rubber在美式英语里有“安全套”的意思)。住在“flat”里的英国人也并没有在爆了的轮胎上安家(译注：flat在美式英语里指瘪了的轮胎，在英式英语里指公寓套房)。在英式英语里，“bum”一词既指屁股，也有流浪汉的意思。
英国人并不常说“I appreciate it”(我很感激)，不会have a hard time (过得艰难)，不会zero in
(集中注意力)，不会reach out to other people (主动接触他人)，不会stay focused (注意力集中)，也不会要求to be
given a break (准许休息)，不会说the bottom line (底线)或者get blown away
(惊讶不已)。相比“frightening”令人恐惧的)或者“alarming”(使人惊恐的)，英国人认为“scary”(可怕的)一词听起来太幼稚，就像把自己的“buttocks”(臀部)称作“bottie”(屁屁)一样。英国人不怎么用“awesome”(棒极了)这个词，可要是在美国禁用这个词，估计飞机都会从天上掉下来，汽车也要从高速公路冲出去了。
在大洋彼岸的英国，“aggressive”(好斗，有进取心的)若是被用作正面形容词，听起来也会很奇怪。在英国，这就好比恭维别人说他长得丑极了。美国年轻人每四秒就要用一次“like”这个词，这个习惯现在在英国也很流行。也许这样做是为了听起来不那么武断。“It’s
9 o’clock”(现在9点了)听起来专横，令人不悦;相反，“It’s, like, 9
o’clock”(现在可能9点了吧)听起来有点犹豫不决，却恰到好处，也显得不那么教条。在欧洲，人们甚至谣传说现在美国有这样的墓碑，上面写着“To Our
Beloved Son, Brother and, Like, Husband”(致我们挚爱的儿子，兄弟，要么是丈夫吧)。
“to feel comfortable with”(感到很惬意)这个表达是典型的美式英语。英国人一般不会说“we feel comfortable
with using this taxi firm”(这家出租车公司的服务让我们感觉很舒服)，就好像被鞭子抽，血顺着大腿流下来，他们不会觉得很舒服一样。
要是不小心挡了你的路，美国人喜欢说“Excuse
me”(不好意思);英国人则喜欢说“Sorry”(对不起)。即便离你还有十步远，美国人也会说“Excuse
me”，因为和我们在欧洲相比，他们已经习惯了有更大的空间。要是周围每一个人都无缘无故地不停说“sorry”，你就知道自己回到英国了。
在英国，在没听清别人说话时，说什么取决于你所处的社会阶层。工薪阶层会说“Aye?”(啊?);中产阶级下层会说“Pardon?”(请再说一遍?);中产阶级会说“Sorry?”(不好意思?);上层阶级则会说“What?”(什么?)
在讲述过去发生的事情时，美国人会不知不觉使用现在时。英国人则不常这么做。“I’m in the kitchen and there’s this
terrific bang and I dive under the
table”(当时我在厨房，听到可怕的爆炸声，就躲在了桌子底下)是典型的美式英语(译注：这句英文叙述的是过去的事情，却用了现在时)。也许英国人比他们大西洋对岸的表亲更看重过去。英国人也会把孩子们称做“kids”，但在报纸头条或者电视新闻里不这么做。美国人却宁愿用这个不可爱的单音节词“kids”来代替相当美好的“children”一词。他们似乎很乐意把自己的后代比作又小又难闻的山羊(译注：kid在英式英语里有“小山羊”的意思)。
美国的路标比英国路标更口语化。对英国人来说，“Wrong Way—Go Back”(错路——调头)”或者“Ped
Xing”(斑马线)都太像方言了。在英国，标有“Way Out”(出路)的路标并不是什么嬉皮士时代的遗产，而是指“Exit”(出口)(译注：way
out有反传统的意思，而嬉皮士正是由一群反抗习俗和当时政治的年轻人发起的)。英国的垃圾箱上以前常常标着“Refuse to Be Put in This
Basket”(垃圾入筐)。如果你意识不到“refuse”有“trash”(垃圾)的意思，你就会觉得很困惑。
简言之，英国人和美国人之间的差异比他们自己平时想象得要大。时常会有美国人承认自己不明白“fortnight”(两星期)是什么意思，说自己从来没用过“teapot”(茶壶)，也不知道该怎么“boil
an egg”(煮鸡蛋)。每到这时候，人们就明白了北约中的这两个盟友处在一种多么生拉硬扯的状态。
1. gruffly [ˈɡrʌfli] adv. 粗声地;生硬地
2. brogue n. 土腔(指爱尔兰口音的英语)
3. patronizing [ˈpætrəˌnaɪzɪŋ] adj. 屈尊俯就的;视高人一等的
4. as it happens：碰巧;偶然
5. enthralling [ɪnˈθrɔːlɪŋ] adj. 迷人的
6. stumble upon：偶然遇到，偶然见到
7. rubber [ˈrʌbə(r)] n. [英式英语]橡皮;[美式英语]保险套
8. contraception [ˌkɒntrəˈsepʃ(ə)n] n. 避孕
9. flat n. [英式英语]公寓套房;[美式英语]充气不足的轮胎;瘪车胎
10. bum n. 屁股;流浪汉
11. vagrant [ˈveɪɡrənt] n. 游民;流浪者
12. zero in：专心注意
13. reach out to：接触
14. blow away：使惊呆，使震惊;枪杀
15. lurch vi. 倾斜;蹒跚
16. as ugly as sin：(外表)难看，令人厌恶
17. catch on：变得入时，流行起来
18. dogmatic adj. 教条的
19. scourge vt. 鞭打
20. lapse into：轻率地陷入(不良习惯或行为)
21. rate vt. 认为
22. kid n. 儿童;[畜牧] 小山羊
23. colloquial adj. 通俗的;口语体的
24. Ped Xing：pedestrian crossing的缩写，人行横道;斑马线
25. idiomatic [ˌɪdiəˈmætɪk] adj. 符合(某一)语言习惯的;地道的
26. refuse n. 垃圾;废物vt. 拒绝
注：文章选自《新东方英语中学生》杂志2014年6月号
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