英國(guó)：永遠(yuǎn)都和天氣相關(guān)

文/Diego

Oscar Wilde once said that：“Conversation about the weather is the last refuge of the unimaginative.”

According to a recent research,almost 40% of British people talked about weather with others in every hour,and every 6 hours,more than 94% had a conversation about weather.Why are British people so obsessed with the weather？

奧斯卡·王爾德曾經(jīng)說(shuō)過(guò)：“談?wù)撎鞖馐菦](méi)有想象力的英國(guó)人最后的避難所。”

研究顯示，在英國(guó)，每個(gè)小時(shí)有近40%的人跟他人討論天氣，且每6個(gè)小時(shí)就有高達(dá)94%的人談?wù)撨^(guò)天氣。為什么英國(guó)人跟天氣如此過(guò)不去？

Geographic Location

地理位置使然

As an island country,the UK is mostly surrounded by the ocean,with a temperate climate butever fluctuating weather.Although the difference between

作為一個(gè)島國(guó)，英國(guó)幾乎四面環(huán)海，氣候溫和，但天氣多變。雖然the highest temperature and the lowest in the year can be as little as 10 degrees Celsius,the average Brit can experiencefourseasonsin one day：from a warm sunny morning to a cold breezy evening.In the UK,even weather forecasters cannot catch up the speed that weather changes.Therefore,British people always have an umbrella with them,just in case of rain.Foreigners whoarenew totheUK mightnotunderstand the overcautious British people with coat and umbrella,but after they live in the UK for a while themselves,they pick up this British habit very fast naturally.

The unpredictable weatherhas caused British people talk about it all the time,because they have to discuss and consider it,due to its unpredictability.The overall not-so-warm weather in the UK also turned British people warm-weather obsessive.Maybe not all people love the heat,butthe factis,when the weatherman talks about upcoming sunny days,he always sounds happier than announcing the coming winter.全年平均溫度在最熱和最冷的月份之間只相隔10攝氏度，但英國(guó)人在一天內(nèi)能經(jīng)歷四個(gè)季節(jié)：從一個(gè)春天般陽(yáng)光明媚的早晨到一個(gè)寒冬般冷風(fēng)四起的夜晚。連天氣預(yù)報(bào)都無(wú)法準(zhǔn)確預(yù)計(jì)天氣變化的速度。因此，英國(guó)人出門(mén)總是隨身帶著一把傘，以備不時(shí)之需。初到英國(guó)的外國(guó)人，可能對(duì)英國(guó)人總是帶著外套和雨傘的行為表示不能理解，甚至覺(jué)得他們過(guò)于謹(jǐn)慎，但在英國(guó)生活一段時(shí)間之后，他們自然就學(xué)會(huì)了這一典型的英國(guó)式行為。

正是因?yàn)樘鞖怆y以預(yù)測(cè)，使得英國(guó)人一直談?wù)撍?。還有什么比天氣變化莫測(cè)讓人不得不討論和關(guān)心的呢？英國(guó)整體偏低的氣溫，使英國(guó)人對(duì)陽(yáng)光溫暖的天氣到了全民皆迷的程度。也許不是所有人都喜歡艷陽(yáng)天，但事實(shí)是，當(dāng)天氣預(yù)報(bào)員提到即將到來(lái)的晴天時(shí)，他的語(yǔ)調(diào)總是比宣布即將到來(lái)的冬天更輕快和喜悅。

Politeness with a Distance

要禮貌也要距離

The British are not known for being outgoing.In fact,politeness with distance is more the British way.If you ever want to start a conversation with a British person,weather can never go wrong.“Rain again？ ”“It’s sunny,isn’t it？” “Nice summer,isn’t it？ ”

英國(guó)人向來(lái)不以外向聞名。相反，彬彬有禮但是保持距離更像英國(guó)人的作派。如果你想跟素不相識(shí)的英國(guó)人打開(kāi)話匣子，天氣就是利器之一?！坝窒掠昀玻俊薄疤?yáng)出來(lái)了?！薄跋奶煺婧醚?。”“今年冬天真暖和呀?！边@些都是可以跟陌生人開(kāi)始一段對(duì)話的開(kāi)場(chǎng)白。 無(wú)論多么含蓄、內(nèi)向的英國(guó)人，在聽(tīng)到跟天氣有關(guān)的搭訕后，都會(huì)禮貌地回應(yīng)。

對(duì)于謹(jǐn)慎、內(nèi)斂的英國(guó)人來(lái)說(shuō)，天氣是最安全的話題。因?yàn)樘臁癢hat a nice winter this is,isn’t it？”All these can be nice icebreakers. No matter how shy and introverted a British person is,he or she will always respond to your weather talk.

For cautious and introverted British people,weather is always the safest topic.Because weather is a neutral thing,which has nothing to do with personal interest,habit or private life.However,when people talk aboutweather,they can alwaysadd a little bitof personal opinions and feelings to it,which reflects their habits and personalities.If two people happen to share the same attitude towards different weather,then it’s always a good start for a deeper conversation.

There is an unspoken“agree rule” in British culture,especially when it comes to weather.Nearly 100%of the time,a British person will start a weather conversation in the form of questions, instead of statements.No matter what the listener’s real thought is,he or she should always agree.For example,when you hear“Raining again,isn’t it”，you should say“Yes,it is”.Or the response to “A hot day,isn’t it”is better be “Yes,it is hot”.Because when somebody initiated the conversation with a rhetorical question like that,they are notexpecting a serious discussion about weather,but rather,a different way of greetings.

When you are in the UK,don’t take weather too seriously.Simply agree with others about the weather,and add some positive personal opinions,then you are on your way making some friends and carrying on many“British talks”.氣是中性詞，與個(gè)人興趣、習(xí)慣或私人生活無(wú)關(guān)。而人們談?wù)撎鞖獾臅r(shí)候，每個(gè)人都可以加上個(gè)人情感和看法，間接地展示自己的愛(ài)好和性格。假如對(duì)話的兩個(gè)人對(duì)不同天氣的感覺(jué)和態(tài)度正好一致，那就一拍即合，可以多聊幾句。

英國(guó)人在談?wù)撎鞖獾臅r(shí)候，幾乎總是用問(wèn)句而不用陳述句，這是英國(guó)文化中不可言說(shuō)的“贊同定律”。不管你內(nèi)心是否真的同意對(duì)方的說(shuō)法，口頭上都可以簡(jiǎn)單應(yīng)允。如“又下雨了？”“對(duì)呀，又下雨了?！薄敖裉旌軣?，不是嗎？”“對(duì)呀，挺熱的。”因?yàn)楫?dāng)一個(gè)人說(shuō)出這樣一個(gè)反問(wèn)句的時(shí)候，并不是要和對(duì)方進(jìn)行嚴(yán)肅的天氣討論，而只是換個(gè)方式說(shuō)“你好”罷了。

在英國(guó)，不要對(duì)天氣太當(dāng)真，簡(jiǎn)單地同意別人對(duì)天氣發(fā)表的言論，再表達(dá)一些積極向上的個(gè)人觀點(diǎn)，你就可以輕松結(jié)交不少朋友，進(jìn)行很多“英式對(duì)話”了。

（中文僅供文意參考，請(qǐng)勿逐字逐句對(duì)比學(xué)習(xí)）

1.refuge：n. 避難所

2.obsessed：adj.著迷的；無(wú)法擺脫的；obsessive,adj.縈繞于心的；有執(zhí)著想法的

3.fluctuate：v. 波動(dòng)；漲落 4.breezy：adj. 有微風(fēng)的；微風(fēng)吹過(guò)的

5.unpredictable：adj.無(wú)法預(yù)言的；不可預(yù)測(cè)的 6.introverted：adj.內(nèi)向的；含蓄的

7.neutral：adj. 中立的；中性的 8.initiate：v. 開(kāi)始；發(fā)起

9.rhetorical：adj.修辭的