禮節(jié)美語(yǔ):255 Sensitivity Training - Money 1

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Jason: That was a lovely party, wasn't it?

Harold: Yes, it was. The food was pretty good, too.

J: I was a little puzzled about something, though.

H: What was that?

J: At one point in our conversation, Mr. Jones gave me a really funny look...it was almost like I'd broken some sort of a rule.

H: Oh, yes...well you did ask him how much he paid for his apartment.

J: And? What's wrong with asking someone how much they paid for a piece of property? Back in China everybody talks about buying and selling apartments.

Jason是從中國(guó)來(lái)的，在晚會(huì)上問(wèn)東道主Mr. Jones公寓是多少錢(qián)買(mǎi)的。Mr. Jones gave me a really funny look. Mr. Jones看他的表情有些奇怪，好象他這樣問(wèn)犯了什么大忌。A funny look意思是說(shuō)不清楚的奇怪表情。Jason說(shuō)，在中國(guó)，大家見(jiàn)面就是談房子，因此他不懂，What's wrong with asking someone how much they paid for a piece of property? 問(wèn)別人買(mǎi)房子花了多少錢(qián)有什么不妥呢?Harold解釋說(shuō)：

H: Yeah, I know....but in many Western societies, talking about money in public is a faux pas.

J: What's a faux pas?

H: It's a French term that means a social blunder. Questions like that are considered a little bit impolite.

J: Really? I had no idea. Back in China, it's not generally a problem to ask about how much something costs.

H: I know you meant no offense. When I was assigned to Guangzhou for 6 months, people frequently ask me how much my monthly salary is.

Harold解釋說(shuō)，在很多西方國(guó)家，公開(kāi)談錢(qián)是faux pas, faux pas is spelled f-a-u-x, faux and pas p-a-s, pas, faux pas也就是social blunder在社交上忌諱做的事，屬于失禮的行為。Jason聽(tīng)了覺(jué)得很出乎意料，說(shuō)自己完全不知情，I had no idea. 因?yàn)樵谥袊?guó)，詢(xún)問(wèn)財(cái)物的價(jià)錢(qián)完全不是問(wèn)題。Harold說(shuō)，I know you meant no offense. 我知道你不是故意冒犯Mr. Jones. Harold說(shuō)自己派駐廣州半年時(shí)，就經(jīng)常有人問(wèn)他每個(gè)月的工資是多少。Jason說(shuō)：

J: That's funny, because Western society seems so open. People talk about all kinds of private things that we wouldn't bring up in China. But money is a no-no, huh?

H: If your Western friend buys something for a really good price, he or she might mention it to you by saying something like, "Take a look at this camera that I got on sale for only $99 dollars." But unless the person is a close friend, we almost never ask how much something costs.

J: So, do you avoid talking about money so that people with less money don't feel bad?

Jason覺(jué)得很有意思的是，西方社會(huì)如此開(kāi)放，對(duì)很多中國(guó)不敢涉獵的私人問(wèn)題都可以拿到臺(tái)面上來(lái)說(shuō)，但是money is a no-no. 錢(qián)的問(wèn)題卻是個(gè)禁區(qū)。no-no兩個(gè)no連在一起，中間加個(gè)連接線，是一種非正式用法，名詞，意思是不可以，不被接受的事情。西方人回避談錢(qián)，是因?yàn)榕麓碳](méi)錢(qián)的人嗎?我們下次繼續(xù)聽(tīng)。