Quora精選：美國(guó)人覺(jué)得英國(guó)哪些方面很奇怪

What do Americans find strange about the UK?對(duì)美國(guó)人來(lái)說(shuō)，英國(guó)的哪些方面很奇怪？

 

來(lái)自@Stephanie Garcia的回答：

 

I grew up in California but have spent about four years living in various parts of the UK – South, Midlands, and North.我是在加利福尼亞長(zhǎng)大的，但是在英國(guó)生活了4年，南部、中部、北部都住過(guò)。The first thing I noticed was that my West-Midlands host family did not sound like the queen.我注意到的第一件事就是：我房東這一家人（中西部人）講話的口音和女王完全不一樣。I’ve since learnt that accents change every five miles or something insane .之后我才知道，英國(guó)的口音每隔5公里甚至更短就會(huì)變。As far as America goes, I can tell the West Coast from The East or the South, but I couldn’t tell you a state, much less a county.而在美國(guó)，我能分辨出西岸、東部和南部的口音，但我判斷不了他們具體來(lái)自哪個(gè)州，更不用說(shuō)哪個(gè)郡了。And Americans often find it difficult to know if the person they’re talking to is even American, or if they’ve come down from Canada!而且美國(guó)人在交談的時(shí)候，甚至都不敢肯定對(duì)方是不是美國(guó)人，他們有可能是從加拿大南下的！

 

The next thing I found a bit bizarre was the quiet, stare ahead norm of public transportation – if you talk to somebody on the Tube, you’re probably a serial killer (or a lost tourist, which to a Londoner seems to be just as bad).我覺(jué)得奇怪的第二件事是英國(guó)的公共交通，上面的常態(tài)是：所有人都保持安靜、往上看?！绻阍诘罔F里跟人講話，那你很有可能是個(gè)連環(huán)殺手（或者是個(gè)迷路的游客，而這對(duì)倫敦人來(lái)說(shuō)和連環(huán)殺手一樣糟）。I’ve had to deal with the Tube from Heathrow to Victoria with heavy bags more times than I care to count, and Victoria Station is not exactly tourist friendly.我已經(jīng)好多次不得不提著沉重的大袋子從西斯羅機(jī)場(chǎng)坐地鐵去維多利亞火車(chē)站了，而維多利亞火車(chē)站對(duì)游客一點(diǎn)都不友好。Each time I’ve had someone walk up and ask to help with my bags. Not once have they been English.每次如果有人走過(guò)來(lái)問(wèn)我需不需要幫忙，那這個(gè)人都不是英國(guó)人。In America, at least from what I’ve experienced, people will start a chat if they see you’re travelling by yourself, and I always immediately have someone taller offer to put my stuff in an overhead bin.而在美國(guó)，至少是據(jù)我的經(jīng)驗(yàn)而言，大家如果看見(jiàn)你是獨(dú)自旅行的話，都會(huì)跟你說(shuō)上兩句；過(guò)不了多久就會(huì)有個(gè)長(zhǎng)得高的人過(guò)來(lái)，幫我把東西放到頭頂上的儲(chǔ)物箱里。Although this may be 50% good manners and 50% fear that I’ll drop it on someone’s head!當(dāng)然，這可能一半是出于禮貌，另一半是因?yàn)榕挛业臇|西砸到別人的頭！

 

Opening hours – especially Sunday trading laws have also taken so much getting used to.營(yíng)業(yè)時(shí)間——尤其是周日交易法，同樣需要花些時(shí)間才能適應(yīng)。In America, 24/7 fast food, grocery stores, petrol stations, etc. are the norm, and if I want Chinese food on Christmas Eve at 9PM, I have five options.在美國(guó)，7天24小時(shí)營(yíng)業(yè)的快餐店、雜貨店、加油站等等都是很正常的東西，而如果我想在平安夜的晚上9點(diǎn)吃中國(guó)菜，我有5家可以選。In my first year, I forgot it was Easter Sunday, and was so proud of myself for remembering to go into town for food at 2PM – imagine my surprise when all of city centre was deserted, and there wasn’t a single car at Tesco.而我（在英國(guó)）的第一年，有一次我忘了當(dāng)時(shí)是復(fù)活節(jié)的星期天，下午2點(diǎn)我突然記起來(lái)得去城里吃頓飯了，還覺(jué)得挺自豪的——結(jié)果我發(fā)現(xiàn)整個(gè)市中心都被遺棄了，樂(lè)購(gòu)門(mén)口一輛車(chē)都沒(méi)有，你們想象一下我當(dāng)時(shí)驚訝的心情吧。I couldn’t have read the time wrong, right?我肯定不是看錯(cuò)時(shí)間了，對(duì)不對(duì)？Approaching the building, I saw a large banner announcing opening times, and resigned myself to a life of plain pasta and dry cereal until 9AM Monday, when I’d be able to pay for groceries again.走近那棟建筑之后，我才看見(jiàn)那條寫(xiě)著營(yíng)業(yè)時(shí)間的大告示牌，于是只能灰溜溜地回去靠不加菜的意大利面和干谷物片過(guò)活，直到周一早上的9點(diǎn)我才能買(mǎi)雜貨。Speaking of groceries, it took so many people telling me I was crazy to convince me to eat eggs here – they’re not refrigerated, and they’ll often have bits of feather or chicken poo on the outside.說(shuō)到雜貨，我是在被好多人勸過(guò)之后才敢吃這里的雞蛋的，他們都認(rèn)為我瘋了——這里的雞蛋是不冷藏的，而且上面通常還有點(diǎn)雞的羽毛或者雞屎。I am now aware that they’re safe, but coming from a childhood of identical perfectly clean, white, large AAA eggs, I was convinced I’d die a terrible salmonella death.我現(xiàn)在知道這些蛋是安全的了，但是我小時(shí)候見(jiàn)過(guò)的蛋可都是那種又干凈、又白、又大、形狀還一樣的3A級(jí)蛋，所以我以為吃了這里這種蛋之后會(huì)慘死與沙門(mén)氏菌。

 

（翻譯：能貓）

(來(lái)源:滬江)