【趣味英语】英语中的文化陷阱（the cultural trap in english fun） 9页

【趣味英语】英语中的文化陷阱（TheCulturalTrapinEnglishfun）1.YouhavematchesRecently,Ihadachancetotravelonaluxurycruise.Once,Itooktwococktailsinthebarandwentbacktomyroom.Imetaladyontheway.Shelookedatmeandsmiledandsaid,"Youhavematches?""Isaid,"I"msorry,Iquitsmokingfifteenyearsago,sotherewasnomatch."."SheimmediatelyrealizedthatImisunderstoodhermeaning,asifshewasalittlesorrytosay:"It"sajoke.",andthenweembarrassedeachother,smiled,walkedaway.Afterchattingwithfriendsatdinnertime,ItooktheopportunitytoaskanAmericanfriendsayingthatday,heexplained:"becauseshesawyouhandsareoccupied,deliberatelyjokingwithyoutomatch,thisisaveryordinaryjoke,notmalicious,butIwanttoaskyouneedhelp."(fromworlddaily)2.TurnthetableAwifeandrelativesandtothepointofdivorce.Afewdaysago,theyreceivedacallfromrelatives,sayingthatbeforetheywalkedintothelawyer"sbuilding,theywenttothedoctorforpsychologicalandmaritalproblems.Thecouplesatdowninacalmmoodtotalkaboutmanytimes,amoreunderstandingbetweeneachother,lessasuspicion,theblame,burythehatchet.It"ssimpleandsimple,soitsavedthemarriage.Iwashappyforthem,andItoldthenewstoanAmericanfriendwhoknewthemtoo.Thefriendwasveryexcited,andrepeatedlysaid,"thankGod,thankGod",shealsoaddedasentence"He turnedthetable"".Thismademefeelveryuncomfortable,shereferstomyrelativessay?Ijustsaid:"no,no,heisverygentle,verygentlemanly,rudenottosuppresstheother,notlettheothersidebendunderpressure."Asaresult,themoreyousay,nobodyunderstandsyou.Lookingatmyfaceunpleasantexpression,friendssuddenlyenlightened,anotherwaytoexplaintome.Ifinallyrealizedthatshewassayingthatmyrelativeshadreversedthesituation,andthat"table"hadnothingtodowiththe"table"Ithoughtof.Furthermore,turnthetables(onsomeone)andalsothephrase"table"notwhatrelationship,itmeanstosuddenlytakeapositionofstrengthoradvantagethatwasformerlyheldbysomeoneelse(turnthetide,strong),forexample:"Sheplayedbadlyinthefirstset,butthensheturnedthetablesonheropponentandwonthematch."(from"worldnews")3.WearingtwohatsColleaguesandfriendsgathering,nottomentioneachother.Mr.introducedmetohiscolleaguesatLarry,saidheisabusyman:"Heiswearingtwohats.,"Isaid,youwhatajoke,hewasn"twearingahat.Larryhaslaughed,itwasMr.read,knowwhatIdon"tunderstand,canhelpmefindout.Originally,referstoLarryinahospitaldepartmentasanimportantposition,inadditionto,aswellastheirownbusiness,thatistosay,Larryistwopositions,ratherthanreallywearingtwohats.(fromworlddaily) 4.WithagrainofsaltOnedayatdinner,andhisfriendAllenChinaJiladytalkofarecentlypopularherbalmedicineatthetable,itcancure.Allensaid,"I"dliketotakeitwithagrainofsalt."".Hiswifelaughed,"youthinkit"savegetable,andyouneedsomesalt.".Healthexpertshavenevermentionedaddingsalt."Allenpausedforamomentandthenlaughed,explainingthat"Takesomethingwithagrainofsalt"means"reservationsandskepticismaboutsomething.".Allenjustsaidhedoubtedthemiracleeffectofthisherb,nottoputsomesaltintoit".（摘自《世界日报》）5，你请客！这天，同事们正在讨论为我和朗达开生日党的事情，为了尊重寿星，大家让朗达和我选择一家中意的餐厅。朗达建议去镇上一家叫做烧烤的美国餐厅。我从来没有去过那里，于是就问她那里有什么特色。朗达便开始滔滔不绝的介绍他们的招牌菜，听得我十指大动，直咽口水，朗达便笑着说：“你是在为治疗！“我愣了一下，以为朗达要请我去那里吃饭，心里十分不好意思，试探着问过她之后，朗达笑着解释说：“你是在为治疗手段，你会喜欢它的！“（摘自《世界日报》）6。刀和叉朋友D说日前在某大酒楼饮茶，见邻桌有青年夫妇和大概是他们在外国结识的老太太一起饮茶。老太太对操作筷子很感兴趣，在那里学用筷子夹虾饺。D说他有个美国朋友，曾花了一些时间学习正确使用筷子的方法，每有机会就要表演一下，还说用筷子是一种艺术，是古老的中国文化的表现。 中国人吃饭用筷子，洋人进餐用刀*。其实洋人从前没有刀叉，用的是木片削成的*。这种木*从意大利经伊斯坦堡传到英国，是两刺的肉*（两齿叉）。在此之前，人们吃肉用手，因此对于改用肉*有人说是”对赐人五指之神的侮辱。”筷子又叫作”箸”，据说由于箸与住同音。住有停止之意。航船忌停，江苏一带行船的人们改称箸为”筷儿”。筷音同快，不住而快，一帆风顺矣。日语中筷作箸，但读作哈市，和作桥解的哈市相同，似乎和行船有点关系。日谚有”只会拿着筷子吃”指”茶来伸手，饭来张口。”中餐桌上每人有一份箸匙（住持），一双筷子一把汤匙，也许就没有刀叉那么杀气腾腾了吧（摘自《世界日报》）？7。家丑一天朋友谈及一则大爆”名人”家丑的八卦新闻，说那些家族中人以搬弄“骷髅在壁橱里”为乐事，难道这些名人家的壁橱中真的有骷髅？他说的“骷髅在壁橱里”（英国人则习惯说成丑事）现在的意义并没有那么可怕。不过据说当年这个习语产生的时候的确指那些有钱人家谋杀了一个人，把骸骨暗藏在壁橱中，不让外人知道，从此骷髅在壁橱里就成了那家人的秘密，后来这个短语用来指不可或不愿外扬的家丑，简称作家丑。例如：许多古老的家族中有很多秘密，他们壁橱，他们都不愿意讨论（许多古老的家族中有很多秘密，他们不愿谈及这些话题。）（摘自《世界日报》）8。剥掉鼻子上的皮 乔很热心公益，每周固定有一天去做义工。在他的影响下，我也参加了几次。有一次跟他提起如果能到附近的剧院做义工的话，也许会比较有趣。有一天他拿了一份报纸，上面就有剧院要找义工的消息，我打算下班后过去看看，可是不巧碰上那天身体不舒服，下了班躺在床上就不想动了。第二天碰到乔，问我有没有去，我把实情跟他解释。他听完后说：“不关我的事。”我不懂，只好怔怔地望着他，心想，HeprobablythoughtIwas"yegonghaolong".Goinghomeandlookinguptheslangdictionary,Iknowthatskinoffone"snoseisrelatedtosomeone.Joewassaying,"I"mnotgoing."actually,it"snoneofhisbusiness.He"sjustbytheway.(fromworlddaily)Note:noskinoffsb."snosecanalsobecallednoskinoffsb."steeth9.SmallbeerDoesSmallbeermean"littlebeer"?Isthebeersmall?Infact,theBritishsmallbeerreferstothelighterbeer,butinAmericanEnglish,itmeans"alittlebeer".Forexample,inthesummer,guestscomeandaskhimwhathewantstodrink:Anythingtodrink?Theguestmightsay,"I"llhaveasmallbeer"(givemealittlebeer)."Smallbeer"usedinfigurativeusage,whichmeansthingsofasmallscaleorstructure.Thinkoneselfgreat,notsmallperson:Hethinksnosmallbeerofhimself.Besmallbeeroftenusedasacomparisonofperformance.Smallbeerisoftenusedasanadjectiveinspokenlanguage,sofriendswhoopenfast-foodrestaurantscansay:Oursisasmall-beerfast-foodjointbesideMcDonald.(fromLianheZaobao)10.SpaghettiMyfriendSsaid,Italypastapasta,inadditiontothesolid powderofspaghetti,macaroniandlasagnawidenoodles,macaroni,asmallmeatstuffingboxshapedItalywonton(YunTun)ravioli,tagliatelleandslendernoodlesthinlikefineflourvermicelli(wewill"fans"translatedas"vermicelli",istheoriginalItalyfineflourbyname).ItalyisthefirstcountryinEuropetoeatpasta.InthirteenthCentury,MarcoPolopassedtheChinesemethodofmakingpasta,whichwasverypopular,especiallythesolidpowderspaghetti.Itwaseasytocookandcouldbeseasonedwithavarietyofcondiments,whichsoonbecamepopularthroughoutthecountry.Buttherewerenoknivesavailableatthattime,sotheyatesolidsoupwithoutsoup,whichwaseasytoreachtheentrancewithhand.Spaghettiwithmeatsaucenowistheonlywaytoeatlater.Ofcourse,whenChinahaveeatenMarcoPoloUSbeefsouporporkribssoup.Butthesoupofspaghettiandeventhesoupofspaghettisoup,allthelaterappearedItalypowdereatmethod.SpaghetticomesfromtheItalianwordspago,whichmeansaline.ApastaisSpaghetto,usuallyinthepluralspaghetti.Spaghettiisadish,noodlesaremessy,sotherearemanyvehicles,andtrafficchaosiscalledspaghettijunction.(fromLianheZaobao)11.SpeakingofthedevilAfewclassmatesgatheredtogethertochat,everyonewashere,butnotWayne.Oneofthemsaid,"itdoesn"tseemlikeWaynetoday."andtheothersaid,"hisdaughterisoutforthesummervacation,andshe"smovingoutofthedorm,andheprobably helped."".AsIspoke,Waynecameoutoftheroom.Joethensaid,"speakingofthedevil."".Afewpeoplebecamehappy.IthoughtWaynewasusuallyhonest.Whydidhesayhewasdevil?SoIwentquietlytoaskJoe.Theoriginal"speakingofthedevil"isanidiom,equivalenttoChinese"sayCaoCao,CaoCaoarrives."".That"sjustsayingWaynewasn"there,andhecame.Icannothelpbutwonderincommonlanguage,becauseCaoCaoisalsothetitleof"hero"?ChineseandEnglishhavesuchstrikingsimilaritiesinthisidiom.(fromworlddaily)12.Stolenfrom...DealerOnthehighway,themanandthecarwerespeeding,andthefriendsuddenlypointedtoacarinfrontofhimandsaid,"wow!Thismanissoarrogant,andthethievesdaretohangupthesigns!"Ifollowedhisgaze,butIsaid:"can"thelplaughing,sir!人家车牌上写着"偷…经销商，经销商是指他这部从…那儿买来的车，价格低廉，便宜得像偷来得一样。”这是一种美式幽默广告手法，吸引顾客去…经销商那儿买车，不是贼车啦（摘自《世界日报》）。13。甜食 我最害怕看牙医，但是因为有一颗蛀牙让我实在疼痛难忍，所以只好鼓足勇气，到牙医诊所挂号。当医生为我检查的时候，他问我：“你喜欢吃甜食吗？”我很无辜地回答：“我有一个炸圈饼来这之前。我刷了牙。没有甜食。”他听了后摇摇头，便开始替我补牙。很敏感的我，知道可能答非所问，闹了笑话，但是却百思不解。我懂甜及齿这两个单字，但把这两个字放在一起合用，我就不知道意思了。回家查了字典后，我才恍然大悟，原来甜食的意思是”爱吃甜食”（摘自《世界日报》）。14香港的狗。一次在一堂电脑课上，铃响后，系里的女秘书突然跑到教室来宣布：“Walker博士有一个触摸的香港犬会来晚一点。”听完宣布后，我一脸正经地向坐在隔壁的美国朋友抱怨说：“沃克博士怎么可以抚弄他的爱犬以至于来不及上课呢？”老美听完后居然大笑着说：“真是太好笑了！香港狗并非指一种狗，而是指某人吃坏了肚子、拉肚子的意思。”这一解释让我尴尬得无地自容（摘自《世界日报》）。15。把书扔给某人和先生从洗车（洗车场）里开出来，车上的水珠还依稀可见，这让先生想起一件事：曾经有一个美国人在高速公路上超速开车，时速达100多英里。警察当然把他截下来。在法庭上，他辩解之所以开快车，是因为想让风尽快把刚刚洗过的车吹干。我听了好笑，更好奇结果如何。先生答曰：结果是”就把书扔了他”。我不禁诧异，想像着他被”书砸”的样子。原来并非如此，”某人扔书”是指给某人最大极限的惩罚：负责人法的全部范围。如果法律是一本书，那么这本书中所有被违犯了的条例，他都将为之遭受最严重的惩罚。--------------------------------------------------------------------------------今天的笑话贞操带 一个人决定在神圣的十字军东征。他妻子在他离开的时候应该穿贞操带，他把自己的下半身锁起来，把钥匙交给他最好的朋友。他告诉他，“如果我四年内不回来，解开我的妻子，让她自由地过正常的生活。”于是，丈夫骑着马离开了，大约半小时后，他看到身后有一团尘土。他等待它走近，看到他最好的朋友。”怎么了？”他问。“你把钥匙给错了！”