课窝双语阅读：英国人为什么总爱道歉

课窝教育网在这里分享一篇关于“英国人为什么总爱道歉”的文章，大家可以作为雅思阅读的拓展或者雅思写作的素材收集。

It means something different over there. In theUnited States, “sorry” has a few widely usedmeanings.

“sorry”这个词在英国的含义和别处完全不一样。在美国，“sorry”这个词有几个广泛应用的含义：

(1) As a form of apology. I’m sorry I kicked yourshin.

(1)用来道歉。很抱歉踢到你腿了。

(2) As an expression of sympathy. I’m sorry foryour loss.

(2)表达同情。对你的损失我深感遗憾。

(3) As an adjective meaning inadequate. You are a sorry specimen.

(3)形容“不合适”。你这个家伙不合适。

To these, the British add

说到这儿，英国人要补充一句

(4) As an interjection meaning “I didn’t hear you, could you repeat that?”

(4)用作插入语“我没听清，你能重复一下吗?”

A: "Lie nuff cacophany?"

“谎话连篇?”

B: "Sorry?"

“抱歉能再说一遍吗?”

A: "I said, would you like another cup of coffee?"

“我说，你再来杯咖啡吗?”

I’m terribly sorry but we’re just doing it to be polite. Much like Japan, when your countrydevelops it’s sense of manners under a system where armed warriors are the norm(knights/samurai), you tend to establish patterns of speech designed to reduce aggression.

我特别抱歉我们这样说只是为了表达礼貌。这一点跟日本人很像，当你们国家的礼仪是在武装力量常规化的体制(骑士和武士)下发展出来的话，你们就倾向于利用语言来降低攻击性。

At this point the swords are more or less gone, but the speech patterns are traditional andcultural so we carry on carrying on.

现在武力几乎已经消失了，但语言模式仍保留着传统和文化特点，所以我们继续说着“sorry”。

Sorry if that doesn’t illuminate it for you.

如果没解释明白我深感抱歉。