Ever been told by a new neighbour ‘You must come for dinner’ then spent weeks waiting for a follow-up invitation that never arrives?

　　曾經(jīng)遇到過(guò)新鄰居對(duì)你說(shuō)“你得過(guò)來(lái)吃個(gè)晚飯”，可幾個(gè)禮拜后邀請(qǐng)遲遲不來(lái)？

　　電影《四個(gè)婚禮和一個(gè)葬禮》中的休·格蘭特是英式禮貌的典型。 Rex Features 攝

　　Or been thrilled when the boss said he’d bear your ‘very interesting’ idea in mind and been surprised when it was never mentioned again。

　　或者是激動(dòng)地聽(tīng)到上司說(shuō)他會(huì)記住你“非常有趣”的想法，卻驚訝他再也沒(méi)提過(guò)這件事？

　　Then you’ve been victim of the uniquely British trait of being too prim and polite to say what we really mean. And if it can be baffling for us, imagine what it must be like for foreigners who take our every word at face value。

　　那你就是擁有獨(dú)特特征的英式英語(yǔ)的受害者了，英式英語(yǔ)對(duì)于表達(dá)真實(shí)所想來(lái)說(shuō)太過(guò)拘謹(jǐn)、禮貌了。其實(shí)對(duì)于英國(guó)人來(lái)說(shuō)，想想外國(guó)人可能會(huì)把他們的每句話信以為真，也挺令人困擾的。

　　Now there’s help in the form of a translation table which has become a huge hit on the internet。

　　現(xiàn)在這里有一張?jiān)诰W(wǎng)上引起熱議的翻譯表，能對(duì)你有所幫助。

WHAT THE BRITISH SAY

　　英國(guó)人說(shuō)的

WHAT THE BRITISH MEAN

　　英國(guó)人實(shí)際表達(dá)的

WHAT OTHERS UNDERSTAND

　　別人所理解的

　　I hear what you say

　　我聽(tīng)到你說(shuō)什么了

　　I disagree and do not want to discuss it further

　　我不同意也不想繼續(xù)討論下去了

　　He accepts my point of view

　　他接受了我的觀點(diǎn)

　　With the greatest respect

　　懷著最高的敬意

　　You are an idiot

　　你是一個(gè)白癡

　　He is listening to me

　　他在聽(tīng)我說(shuō)

　　That's not bad

　　那不算壞

　　That's good

　　不錯(cuò)

　　That's poor

　　那很差勁

　　That is a very brave proposal

　　這是一個(gè)非常勇敢的提議

　　You are insane

　　你瘋了

　　He thinks I have courage

　　他認(rèn)為我很有勇氣

　　Quite good

　　真不錯(cuò)

　　A bit disappointing

　　有一點(diǎn)令人失望

　　Quite good

　　真不錯(cuò)

　　I would suggest

　　我認(rèn)為

　　Do it or be prepared to justify yourself

　　按我認(rèn)為的去做或證明你的想法

　　Think about the idea, but do what you like

　　考慮他的說(shuō)法，但按自己想的做

　　Oh, incidentally/by the way

　　哦，順便提一下

　　The primary purpose of our discussion is

　　這次討論的主要目的是

　　That is not very important

　　那并不是很重要

　　I was a bit disappointed that

　　我對(duì)此有點(diǎn)失望

　　I am annoyed that

　　我被惹惱了

　　It doesn't really matter

　　沒(méi)關(guān)系

　　Very interesting

　　非常有趣

　　That is clearly nonsense

　　那簡(jiǎn)直是胡說(shuō)八道

　　They are impressed

　　那令人印象深刻

　　I'll bear it in mind

　　我會(huì)記住的

　　I've forgotten it already

　　我已經(jīng)忘了

　　They will probably do it

　　他們大概會(huì)這么做

　　I'm sure it's my fault

　　我確信這是我的錯(cuò)

　　It's your fault

　　這是你的錯(cuò)

　　Why do they think it was their fault?

　　為什么他們覺(jué)得是他們的錯(cuò)？

　　You must come for dinner

　　你得過(guò)來(lái)吃晚飯

　　It's not an invitation, I'm just being polite

　　這并不是一個(gè)邀請(qǐng)，我只是表示禮貌

　　I will get an invitation soon

　　我很快就會(huì)受到邀請(qǐng)

　　I almost agree

　　我差不多同意了

　　I don't agree at all

　　我根本不同意

　　He's not far from agreement

　　他差不多同意了

　　I only have a few minor comments

　　我只有一些次要意見(jiàn)

　　Please rewrite completely

　　請(qǐng)全部重寫

　　He has found a few typos

　　他只找到了一些印刷錯(cuò)誤

　　Could we consider some other options

　　我們能考慮下別的選擇嗎

　　I don't like your idea

　　我不喜歡你的主意

　　They have not yet decided

　　他們還沒(méi)決定

　　It reveals that when a British person begins a sentence ‘With the greatest respect...’, they’re really saying ‘I think you are an idiot.’

　　表格揭露了當(dāng)一個(gè)英國(guó)人用“懷著最高的敬意”為一句句子開(kāi)頭，他們實(shí)際想說(shuō)的是“我認(rèn)為你是一個(gè)白癡”。

　　‘I hear what you say’ means ‘I disagree and do not want to discuss it further’ while ‘That is a very brave proposal’ translates as ‘You are insane’。

　　“我聽(tīng)到你說(shuō)什么了” 代表“我不同意也不想繼續(xù)討論下去了”，“這是一個(gè)勇敢的提議”代表“你瘋了”。

　　The table, which has been posted on numerous internet blogs, has received thousands of comments acknowledging that it’s spot on–from foreigners and Britons alike。

　　這張表格被放到許多博客中后，收到許多外國(guó)人和英國(guó)人本身的贊同，承認(rèn)這極其正確。