英美文化：老美五大禁忌话题 你中枪了吗？

 Americans, as you may know, have a reputation for being talkative (a nicer word for loud). We tend to have a lot to say, and we tend to feel pretty comfortable saying it. Still, there are some taboo¹ topics that even Americans don't like to discuss. So, when in conversation with a chatty American, try not to bring up …

　　众所周知，老美向来以健谈行走于江湖(换句话说就是聒噪)。他们总有说不完的话，他们很享受谈话的感觉。然而，即便健谈如老美，也有些话题需要回避。因此，与健谈的老美聊天，谨忌以下话题……

　　1. Money

　　1. 金钱

　　Money makes the world go round, and Americans are, at times, "all about the Benjamins" (Benjamin Franklin appears on our $100 bill). However, just because money's on your mind doesn't mean it should be a key part of your conversational² repertoire³. It's considered impolite to ask about someone's salary, or to discuss other matters of personal finance.

　　有钱能使鬼推磨，老美有时也“本杰明至上”(注：即“金钱至上”，100美元上有本杰明·富兰克林的头像)。不过，心里惦记钱跟讨论话题集中在钱上又是两码事。如果你谈论别人的薪资或个人财产，大家会觉得你没礼貌。

　　2. Weight

　　2. 体重

　　"Americans have famously enormous appetites – I once went to a French ice cream shop where the sizes were small, medium, large, and American." But discussing someone else's weight is considered extremely rude in the United States. A person’s weight is private, and making comments about is definitely considered disrespectful.

　　“老美素以‘大胃王’著称——我去过一家法国冰淇淋店，里面冰淇淋的尺寸分为小、中、大以及老美特供尺寸。”但是，在美帝，讨论别人的体重是极其无礼的行为。个人体重属于隐私，对此发表意见就是不尊重他人。

　　3. Politics

　　3. 政治

　　We have all kinds of political opinions in the United States, and the range of popular beliefs runs across a much wider spectrum⁴ than in some other nations. Just follow an American presidential election and you'll see that our political system is hardly even civilized⁵. It's not that talking politics is an unforgivable taboo in the United States, just that it's probably not such a good idea to bring it up unless you're prepared for a potential argument.

　　美帝充斥着各种政治观点，主流观点的范围也远比其他一些国家宽松得多。参见任意一场美国总统大选，你都会觉得他们的政治体系远非想象中那么文明。我并不是说在美帝谈论政治是无法原谅的禁忌，而是奉劝大家，如果你没有准备好进行一场强有力的辩论，那么最好就别开始这个话题。

　　4. Religion

　　4. 宗教

　　Similarly, though the United States is a relatively⁶ religious country, personal beliefs are rarely brought up in casual conversation. It's a good idea to get to know someone a little bit before discussing his or her religious backgrounds or practices. Faith is usually considered a private matter (though it certainly plays a sizable role in the American public sphere as well, particularly amongst politicians who are keen to show an allegiance to it).

　　同样，尽管美帝相对而言是个宗教国家，个人信仰却很少出现在日常对话中。如果在稍微了解对方一些后，再开始谈论宗教背景或宗教活动的话题，会比较好。信仰也被视为个人隐私(尽管信仰在美国大众生活中扮演着很重要的角色，尤其那些政客热衷于宣誓他们忠于信仰)。

　　5. Soccer

　　5. 足球

　　First of all: We call it "soccer", not football. Americans are proud of their homegrown sports like baseball and American football, and professional soccer is relatively unpopular. We prefer our sporting events to be saturated⁷ with American patriotism⁸ and plenty of game-day snacks. If you want to talk soccer with a stubborn American sports fan, be prepared to start with the basics—and to encounter a whole lot of resistance to the world's favorite sport.

　　首先要指出，此处我们讨论的是“足球”(soccer)，而不是美式橄榄球(football)。老美对他们诸如棒球和美式橄榄球的本土体育运动深以为豪，而职业足球就相对冷门了。老美更喜欢把体育赛事与他们的爱国情怀和比赛日零食融为一谈。如果你执意要跟一位美国老顽固体育迷讨论足球，请从基本常识谈起——然后准备好迎接老美对这项风靡世界的体育运动狂风暴雨般的抵触情绪吧!

1 taboo   

n.禁忌，禁止接近，禁止使用；adj.禁忌的；v.禁忌，禁制，禁止

参考例句：

• The rude words are taboo in ordinary conversation.这些粗野的字眼在日常谈话中是禁忌的。
• Is there a taboo against sex before marriage in your society?在你们的社会里，婚前的性行为犯禁吗？

2 conversational   

adj.对话的，会话的

参考例句：

• The article is written in a conversational style.该文是以对话的形式写成的。
• She values herself on her conversational powers.她常夸耀自己的能言善辩。

3 repertoire   

n.(准备好演出的)节目，保留剧目；(计算机的)指令表，指令系统， <美>(某个人的)全部技能；清单，指令表

参考例句：

• There is an extensive repertoire of music written for the flute.有很多供长笛演奏的曲目。
• He has added considerably to his piano repertoire.他的钢琴演奏曲目大大增加了。

4 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

5 civilized   

a.有教养的，文雅的

参考例句：

• Racism is abhorrent to a civilized society. 文明社会憎恶种族主义。
• rising crime in our so-called civilized societies 在我们所谓文明社会中日益增多的犯罪行为

6 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

7 saturated   

a.饱和的，充满的

参考例句：

• The continuous rain had saturated the soil. 连绵不断的雨把土地淋了个透。
• a saturated solution of sodium chloride 氯化钠饱和溶液

8 patriotism   

n.爱国精神，爱国心，爱国主义

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• They obtained money under the false pretenses of patriotism.他们以虚伪的爱国主义为借口获得金钱。