American Social Relations 中英文对照

an

Social

Relations

Gladys

G.

Doty

Janet

Ross

American society is much more informal than that of many other countries and ,in some ways, is

characterized by less social distinction. The American mixture of pride in achievement and sense

of “I’m just as good as anybody else.” Along with lack of importance placed on personal dignity, is

difficult for a foreigner to understand. Americans in general do not like to be considered inferior,

and they grumble loudly about inc

onveniences or not getting a “fair deal.” Yet they do not make a

point

of

their

personal

honor.

As

an

illustration

of

the

difference

between

European

and

American reflection in this respect, John Whyte in American Words and Ways gives the following

account.

在某些方面，

< br>美国社会的特征就是较少的社会差

别。

美国式的混合物－ 个人的成就感、

不比别人差的优越感以及对个人尊严缺乏重要性，

这

些对一个外国人来说是很难理解的。

通常来讲美国人不喜欢 被别人看成低人一等的，

他们也

会为自己遭受的不便而抱怨，< /p>

还会为自己没有得到公平的待遇而抱怨。

然而，

< br>他们也不是很

重视自己的荣誉。在这一方面，为了更好展示欧洲人和美国人的不同 反映，

John

Whyte

在

《美国语言和方式》这本书里给了我们如下的描述。

A ...[European] professor [visiting in America ] was once sent a bill for hospital services which

he had never enjoyed. The bill was accompanied by a strong letter demanding payment. It was

obvious that a mistake in name had been made, but the professor, thoroughly aroused by this

reflection

on

his

character

and

financial

integrity

,

wrote

a

vigorous

letter

of

reply

(which

an

American might also have done ). But in this letter of reply he demanded that the creditor write

him a formal letter of apology …for this reflection on his

honor. Since on publicity could possibly

have been given to the mistake, for mistake it was ,most Americans in that situation, after getting

the matter off their chest (or without doing that )would have let the matter rest.

有位欧洲的教 授曾在美国访问，

他有次收到一份在医院接受治疗的账单，

实际 上他并没有接

受过任何治疗。

随附账单还有一封措施很强烈的信 件。

很明显这是因为把姓名弄错了，

但是

这位教授由于对信中对自己人格以及金钱方面的廉洁而提出的质疑感到不舒服，

他也写 了一

份措辞很激烈的回信。

（美国人也会这样去做）

但是在这份回信中，

这位欧洲教授要求他的

债权人写一份正式的道歉信，就因为对他人格的指责。由于这样的错误并没有被公众知悉，< /p>

即使这样的错误已经发生了，

但大多数美国人在这种形势下，

只是将其宣泄一番，

甚至有的

人根本就不用 宣泄，就让这件事情过去了。

An

example

of

the

same

thing

may

be

that

although

Americans

like

to

talk

about

their

accomplishment

,it

is

their

custom

to

show

certain

modesty

in

reply

to

compliments.

When

someone

praises

an

American

upon

his

achievement

or

upon

his

personal

appearance

,which,

incidentally, is a very polite thing to do in America, the American turns it aside. If someone should

say, “Congratulations upon being elected president of the club,” an American is expected to reply,

“well, I hope I can do a good job,” or something of the sort. Or if someone says . “That’s pretty

blue necktie you are wearing,” an American is likely to say ,”I’m glad you like it,” or “Thank you

My wife gave it to me for my birthday.” The response to a compliment seldom conveys the idea,

“I, too, think I’m pretty good.”

同样的事情我再给你举一个例子 ，

尽管美国人比较喜欢讨论自己的成就，

但是他们有个习俗，< /p>

那就是如果你得到某种赞美时，

你的回答要展示某种谦虚。

当有人在赞美一个美国人诸如他

的成就或外貌的时候，

这些话题在美国被认为是很有礼貌的事情，

他也不会太在意。

< br>如果有

人对一个美国人说：

“祝贺你当选俱乐部主席”< /p>

，

他会回答“我希望把工作做好”或者诸如词

类的话语。当有人说：

“你打的领结很漂亮”

，而美国人会 说“我很高兴你喜欢它”或者“谢

谢你，这是我妻子送给我的生日礼物”

。所有对这种赞美的回答从来都不会传达这样的含义

即“我也认为我挺不错的”

Likewise ,there are fewer social conventions that show social differences in America. Students do

not rise when a teacher enters the room .on does not always address a person by his title, such

as

“professor”

or

“Doctor”

(“Doctor”

is

always

used

,however

,for

a

doctor

of

medicine).

The

respectful “sit” is not always use in the northern and western parts of the country .

同样的，

在美国也很少有那种社会 习俗来表现这种社会差异。

当老师进教室的时候，

学生是

不起立的。也不经常在一个人的名字前面加一些头衔，比如教授或博士。

（

DOCTOR

如果从

医药学方面 来称呼也是可以的）

。表示尊敬含义的

SIR

< br>在美国北部和西部也是很少使用的。

Clothing

in

Amer

ica

,as

in

every

place

in

the

word,

to

a

certain

degree

reflects

a

person’s

social position and income, or , at least among the young, his attitudes toward society or toward

himself.

Yet

no

person

is

restricted

to

a

certain

uniform

or

manner

of

dress

because

of

his

occupations or class in society.

A bank president may wear overalls to paint his house and it not

ashamed of either the job or the clothing, and a common laborer may wear a rented tuxedo at

hisdaughter’s wedding .

在美国正如在世界上其他地方一样，

从某种意义上，

人的穿着会反映其社会地位和收入，

或

者至少在年轻人当中可以反映这个社会或者自己的态度。但是由于自已的职业或社会地位，

没有任何一个只局限穿一种特定的制服或选择某种特定的穿衣方式。

一个银行的行长在粉刷

自己房子的时候会穿工装服，

而且不会因 这种工作和穿衣的方式而感到羞愧。

而一个普通劳

动者在自己女 儿的婚礼上也会租穿一件无尾燕尾服。

Yet

in

spite

of

all

the

informality,America

it

not

completely

without

customs

that

show

consciousness

of

social

distinction.

For

example,

one

is

likely

to

use

somewhat

more

formal

language when talking to superiors.

While the informal “Hello” is an acceptable greeting form

employee

to

employer,

the

employee

is

more

apt

to

say.

“Hello,

Mr.

Ferguson.”

Wh

ereas

the

employer may reply, “Hello, Jim.” Southerners make a point of saying “Yes, sir,” or “Yes ,ma

’

ma,”

or “No, sir,” or “No , ma

’

ma,” when talking to an older person or a person in position of authority.

Although this is a good form all over the Unite

d States, “Yes, Mr. Weston” or “No, Mr. Baker” is

somewhat more common in a similar situation in the North or West .

尽管有诸如此 类非正式的东西，

但是美国也并不是完全没有习俗来展现这种社会差别意

识。

例如，

但一个人跟他的上司说话的时候，