英國：永遠都和天氣相關

文/Diego

Oscar Wilde once said that：“Conversation about the weather is the last refuge of the unimaginative.”

According to a recent research,almost 40% of British people talked about weather with others in every hour,and every 6 hours,more than 94% had a conversation about weather.Why are British people so obsessed with the weather？

奧斯卡·王爾德曾經說過：“談論天氣是沒有想象力的英國人最后的避難所。”

研究顯示，在英國，每個小時有近40%的人跟他人討論天氣，且每6個小時就有高達94%的人談論過天氣。為什么英國人跟天氣如此過不去？

Geographic Location

地理位置使然

As an island country,the UK is mostly surrounded by the ocean,with a temperate climate butever fluctuating weather.Although the difference between

作為一個島國，英國幾乎四面環海，氣候溫和，但天氣多變。雖然the highest temperature and the lowest in the year can be as little as 10 degrees Celsius,the average Brit can experiencefourseasonsin one day：from a warm sunny morning to a cold breezy evening.In the UK,even weather forecasters cannot catch up the speed that weather changes.Therefore,British people always have an umbrella with them,just in case of rain.Foreigners whoarenew totheUK mightnotunderstand the overcautious British people with coat and umbrella,but after they live in the UK for a while themselves,they pick up this British habit very fast naturally.

The unpredictable weatherhas caused British people talk about it all the time,because they have to discuss and consider it,due to its unpredictability.The overall not-so-warm weather in the UK also turned British people warm-weather obsessive.Maybe not all people love the heat,butthe factis,when the weatherman talks about upcoming sunny days,he always sounds happier than announcing the coming winter.全年平均溫度在最熱和最冷的月份之間只相隔10攝氏度，但英國人在一天內能經歷四個季節：從一個春天般陽光明媚的早晨到一個寒冬般冷風四起的夜晚。連天氣預報都無法準確預計天氣變化的速度。因此，英國人出門總是隨身帶著一把傘，以備不時之需。初到英國的外國人，可能對英國人總是帶著外套和雨傘的行為表示不能理解，甚至覺得他們過于謹慎，但在英國生活一段時間之后，他們自然就學會了這一典型的英國式行為。

正是因為天氣難以預測，使得英國人一直談論它。還有什么比天氣變化莫測讓人不得不討論和關心的呢？英國整體偏低的氣溫，使英國人對陽光溫暖的天氣到了全民皆迷的程度。也許不是所有人都喜歡艷陽天，但事實是，當天氣預報員提到即將到來的晴天時，他的語調總是比宣布即將到來的冬天更輕快和喜悅。

Politeness with a Distance

要禮貌也要距離

The British are not known for being outgoing.In fact,politeness with distance is more the British way.If you ever want to start a conversation with a British person,weather can never go wrong.“Rain again？ ”“It’s sunny,isn’t it？” “Nice summer,isn’t it？ ”

英國人向來不以外向聞名。相反，彬彬有禮但是保持距離更像英國人的作派。如果你想跟素不相識的英國人打開話匣子，天氣就是利器之一。“又下雨啦？”“太陽出來了。”“夏天真好呀。”“今年冬天真暖和呀。”這些都是可以跟陌生人開始一段對話的開場白。 無論多么含蓄、內向的英國人，在聽到跟天氣有關的搭訕后，都會禮貌地回應。

對于謹慎、內斂的英國人來說，天氣是最安全的話題。因為天“What a nice winter this is,isn’t it？”All these can be nice icebreakers. No matter how shy and introverted a British person is,he or she will always respond to your weather talk.

For cautious and introverted British people,weather is always the safest topic.Because weather is a neutral thing,which has nothing to do with personal interest,habit or private life.However,when people talk aboutweather,they can alwaysadd a little bitof personal opinions and feelings to it,which reflects their habits and personalities.If two people happen to share the same attitude towards different weather,then it’s always a good start for a deeper conversation.

There is an unspoken“agree rule” in British culture,especially when it comes to weather.Nearly 100%of the time,a British person will start a weather conversation in the form of questions, instead of statements.No matter what the listener’s real thought is,he or she should always agree.For example,when you hear“Raining again,isn’t it”，you should say“Yes,it is”.Or the response to “A hot day,isn’t it”is better be “Yes,it is hot”.Because when somebody initiated the conversation with a rhetorical question like that,they are notexpecting a serious discussion about weather,but rather,a different way of greetings.

When you are in the UK,don’t take weather too seriously.Simply agree with others about the weather,and add some positive personal opinions,then you are on your way making some friends and carrying on many“British talks”.氣是中性詞，與個人興趣、習慣或私人生活無關。而人們談論天氣的時候，每個人都可以加上個人情感和看法，間接地展示自己的愛好和性格。假如對話的兩個人對不同天氣的感覺和態度正好一致，那就一拍即合，可以多聊幾句。

英國人在談論天氣的時候，幾乎總是用問句而不用陳述句，這是英國文化中不可言說的“贊同定律”。不管你內心是否真的同意對方的說法，口頭上都可以簡單應允。如“又下雨了？”“對呀，又下雨了。”“今天很熱，不是嗎？”“對呀，挺熱的。”因為當一個人說出這樣一個反問句的時候，并不是要和對方進行嚴肅的天氣討論，而只是換個方式說“你好”罷了。

在英國，不要對天氣太當真，簡單地同意別人對天氣發表的言論，再表達一些積極向上的個人觀點，你就可以輕松結交不少朋友，進行很多“英式對話”了。

（中文僅供文意參考，請勿逐字逐句對比學習）

1.refuge：n. 避難所

2.obsessed：adj.著迷的；無法擺脫的；obsessive,adj.縈繞于心的；有執著想法的

3.fluctuate：v. 波動；漲落 4.breezy：adj. 有微風的；微風吹過的

5.unpredictable：adj.無法預言的；不可預測的 6.introverted：adj.內向的；含蓄的

7.neutral：adj. 中立的；中性的 8.initiate：v. 開始；發起

9.rhetorical：adj.修辭的