Confusing accents and odd public transport habits have been listed among the biggest culture shocks for people moving to the UK.
難懂的口音和奇怪的公共交通習(xí)慣雙雙躋身外國(guó)人到英國(guó)后感受到的最大文化沖擊之列。

Users of online message board Reddit were asked "What is biggest 'culture shock' you've ever received either after moving or while vacationing to a new place?" by user thechosenone16 - and responded with a number of humourous observations about life in Britain.
網(wǎng)絡(luò)論壇Reddit的用戶thechosenone16向論壇網(wǎng)友提出了一個(gè)問(wèn)題：“到一個(gè)新的地方定居或度假后，你感受到的最大‘文化沖擊’是什么？”Reddit網(wǎng)友紛紛給出了有關(guān)在英國(guó)生活的風(fēng)趣評(píng)論。

"There are no closets in the UK," posted user SurfeitOfPenguins in one entry.
用戶SurfeitOfPenguins發(fā)表留言道：“英國(guó)沒(méi)有儲(chǔ)藏室”。

"Livable space of houses is maybe a one-foot radius around each radiator. Either the sky is completely overcast, or the sky is blue with one single cloud and that cloud is raining.
“房子的居住空間周?chē)蟾虐霃?英尺之內(nèi)必有暖氣片。天空要么全陰，要么就是蔚藍(lán)的天空上孤零零飄著一朵云，而那朵云也是雨云。”

"Accents are a big deal. A native Brit can pinpoint a person's place of birth, annual salary, and parentage going back three generations within moments of hearing another Brit speak."
“口音是個(gè)大問(wèn)題。別人只要一開(kāi)口說(shuō)話，土生土長(zhǎng)的英國(guó)人瞬間就能確定說(shuō)話者的出生地、年薪，還能追溯到往上三代的出身。”

Redditor Dondo666 also pointed out the difference between the British accents as depicted onscreen, and how they are in real life.
Reddit用戶Dondo666同樣指出了銀幕上與現(xiàn)實(shí)生活中的英國(guó)口音的差異。

"English is my 3rd language but I'd say I'm fluent," he said.
他表示：“英語(yǔ)是我的第3語(yǔ)言，但我覺(jué)得自己說(shuō)得算得上流利”。

"I have no problem understanding what Americans say 99% of the time. But Brits are a whole other thing entirely. Most of the time I could make out 1/5 words. After a while I stopped asking people to repeat themselves and just smiled and nodded.
“99%的情況下，我聽(tīng)懂美國(guó)人說(shuō)話沒(méi)問(wèn)題。但聽(tīng)懂英國(guó)人說(shuō)話就完全是另一回事了。大多數(shù)情況下，5個(gè)單詞我也就能聽(tīng)懂1個(gè)。不久之后，我就不再請(qǐng)求別人重講一遍，而只是微笑著點(diǎn)頭。”

"Brits in British movies I understand. In real life, not so much."
“英國(guó)電影里的英國(guó)人說(shuō)話我能聽(tīng)懂。生活中？真是聽(tīng)不太懂。”

ListenDry, an Indian user from UAE, reported on Britons' obsession with manners, having visited London in 2012.
來(lái)自阿聯(lián)酋的印度裔用戶ListenDry曾在2012年來(lái)過(guò)倫敦。他吐槽了英國(guó)人的禮貌強(qiáng)迫癥。

"Sorry, please, thank you and welcome were the words to gain respect," he said.
他表示：“對(duì)不起、請(qǐng)、謝謝和歡迎這些詞要常掛在嘴邊，這樣才能贏得尊重”。

An international student, the Redditor also summed up other British idiosyncrasies.
Reddit上的一位留學(xué)生也總結(jié)了一些其他英國(guó)特色。

"Taxes were high," he wrote.
他寫(xiě)道：“稅很高”。

"Liquor was cheap (even though I don't drink). Heating was central and was timed which was thick. No closets to hide in despair and the rooms were tiny. Accents are vast, from all over the globe.
“酒水很便宜（盡管我不喝酒）。定時(shí)、中央供暖，但溫度很足。房間狹小，絕望時(shí)也沒(méi)有儲(chǔ)藏室可以躲。集合了來(lái)自世界各地、五花八門(mén)的口音。”

"Racism does exist but is not visible. It's just that people will ignore instead of verbally or physically assaulting or replying."
“英國(guó)確實(shí)存在種族歧視問(wèn)題，但不明顯。人們只是選擇忽視，而不是進(jìn)行語(yǔ)言、身體攻擊或回應(yīng)。”

For French Redditor pompompompompom, it was British toilets that made for a source of cultural confusion.
對(duì)于來(lái)自法國(guó)的Reddit用戶pompompompompom來(lái)說(shuō)，讓他感受到文化混亂的是英國(guó)的廁所。

"Some older toilets have a sort of door handle flush which I can never get the hang of, if you're too slow it won't work, too fast won't work either, it's an art," he said.
他說(shuō)：“有些老式廁所使用所謂的門(mén)把手沖水，我永遠(yuǎn)學(xué)不會(huì)。太慢了不行，太快了也不行，簡(jiǎn)直是門(mén)藝術(shù)”。

Coming from further afield, a Tawainese Redditor made observations about British dining habits on public transport.
一位來(lái)自更遙遠(yuǎn)的臺(tái)灣的Reddit用戶就英國(guó)人在公共交通上吃喝的習(xí)慣發(fā)表了評(píng)論。

The user wrote: "[I was intrigued by] how Brits are allowed to eat and drink on the London underground but still keep the carriages relatively clean. (Taipei’s metro banned all eating and drinking.)"
這位用戶寫(xiě)道：“英國(guó)人竟然可以在倫敦地鐵上吃喝，而車(chē)廂還保持得挺干凈的。我和我的小伙伴都驚呆了。（臺(tái)北地鐵禁止在車(chē)廂內(nèi)進(jìn)食、飲水。）”

Vocabulary

observation：評(píng)論，言論，意見(jiàn)

radiator：暖氣片

parentage：出身

pinpoint：準(zhǔn)確指出

Redditor：Reddit用戶

idiosyncrasy：習(xí)性，癖好，特性

further afield：在更遠(yuǎn)處

英文來(lái)源：獨(dú)立報(bào)

譯者：趙德岷

審校&編輯：劉明