Today I'm going to talk about five

今天我想討論五個意想不到的，令人覺得不禮貌的說法

surprising things that sound rude in English.

這是根據我的經驗，也包含了我對中文的理解。

This is from my experience, as well as my

因為有些說法是直接從中文翻譯的。

understanding of Chinese, because some of

以下這些東西在語調上有很微妙的差異，

these are direct translations from Chinese.

但在英語寫作或口語中的感受

These things are more of a subtle

卻是不同的。

difference in tone, but they do make a difference

我註意到的第一點，就是等待 的表達。

to how you come across in writing or in speaking.

我知道在漢語中，說

So the first thing that I've noticed is 'wait'.

等一下是很常見的。

I know that in Chinese, it's very common to say

等一下就是"Just hang on a second"也是很禮貌的。

(Chinese)

但如果妳用英語讓別人wait，

And it's quite polite to say, "Just hang on a second".

聽起來就有點不禮貌。

But if you tell someone to 'wait' in English

我想最好的翻譯是hang on a second，

it does sound a bit impolite.

或者could you give me a moment，

A better translation I think is 'hang on a second'

或者please can you wait a second?

or 'could you give me a moment?'

我經常聽見有人說wait，

or 'please, can you wait a second?'

其實它是有一點粗魯的，

So this 'wait', I hear quite a lot

要小心。

but does come across as slightly rude

這就引出了我的第二點，

so be careful of that one.

即在英語中，祈使句

This leads me onto my second point

總的來說其实有點粗魯。

which is that imperatives in general

比如，當妳希望別人告訴妳見面時間的時候，

do come across as a little bit rude in English.

妳可能會想說，請告訴我見面的時間。

Maybe tell me what time we should meet

然後妳用英語說，"Tell me when we should meet。"

'cause you want the other person to tell you.

再比如check something

So you say, "Tell me when we should meet."

這種直接告訴某人做某事的祈使句

Check something, do something, see this, watch this.

其實都是有點粗魯的。

Any imperatives where you're just telling someone

所以更好的表達方式是

to do something do come across as quite rude.

把它變成一個問題。

So a better way to phrase it is gonna be

例如，Please, could you let me know...?

to turn it into a question.

或please, could you have a look at this?

Please, could you let me know what time we're meeting?

或者please, could you check something？

For example, or please, could you have a look at this?

在漢語表達中，將請字

Or please, could you check something?

放在前面，

I know that in Chinese, it's very common to say

然接祈使句是很常見的，

'qing' at the beginning

比如請坐或者請告訴我，

and then just the imperative afterwards,

但在英語中

like (Chinese)

更常的用法是把整個句子轉為一個問句

but it is more common in English

接下來我想提的是"已經 "這個詞。

to actually turn the whole thing into a question.

我認為在漢語中，

The next thing I wanted to mention is the word 'already'.

說我曾經做過某事是很正常的表達，

So I think in Chinese, it's common to say

以此表達某事已經完成。

(Chinese)

它發生過了，並且已經結束了。

Like to express that something is finished.

人們可能會說，"我已經，我已經看到了。"

It's happened, it's done.

而在英語中，

People might say, "I already saw it."

這個詞也意味著某事已經完成。

So whilst in English

但有一點偏重強調它已經完成了。

it also means that something is finished.

所以如果妳說，"我已經做了。"

There's a bit more emphasis on it's already been done.

聽起來有點防禦性。

So if you say, "I've already done it."

比如，"I've already done it。"

It can sound a bit defensive.

它更側重於強調，這個事情結束了，完成了。

Like, "I've already done it."

比如，"I've already done it, I've already seen it."

Like the emphasis is on, it's finished, it's done.

這種語氣好像在質問，"妳為什麼問我？

Like, "I've already done it, I've already seen it."

我已經看過了。"

Like, "Why are you asking me?

我認為這並不是人們想表達的情緒，

I've already seen it."

但我註意到

Which I think is not what people mean to say

有輕微的語氣差别。

but I've just noticed this slight tone,

我想說的下一點是，

difference in tone.

"對不起 "這種表達。

The next point I wanted to mention

excuse me這種表達，有時可能會很奇怪，

is to do with the phrase 'excuse me'.

妳可能會想，"哦，excuse me"，聽起來很有禮貌。

Now, 'excuse me', is probably a strange one

如果用在正確的上下文中，

'cause you're thinking 'excuse me' sounds very polite.

可能比sorry歉更禮貌。

Maybe even more polite than sorry

我最常聽到excuse me的場景是在街上，

which it is when used in the right context.

當有陌生人向我問事情的時候，

The times that I most frequently hear 'excuse me' used

他們會說，"Oh, excuse me."

is maybe on the street when there's a stranger

這是一種非常禮貌的開始對話的表達，

who wants to ask me something, they'll say 'excuse me'

當妳要問一些事情，或者需要一些幫助的時候都可以用。

And it's a very polite way to just open conversation

另一個常聽到這句話的場景，

and ask for something, for some help maybe.

是當有人真的煩到妳的時候。

Another way that I hear this phrase used

假設妳擋了其他人的路，

is on the street when someone is annoyed with you.

或者妳做了什麼事打擾到別人了，

So let's say that you're standing in the way

他們可能會說，"Excuse me。"

or you've done something to bother someone

還有一種惱怒的語氣。

they might say, "Excuse me."

未來影片中我會更詳細地

And there's a tone of annoyance there.

談談如何判斷一個英國人

And I'll talk a bit more in detail

是被煩到了還是生氣了。

about how to tell if a British person is annoyed

他們會用這個短語，excuse me，

or angry in a later video.

表達他們對妳的憤怒。

They're using this phrase 'excuse me'

還有一種場景下，

to express their irritation with you.

妳可能會聽到"excuse me"這個詞，

And the other time that you might hear

比如在一個大的演講中，有很多人，

the phrase 'excuse me' used is perhaps in a big lecture

妳想問一個問題，

where there's many people

演講者之間有很大的距離。

and you want to ask a question

那麼，請記住這三種情況，

and again, there's more distance between the speakers.

如果妳和某人一對一對話，

Okay, so bearing those three contexts in mind

妳想說，"哦，讓我們看看這個吧。"

if you are one-to-one with someone

如果妳說，excuse me，可能聽起來

and you want to say, "Oh, let's look at this."

有點刺耳，因為它突然聽起來

If you say 'excuse me' it can sound a bit jarring

很有距離感，有點過於正式，

because it suddenly sounds like there's more distance

或者可能妳可能有點

between you, maybe sounds a bit more formal

惱火或被什麼東西激怒了。

or maybe like you could be annoyed

所以我不會在一對一的情況下

or irritated about something.

用"excuse me"這個詞。

So I wouldn't use the phrase 'excuse me'

我會這樣說，"Oh, sorry，

in a one-to-one situation.

can we just take a quick look at that？"

I would say something like, "Oh, sorry

再次註意我是如何把它變成一個問題的。

can we just take a quick look at that?"

Can we just take a look at this?

So notice again how I've changed it into a question.

這並不意味著妳

Can we just take a look at this?

真的在請求許可，妳只是讓對方知道，

And it doesn't mean that you're actually

請看這裏。

asking for permission, you're letting the person know

好的，下一個點是我想要 。

please, look here.

我們小時候經常被教導，不要說，

Okay, the next aspect is 'I want'.

I want應該說I would like。

We're often taught as children not to say

妳知道，有些父母會說，

'I want' like this, it should be 'I would like'.

說"I want"是得不到妳要的東西的 。

You know, some parents have phrases like,

應該說I would like it或please can I have it？

'I want doesn't get'.

不要說I want，要說I would like。

It should be 'I would like it' or 'please can I have it?'

我還註意到了一些微妙的方面。

So don't say 'I want', say 'I would like'.

然後我想簡單地談談''Hedging''

So those are some sort of subtle aspects I've noticed.

以及如何使用它。

And then I just wanted to mention quickly

如果妳想說這種方式更好。

about hedging and how to use it.

I think this way might be better。

If you want to say 'this way is better'...

這樣說，妳就在句中加入了一種不確定感，

'I think this way might be better'

這讓妳聽起來更有禮貌。

So you're adding a sense of uncertainty

另一個例子是I don't know why，

which makes you sound more polite.

可以說成I'm not quite sure why。

Another example is 'I don't know why',

另一個，this was wrong。

can become 'I'm not quite sure why'.

可以說成I think there was something

Another one, 'this was wrong'.

that might not have been quite right here.

'I think there was something that

Could you take another look at...?

might not have been quite right here.

這樣說，妳就提出進一步的建議和要求。

Could you take another look at...?'

好吧，你們已經瞭解了所有這些華麗的語言，

So then you're offering further suggestions.

這些語言的加入使說話者聽起來不那麼刺耳，

Okay, so you can see all of this flowery language

不那麼直接，因此更有禮貌。

that's added in to make the speaker sound less harsh,

從這些例子可以看到英國人的說法是多麽囉嗦。

less direct and therefore more polite.

很多中文母語者覺得英國人的emails讀起來意思很模糊。

From these examples you can see

未來我會更具體地解釋這部分。可是下次影片的話題是：

how convoluted the British way of speaking is

推翻對亞洲人的刻板印象。

I know many Chinese speakers find

希望妳們會喜歡。謝謝收看，我是戴舒萱

English emails confusing.

我們下次見哦。

In the future, I'll talk about that

in more detail, but the topic of the next

video is discussing a stereotype against

East Asian people. I hope you like it.

Thank you for watching, I'm Susie, see you soon!