总道歉的人 Quora精选：英国人为什么总爱道歉？

Quora精选：英国人为什么总爱道歉？  

,Why do the British say 'sorry' so much?,英国人为什么那么愿意说“对不起”？,获得16.6k好评的回答@Lee Ballentine：,It means something different over there. In the United States, “sorry” has a few widely used meanings.,“sorry”这个词在英国的含义和别处完全不一样。在美国，“sorry”这个词有几个广泛应用的含义：,(1) As a form of apology. I’m sorry I kicked your shin.,（1）用来道歉。很抱歉踢到你腿了。,(2) As an expression of sympathy. I’m sorry for your loss.,（2）表达同情。对你的损失我深感遗憾。,(3) As an adjective meaning inadequate. You are a sorry specimen.,（3）形容“不合适”。你这个家伙不合适。,To these, the British add,说到这儿，英国人要补充一句,(4) As an interjection meaning “I didn’t hear you, could you repeat that?”,（4）用作插入语“我没听清，你能重复一下吗？”,A: "Lie nuff cacophany?",“谎话连篇？”,B: "Sorry?",“抱歉能再说一遍吗？”,A: "I said, would you like another cup of coffee?",“我说，你再来杯咖啡吗？”,获得70好评的回答@Nicholas Hayes：,I’m terribly sorry but we’re just doing it to be polite. Much like Japan, when your country develops it’s sense of manners under a system where armed warriors are the norm (knights/samurai), you tend to establish patterns of speech designed to reduce aggression.,我特别抱歉我们这样说只是为了表达礼貌。这一点跟日本人很像，当你们国家的礼仪是在武装力量常规化的体制（骑士和武士）下发展出来的话，你们就倾向于利用语言来降低攻击性。,At this point the swords are more or less gone, but the speech patterns are traditional and cultural so we carry on carrying on.,现在武力几乎已经消失了，但语言模式仍保留着传统和文化特点，所以我们继续说着“sorry”。,Sorry if that doesn’t illuminate it for you.,如果没解释明白我深感抱歉。,（翻译：菲菲）