Interpreting a Laugh
文章来源:未知 文章作者:enread 发布时间:2012-06-28 02:35 字体: [ ]  进入论坛
(单词翻译:双击或拖选)

Huihua, a Chinese student, and Mary, an American student studying Chinese in China, were on their way to a bookstore. As they got to the bookstore, they saw a young man walking down a flight of stairs. In his hurry, he missed the last two steps, and fell on the ground. He struggled to get back to his feet while people around him laughed. Fortunately, he seemed to be O. K.

Mary was worried. She found Huihua smiling a little and was not comfortable about it. "Tell me, Huihua, how could people laugh when someone fell like that? Do they care at all? Shouldn't they go up and ask the young man whether he was hurt?"

Huihua said, "They knew he wasn't hurt too much."

"But I still don't understand. A fall is a fall. In my culture, people would do anything but laugh!"

Chinese perspective

This is another example in which the Chinese and the Westerner interpret1 a smile differently. As mentioned in the last case, Chinese people resort to laugh or smile when they feel embarrassed. Very often, the person caught in the embarrassing situation would also laugh or make a joke, to ease the embarrassment2. However, if someone gets hurt seriously, it will not be a laughing matter any more. People will help him/her instead.

North American perspective

A Westerner would interpret laughter in such a setting as a sign of either insensitivity or, worse, pleasure that the person falling had hurt himself/herself because that person was disliked. A Westerner's response would have been to rush over, assist the person up, and to inquire about5 any injury by saying something like, "Are you okay?" If a Westerner fell, they, like a Chinese person, might attempt to make a joke out of the incident if they were not hurt. If two close friends are walking together, and one trips but clearly isn't hurt, a common joke is to say "Have a nice trip"— a pun based on two very different meanings of "trip": one meaning a vacation, the other meaning "to stumble3". However, this joke would be made only between two people who knew each other well.



点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 interpret G5lxP     
vt.解释,说明,理解;vi.作口译
参考例句:
  • We have to interpret his words in a modern light.我们不得不用现代观点来解释他的话。
  • Please interpret the comments of our foreign guest.请把外宾的话翻译一下。
2 embarrassment fj9z8     
n.尴尬;使人为难的人(事物);障碍;窘迫
参考例句:
  • She could have died away with embarrassment.她窘迫得要死。
  • Coughing at a concert can be a real embarrassment.在音乐会上咳嗽真会使人难堪。
3 stumble KG1zX     
n.绊倒,失策;vi.绊倒,失策,踌躇,无意中发现;vt.绊倒,困惑
参考例句:
  • Be grateful to those who have made you stumble,for they have strengthened your ability.感激绊倒你的人,因为他强化了你的能力。
  • You never knew when you might stumble across some new talent.谁也说不准什么时候会碰上一位新的天才。
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