Ever been told by a new neighbour ‘You must come for dinner’ then spent weeks waiting for a follow-up invitation that never arrives?

　　曾經遇到過新鄰居對你說“你得過來吃個晚飯”，可幾個禮拜后邀請遲遲不來？

　　電影《四個婚禮和一個葬禮》中的休·格蘭特是英式禮貌的典型。 Rex Features 攝

　　Or been thrilled when the boss said he’d bear your ‘very interesting’ idea in mind and been surprised when it was never mentioned again。

　　或者是激動地聽到上司說他會記住你“非常有趣”的想法，卻驚訝他再也沒提過這件事？

　　Then you’ve been victim of the uniquely British trait of being too prim and polite to say what we really mean. And if it can be baffling for us, imagine what it must be like for foreigners who take our every word at face value。

　　那你就是擁有獨特特征的英式英語的受害者了，英式英語對于表達真實所想來說太過拘謹、禮貌了。其實對于英國人來說，想想外國人可能會把他們的每句話信以為真，也挺令人困擾的。

　　Now there’s help in the form of a translation table which has become a huge hit on the internet。

　　現在這里有一張在網上引起熱議的翻譯表，能對你有所幫助。

WHAT THE BRITISH SAY

　　英國人說的

WHAT THE BRITISH MEAN

　　英國人實際表達的

WHAT OTHERS UNDERSTAND

　　別人所理解的

　　I hear what you say

　　我聽到你說什么了

　　I disagree and do not want to discuss it further

　　我不同意也不想繼續討論下去了

　　He accepts my point of view

　　他接受了我的觀點

　　With the greatest respect

　　懷著最高的敬意

　　You are an idiot

　　你是一個白癡

　　He is listening to me

　　他在聽我說

　　That's not bad

　　那不算壞

　　That's good

　　不錯

　　That's poor

　　那很差勁

　　That is a very brave proposal

　　這是一個非常勇敢的提議

　　You are insane

　　你瘋了

　　He thinks I have courage

　　他認為我很有勇氣

　　Quite good

　　真不錯

　　A bit disappointing

　　有一點令人失望

　　Quite good

　　真不錯

　　I would suggest

　　我認為

　　Do it or be prepared to justify yourself

　　按我認為的去做或證明你的想法

　　Think about the idea, but do what you like

　　考慮他的說法，但按自己想的做

　　Oh, incidentally/by the way

　　哦，順便提一下

　　The primary purpose of our discussion is

　　這次討論的主要目的是

　　That is not very important

　　那并不是很重要

　　I was a bit disappointed that

　　我對此有點失望

　　I am annoyed that

　　我被惹惱了

　　It doesn't really matter

　　沒關系

　　Very interesting

　　非常有趣

　　That is clearly nonsense

　　那簡直是胡說八道

　　They are impressed

　　那令人印象深刻

　　I'll bear it in mind

　　我會記住的

　　I've forgotten it already

　　我已經忘了

　　They will probably do it

　　他們大概會這么做

　　I'm sure it's my fault

　　我確信這是我的錯

　　It's your fault

　　這是你的錯

　　Why do they think it was their fault?

　　為什么他們覺得是他們的錯？

　　You must come for dinner

　　你得過來吃晚飯

　　It's not an invitation, I'm just being polite

　　這并不是一個邀請，我只是表示禮貌

　　I will get an invitation soon

　　我很快就會受到邀請

　　I almost agree

　　我差不多同意了

　　I don't agree at all

　　我根本不同意

　　He's not far from agreement

　　他差不多同意了

　　I only have a few minor comments

　　我只有一些次要意見

　　Please rewrite completely

　　請全部重寫

　　He has found a few typos

　　他只找到了一些印刷錯誤

　　Could we consider some other options

　　我們能考慮下別的選擇嗎

　　I don't like your idea

　　我不喜歡你的主意

　　They have not yet decided

　　他們還沒決定

　　It reveals that when a British person begins a sentence ‘With the greatest respect...’, they’re really saying ‘I think you are an idiot.’

　　表格揭露了當一個英國人用“懷著最高的敬意”為一句句子開頭，他們實際想說的是“我認為你是一個白癡”。

　　‘I hear what you say’ means ‘I disagree and do not want to discuss it further’ while ‘That is a very brave proposal’ translates as ‘You are insane’。

　　“我聽到你說什么了” 代表“我不同意也不想繼續討論下去了”，“這是一個勇敢的提議”代表“你瘋了”。

　　The table, which has been posted on numerous internet blogs, has received thousands of comments acknowledging that it’s spot on–from foreigners and Britons alike。

　　這張表格被放到許多博客中后，收到許多外國人和英國人本身的贊同，承認這極其正確。