英国：永远都和天气相关

文/Diego

Oscar Wilde once said that：“Conversation about the weather is the last refuge of the unimaginative.”

According to a recent research,almost 40% of British people talked about weather with others in every hour,and every 6 hours,more than 94% had a conversation about weather.Why are British people so obsessed with the weather？

奥斯卡·王尔德曾经说过：“谈论天气是没有想象力的英国人最后的避难所。”

研究显示，在英国，每个小时有近40%的人跟他人讨论天气，且每6个小时就有高达94%的人谈论过天气。为什么英国人跟天气如此过不去？

Geographic Location

地理位置使然

As an island country,the UK is mostly surrounded by the ocean,with a temperate climate butever fluctuating weather.Although the difference between

作为一个岛国，英国几乎四面环海，气候温和，但天气多变。虽然the highest temperature and the lowest in the year can be as little as 10 degrees Celsius,the average Brit can experiencefourseasonsin one day：from a warm sunny morning to a cold breezy evening.In the UK,even weather forecasters cannot catch up the speed that weather changes.Therefore,British people always have an umbrella with them,just in case of rain.Foreigners whoarenew totheUK mightnotunderstand the overcautious British people with coat and umbrella,but after they live in the UK for a while themselves,they pick up this British habit very fast naturally.

The unpredictable weatherhas caused British people talk about it all the time,because they have to discuss and consider it,due to its unpredictability.The overall not-so-warm weather in the UK also turned British people warm-weather obsessive.Maybe not all people love the heat,butthe factis,when the weatherman talks about upcoming sunny days,he always sounds happier than announcing the coming winter.全年平均温度在最热和最冷的月份之间只相隔10摄氏度，但英国人在一天内能经历四个季节：从一个春天般阳光明媚的早晨到一个寒冬般冷风四起的夜晚。连天气预报都无法准确预计天气变化的速度。因此，英国人出门总是随身带着一把伞，以备不时之需。初到英国的外国人，可能对英国人总是带着外套和雨伞的行为表示不能理解，甚至觉得他们过于谨慎，但在英国生活一段时间之后，他们自然就学会了这一典型的英国式行为。

正是因为天气难以预测，使得英国人一直谈论它。还有什么比天气变化莫测让人不得不讨论和关心的呢？英国整体偏低的气温，使英国人对阳光温暖的天气到了全民皆迷的程度。也许不是所有人都喜欢艳阳天，但事实是，当天气预报员提到即将到来的晴天时，他的语调总是比宣布即将到来的冬天更轻快和喜悦。

Politeness with a Distance

要礼貌也要距离

The British are not known for being outgoing.In fact,politeness with distance is more the British way.If you ever want to start a conversation with a British person,weather can never go wrong.“Rain again？ ”“It’s sunny,isn’t it？” “Nice summer,isn’t it？ ”

英国人向来不以外向闻名。相反，彬彬有礼但是保持距离更像英国人的作派。如果你想跟素不相识的英国人打开话匣子，天气就是利器之一。“又下雨啦？”“太阳出来了。”“夏天真好呀。”“今年冬天真暖和呀。”这些都是可以跟陌生人开始一段对话的开场白。 无论多么含蓄、内向的英国人，在听到跟天气有关的搭讪后，都会礼貌地回应。

对于谨慎、内敛的英国人来说，天气是最安全的话题。因为天“What a nice winter this is,isn’t it？”All these can be nice icebreakers. No matter how shy and introverted a British person is,he or she will always respond to your weather talk.

For cautious and introverted British people,weather is always the safest topic.Because weather is a neutral thing,which has nothing to do with personal interest,habit or private life.However,when people talk aboutweather,they can alwaysadd a little bitof personal opinions and feelings to it,which reflects their habits and personalities.If two people happen to share the same attitude towards different weather,then it’s always a good start for a deeper conversation.

There is an unspoken“agree rule” in British culture,especially when it comes to weather.Nearly 100%of the time,a British person will start a weather conversation in the form of questions, instead of statements.No matter what the listener’s real thought is,he or she should always agree.For example,when you hear“Raining again,isn’t it”，you should say“Yes,it is”.Or the response to “A hot day,isn’t it”is better be “Yes,it is hot”.Because when somebody initiated the conversation with a rhetorical question like that,they are notexpecting a serious discussion about weather,but rather,a different way of greetings.

When you are in the UK,don’t take weather too seriously.Simply agree with others about the weather,and add some positive personal opinions,then you are on your way making some friends and carrying on many“British talks”.气是中性词，与个人兴趣、习惯或私人生活无关。而人们谈论天气的时候，每个人都可以加上个人情感和看法，间接地展示自己的爱好和性格。假如对话的两个人对不同天气的感觉和态度正好一致，那就一拍即合，可以多聊几句。

英国人在谈论天气的时候，几乎总是用问句而不用陈述句，这是英国文化中不可言说的“赞同定律”。不管你内心是否真的同意对方的说法，口头上都可以简单应允。如“又下雨了？”“对呀，又下雨了。”“今天很热，不是吗？”“对呀，挺热的。”因为当一个人说出这样一个反问句的时候，并不是要和对方进行严肃的天气讨论，而只是换个方式说“你好”罢了。

在英国，不要对天气太当真，简单地同意别人对天气发表的言论，再表达一些积极向上的个人观点，你就可以轻松结交不少朋友，进行很多“英式对话”了。

（中文仅供文意参考，请勿逐字逐句对比学习）

1.refuge：n. 避难所

2.obsessed：adj.着迷的；无法摆脱的；obsessive,adj.萦绕于心的；有执著想法的

3.fluctuate：v. 波动；涨落 4.breezy：adj. 有微风的；微风吹过的

5.unpredictable：adj.无法预言的；不可预测的 6.introverted：adj.内向的；含蓄的

7.neutral：adj. 中立的；中性的 8.initiate：v. 开始；发起

9.rhetorical：adj.修辞的