【新編大學英語】(第二冊)Unit 7 B 特有的禁忌(1/3)
來源:滬江聽寫酷
2013-06-20 08:15
Hints:
Easter
America
Japanese
Korean
Chinese
United States
Britain
一處連字符
一處破折號
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If someone gave you a lily at any time other than Easter, you might be surprised because in our culture a lily is regarded as a symbol of death. Husbands here might feel hurt if some well-intentioned visitor gave their wives sexy undergarments. Those are just two examples of taboo gifts in America.
So it is with other cultures. We can't possibly mention all of the taboos here - indeed, they probably are not all listed anywhere. However, the following list covers some key taboos:
?The Japanese customarily wrap their gifts in paper, but they don't use white paper (color of death); they don't use bright colored paper; and they don't use bows.
?Don't give four of anything to a Japanese or Korean; it is the “bad luck" number, like the number 13 in many cultures including the United States and Britain.
?Don't give a clock to a Chinese; the word for clock in Chinese has a funeral connotation to it.
如果有人在復活節(jié)以外的日子里送你一朵百合花,你可能會吃驚,因為在我們的文化中,百合花被以為是死亡的象征。在這里,如果某個好心的客人送給女主人性感內(nèi)衣,他們的丈夫會感到難受。這不僅僅是美國送禮禁忌中的兩個例子。
別的文化也有自己的禁忌。我們不可能在此一一列舉所有的禁忌——事實上,也許在任何地方都找不到這樣一份單子。不過,下面列舉的都是一些重要的禁忌:
? 按照習俗,日本人用紙包禮物,但不用白紙(白色是死亡的顏色),不用色彩鮮艷的紙,也不用蝴蝶結。
? 不要給日本人或朝鮮人送任何數(shù)目為4的東西,這個數(shù)字表示“不吉利”,就像在英美等許多文化中的“13”一樣。
?不要給中國人送鐘,“鐘”這個字在漢語中會讓人聯(lián)想到葬禮。