Lift
An American visiting England walked into a hotel lobby and pushed a button for elevator service.“The lift will be down presently,”said a nearby clerk.
“The lift?”said the American.“Oh,you mean the elevator.”
“No,I mean the lift,”replied the Englishman,annoyed by the American' s arrogance.
“I think I should know what it's called,” said the American.“After all,elevators were invented in the United States.”
“Perhaps,”retorted the Englishman.“But the language was invented here.”
電 梯
一位在英國(guó)訪問(wèn)的美國(guó)人走進(jìn)酒店大堂,撳下電梯按鈕。身旁一位酒店工作人員說(shuō)道,“Lift馬上就下來(lái)。”
“Lift?”美國(guó)人問(wèn)。“哦,你說(shuō)的是elevator吧。”
美國(guó)人的傲慢使英國(guó)人感到討厭,他回答說(shuō),“不,我說(shuō)的是lift。”
“我想我知道它叫什么,”美國(guó)人說(shuō)。“不管怎么說(shuō),電梯是在美國(guó)發(fā)明的。”
“那可能,”英國(guó)人反駁說(shuō)。“但這種語(yǔ)言是在這個(gè)國(guó)家發(fā)明的。”
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