禮節(jié)美語:Lesson 169 Saving Face 1

所屬教程:禮節(jié)美語

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Jerry要去中國出差，找同事Amy請教。

Jerry: Hey Amy...your family is from China, right?

A:Yep. I was born and raised in Shanghai. Why do you ask?

J: Well, I hope you don't mind...but I'm planning a business trip to China soon and I was wondering if you could give me some pointers.

A: You mean like where to go for food or shopping?

J: That would be good, too. But I'm actually hoping you might give me some insights into doing business in China.

A: Ah...sure! I think I can help. Do you have a specific question?

Jerry準備去中國出差，希望Amy能給自己點建議give me some pointers. pointer is spelled p-o-i-n-t-e-r, pointer是指點，建議的意思。Amy從小在上海長大，看來Jerry算是找對人了。Jerry并不是想了解吃飯、購物的事，而是想知道在中國做生意的一些規(guī)矩。

J: Well, for starters, what do they mean by "saving face?"

A: "Saving face" is a catch-all term for the concept of honor. In China there is a protocol to everything and it should be followed, otherwise you and the other party might be embarrassed.

J: So in short...saving face is about avoiding embarrassment?

A: Exactly. Say you're late to a meeting. This would cause you to lose face.

For starters, 首先，Jerry想知道什么是有面子，saving face. Amy解釋說，saving face is a catch-all term for the concept of honor. 有面子包括了所有跟榮譽和顏面有關的問題。

這里所說的catch-all is spelled c-a-t-c-h, catch, a-l-l, all, catch-all，意思是全部包含、統(tǒng)統(tǒng)適用的。Amy說，中國人干什么都講究規(guī)矩，protocol, p-r-o-t-o-c-o-l, protocol, 按規(guī)矩做事，大家都有面子，破壞了規(guī)矩，就會讓人lose face，丟臉，比如說開會遲到。

J: How can you go about regaining your "face", or your honor?

A: It depends on how serious the offense was. If you were late, you can repeatedly apologize and the other person will probably forgive you.

J: But I would need to apologize more times than I would if I was late here in America?

A: Yes. Make many apologies. The person will probably say it's not a big deal, but in fact it could be a pretty big deal to them, so make sure to say sorry if you make a mistake.

如何才能regain face挽回面子呢？Amy說，這要看你錯誤的嚴重程度。It depends on how serious the offense was. 如果開會遲到，你最好使勁道歉，請求對方原諒。對方可能嘴上會說，it's not a big deal，沒什么大不了的，但事實上，他們心里可能非常在意，所以一定要再三道歉。