異類之不一樣的成功啟示錄 第130期:說話的方式的重要性

The captain is desperate: "Tell them we are in an emergency!"

機(jī)長有點(diǎn)絕望：“告訴他們我們情況危急！”

And what does Klotz say?

聽聽克魯茲說了些什么？

That's right to one-eight-zero on the heading and, ah, we'll try once again. We're running out of fuel.

“我們正在18000英尺的右上方，嗯，我們將再試一次，我們的燃油快用完了。”

To begin with, the phrase "running out of fuel" has no meaning in Air Traffic Control terminology.

首先，對(duì)于空管員來說，“油量不足”是飛行員們的習(xí)慣說法，

All planes, as they approach their destination, are by definition running out of fuel.

這是所有飛行員在即將到達(dá)目的地時(shí)慣用的一句話。

Did Klotz mean that 052 no longer had enough fuel to make it to another, alternative airport?

克魯茲是想表明他們的燃油是否能支持他們?nèi)チ硪粋€(gè)備選機(jī)場(chǎng)？

Did he mean they are beginning to get worried about their fuel?

或是想表明他們開始擔(dān)心燃油不足？

Next, consider the structure of the critical sentence.

第二點(diǎn)，看看這段重要句子的結(jié)構(gòu)問題。

Klotz begins with a routine acknowledgement of the instructions from Air Traffic Control and doesn't mention his concern about fuel until the second half of the sentence.

克魯茲是用ATC習(xí)以為常的術(shù)語來開場(chǎng)的，直到第二句話他才提起，他有些擔(dān)心燃油問題。

It's as if he were to say in a restaurant, "Yes, I'll have some more coffee and, ah, I'm choking in a chicken bone."

這就好像他在餐館里對(duì)侍者說：“請(qǐng)給我來杯咖啡，因?yàn)槲冶浑u骨頭卡住了。”

How seriously would the waiter take him?

侍者會(huì)認(rèn)為他真的被雞骨頭卡住了嗎？

The Air Traffic Controller whom Klotz was speaking with testified later that "I just took it as a passing comment."

交管員稍后得到確認(rèn)，那天與克魯茲通話的人的確“沒當(dāng)回事”。

On storming nights, Air Traffic Controllers hear pilots talking about running out of fuel all the time.

在一個(gè)風(fēng)雨交加的夜晚，交管員會(huì)隨時(shí)聽到飛行員們?nèi)加陀帽M的信息。

Even the "ah" that Klotz inserts between the two halves of his sentence serves to undercut the importance of what he's saying.

據(jù)那天為52號(hào)航班提供指令的交管員反映，副駕的語氣非常冷靜，

Klotz spoke, according to another of the controllers who handled 052 that night, "in a very nonchalant manner.... There was no urgency in the voice."

甚至在他說的兩句話之間還加了“嗯”，這就更加弱化了他所描述事態(tài)的嚴(yán)重性。

The term used by linguists to describe what Klotz was engaging in in that moment is "mitigated speech," which refers to any attempt to modify or sugarcoat the meaning of what's being said.

語言學(xué)家稱克魯茲那一刻所使用的語氣為“舒緩語氣”，這是指他在試圖修飾并且美化自已所要表達(dá)的信息。

We mitigate when we're being polite, or when we're ashamed or embarrassed, or when we're being deferential to authority.

當(dāng)我們?cè)噲D表示禮貌時(shí)，我們會(huì)使用舒緩語氣；當(dāng)我們?cè)诟械綉M愧或?qū)擂螘r(shí)，我們會(huì)使用舒緩語氣；或者當(dāng)我們?yōu)榱吮硎緦?duì)權(quán)威的敬畏時(shí)，我們也使用舒緩語氣。

If you want your boss to do you a favor, you don't say, "I'll need this by Monday."

如果你想讓你的老板幫你做件事，你不會(huì)說：“我星期一就要。”

You mitigate. You say, "Don't bother, if it's too much trouble, but if you have a chance to look at this over the weekend, that would be wonderful."

你會(huì)舒緩地說：“如果不是很麻煩的話，您要是有時(shí)間，就請(qǐng)幫忙在周末的時(shí)候看看，我將十分感激。”

In a situation like that, mitigation is entirely appropriate.

在這種情況下，舒緩語氣是十分恰當(dāng)?shù)摹?/p>

In other situations, however-like a cockpit on a stormy night-it's a problem.

然而，在其他時(shí)候，比如在那個(gè)風(fēng)雨交加夜晚的駕駛艙里——這就是個(gè)很嚴(yán)重的問題。