評論
打印
Now, I'm sure most of you have seen the movie "Fargo."
我相信你們中大多數人都看過《冰血暴》這部電影
And you might remember the scene in which the kidnapper is pulled over by a police officer,
你們可能還記得其中的一段：一個警官要綁匪把車開到路邊
is asked to show his driver's license and holds his wallet out
叫他出示駕照，綁匪把錢包拿出來
with a 50-dollar bill extending at a slight angle out of the wallet.
有一張50美元的鈔票以一個小角度從錢包里伸出來
And he says, "I was just thinking that maybe we could take care of it here in Fargo,"
然后綁匪說，“我在想，或許在法哥鎮這個鬼地方我們倆得共同保管這個”
which everyone, including the audience, interprets as a veiled bribe.
每個人，包括觀眾都理解為含蓄地提出賄賂
This kind of indirect speech is rampant in language.
這種間接表意在語言中泛濫
For example, in polite requests, if someone says, "If you could pass the guacamole, that would be awesome,"
比如說在禮貌地提要求時，如果有人說，“如果你把鱷梨色拉醬遞過來就太棒了”
we know exactly what he means, even though that's a rather bizarre concept being expressed.
我們太清楚他是什么意思了，盡管字面上表達出來是個很別扭的概念
"Would you like to come up and see my etchings?"
“您愿意來看一下我的蝕刻版畫嗎？”
I think most people understand the intent behind that.
我想大多數人理解這么說的意圖
And likewise, if someone says, "Nice store you've got there. It would be a real shame if something happened to it"
同樣的，倘若有人說，“呦，你的店真不錯。要是發生了點什么事兒可就不好了”
we understand that as a veiled threat, rather than a musing of hypothetical possibilities.
我們知道這是個委婉的威脅，而不是在思考假設的可能性
So the puzzle is, why are bribes, polite requests, solicitations and threats so often veiled?
所以我們說的謎題就是：為什么賄賂、禮貌的要求、懇請、威脅經常要遮遮掩掩的？
No one's fooled. Both parties know exactly what the speaker means,
沒人是傻子。雙方都知道談話人說的是什么
and the speaker knows the listener knows that the speaker knows that the listener knows, etc., etc.
談話人也知道聽者心里清楚，談話人知道聽者心里清楚，等等，等等
So what's going on?
所以這是在干嘛呢？
I think the key idea is that language is a way of negotiating relationships,
關鍵是在于語言是磋商人際關系的一種途徑
and human relationships fall into a number of types.
而人際關系分為許多種
