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Bad weather, bad food, and grumpy people. That’s what seems to come to mind first when some people think about Britain. Many online commentators even joke that Britons are so grumpy precisely because it constantly rains and they are always hungry.
惡劣的天氣，難吃的食物，脾氣暴躁的人，一些人提到英國時總是首先想到這些。許多網友甚至開玩笑說，英國人這么喜歡發脾氣，是因為那里老是下雨，他們還經常餓肚子。
But British pessimism isn’t just a fanciful claim — there’s evidence to support this notion. In 2011, a national Ipsos Mori poll found that more than 60 percent of respondents believed the UK was getting worse as a place to live and that it was unlikely that today’s youth would have a better life than their parents.
但英國人的悲觀情緒并非無中生有——有事實為證。2011年，英國伊普索?莫利調查機構的民意調查顯示，超過60%的調查對象認為英國越來越不宜居，現在的年輕人不太可能會過上比他們父母更好的生活。
An obvious reason for such pessimism is the 2008 global economic crisis, which the UK is still recovering from. Yet, many believe that Britons are inherently negative, in contrast to their neighbors across the Atlantic Ocean.
導致這種悲觀情緒的一個很明顯原因是2008年爆發的全球經濟危機，英國至今還沒有完全從這場危機中恢復過來。然而，有一部分人則認為英國人生來就消極，這與他們大西洋彼岸的鄰居截然相反。
“The big difference is the Americans are more optimistic. And that’s due to the fact that Americans are told, they can become the next president of the United States,” Ricky Gervais, a British comedian, told online forum Big Think. “British people are told, it won’t happen to you. And they carry that. They carry that with them. We champion the underdog.”
“與英國人相比，美國人更加樂觀。因為美國人會被告知他們有可能成為下一屆美國總統。”英國喜劇演員瑞奇?熱維斯在網絡視訊論壇“大思想”上說到：“而英國人則被告知，那種事不會發生在你身上。于是他們就一直揣著這種認知：我們是十足的失敗者。”
It’s no wonder that Britons’ reputation of having a “stiff upper lip” — being cold and not showing any emotion— precedes them.
難怪英國人比美國人更緘默、冷酷、不露情感。
Show of strength
奮武揚威
Britain’s reputation as a grumpy country may, however, simply be the result of a cultural misunderstanding. According to the BBC, British actor Michael Caine once said:
然而，英國之所以被看成一個脾氣暴躁的國家，坦白來說是源自文化差異所造成的誤解。據英國廣播公司報道，英國演員邁克爾?凱恩曾經說過：
“I think what is British about me is my feelings and awareness of others and their situations. English people are always known to be well-mannered and cold, but we are not cold — we don’t interfere in your situation. If we are heartbroken, we don’t scream in your face with tears — we go home and cry on our own. It’s completely to do with your comfort — we don’t intrude on your space. That’s very English.”
“我對英國人的認識來自自身的感受和對他人及其境況的理解。眾所周知，英國人向來很彬彬有禮、冷漠淡定。其實我們并非冷漠，而是不會干涉他人生活。如果我們受傷了，我們不會在你面前哭天喊地、淚流滿面；相反我們會回家獨自默默哭泣。這樣做完全是為了讓你心里好過，我們不會侵犯你的空間。這才是典型的英國人。”
A BBC reader noted that the perceived coldness of British people is actually their way of dealing with hardship. Remembering the terrorist attacks against London on July 7, 2005, Stuart Colley, who lived in the capital at the time, said: “It seemed to me that most people’s response was a grim determination to carry on and not to descend into an over-emotional outpouring of grief or anger — despite what many of us felt inside. Our stiff upper lip seems to be something that gives us strength as a society when we most need it.”
英國廣播公司的一位讀者說道，實際上，英國人就是利用這種冷漠來克服困難。記得2005年7月倫敦遭遇恐怖襲擊時，當時住在倫敦的斯圖爾特?科利說：“在我看來，大部分人都以堅韌的意志把持著，盡管我們中有很多人內心十分痛苦和憤怒，卻沒有因此情緒失控。在我們最需要的時候，緘默似乎能給我們帶來力量。”
