英國人才懂的愛稱與罵名

英國人才懂的愛稱與罵名

　　人們總說英國人不愛流露情感，事實的確如此。至少在沒喝醉時，英國人總是扭扭捏捏，不習慣向親友表達愛意，經常回避直白露骨的抒情。相反，英國人傾向于用一種外人覺得奇怪的方式來釋放被克制的情感——他們喜歡用沒有惡意的責罵來表達愛意。如果你聽到英國人用一些攻擊性詞匯“罵”自己的家人朋友愛人，別吃驚，這些詞匯其實是他們表達喜愛與親昵的獨特方式。下面是五個看起來在“罵人”，但其實是表示友好的常用詞匯，不是英國人(即便能說英語)絕對聽不出里面的玄機!

　　It is often said that the British don't like showing emotion. It's certainly the case that - at least while sober - we do sometimes struggle to display affection towards our nearest and dearest, shunning gushy displays. A very common strategy for dealing with this emotional repression, however, which certainly baffles outsiders, is our tendency to show love through mild abuse.Hearing Brits refer to their family, friends, or even partners with seemingly offensive expressions may be surprising at first, but, more often than not, these are in fact affectionate, endearing terms. Here are five commonly heard'insults' that are actually pretty friendly – and will bamboozle any English speakers from outside of the UK。

　　Chump

　　這是我最喜歡的一個詞，因為我爸在我和我哥哥小的時候總對我們說。如果有人沒仔細思考就做了傻事，你就可以這么罵他。比如：“你又把作業丟進洗衣機了?!你這個Chump!”。顯然，“chump”可以看做是“chunk”(大塊)和“lump”(笨拙)的合體。所以“Chump”大概就是那種笨拙愚鈍的感覺。

　　One of my favourites, as my Dad would use it pretty liberally towards me and my brother when we were children.Referring to a person who's done something silly without putting in much thought - perhaps 'Your homework's in the washing machine again?! You chump!'Apparently, 'chump' can be thought of as a mix of the words 'chunk' and 'lump'- so basically, things that are, like a chump, a bit dense。

　　Silly-Billy

　　“Billy”是男名“William”的常見縮寫，歷史上比較出名的“William”有19世紀的威廉四世國王，他經常制造一些毫無意義的扯淡演講和愚蠢舉止，因此被人們嘲笑為“Silly-Billy”。這個短語因為朗朗上口而流傳了下來。現在，當某人犯糊涂時，他就會得到一句親切的“Silly-Billy”。比如：“離論文截止只剩一個小時了，他才開始趕論文?!真是個Silly-billy!”

　　'Billy' is a common shortening of the boy's name 'William'. King William IV (4th) in the 1800s was well-knownfor his rambling, nonsensical speeches and foolish manner, and so came to be known as 'Silly-Billy'. The phrase caught on, perhaps because of its catchy rhyme, and 'silly-billy' is now used as a term of endearment when someone's being a little daft. As in - 'He only started his essay this morning and the deadline's in an hour?! What a silly-billy!'

　　Twit

　　根據“在線語源詞典”，“twit”曾經是個動詞，意識是批評和指責。后來演變為一個名詞，指的是某些非得罵上一番的蠢人。英國有一本著名的兒童讀物叫《The Twits》，講述了一對頑皮的老夫婦成天在對方身上搞惡作劇。也許是這本書讓帶動了這個名詞的普及，不過日常應用中，Twits還是一個滿懷愛意的詞，用來形容那些無比親近卻又像那對老夫婦一樣讓人煩惱的人。

　　According to the 'Online Etymology Dictionary', 'twit' was once a verb, meaning to blame or reproach someone. It then developed into a noun - unsurprisingly, describing someone that needed blaming or reproaching for being foolish. There's a popular children's book in the UK called 'TheTwits', which describes a really nasty old couple who just play tricks on each other. This may have brought the word into common usage, but its everyday application is still quite affectionate, used towards someone nowhere near as horrible as the characters。

　　Numpty

　　2007年的一次投票結果顯示，“numpty”是蘇格蘭人最喜歡的詞，不過它在整個英國也被廣泛使用。據推測，它應該源于一個已經過時的詞“numps”，意思是愚蠢。“numpty”的意思就是有點白癡：“她走了三英里去還書結果發現書忘在家啦?真是numpty!”

　　According to a 2007 poll, 'numpty' is Scotland's favourite word, but it's also used throughout the wider UK. It supposedly derives from the now outdated word 'numps', meaning stupid. So, a 'numpty' is a bit of an idiot - 'She walked 3 miles to return the book but left it at home?! The numpty'。

　　Wally

　　如果說一個人“wally”，就是在說他有點愚鈍，沒把事情仔細思考清楚。這個單詞背后的故事不太明確，但是有個都市傳說：在20世紀60年代的一次音樂節上，一個叫Wally的樂迷(也有版本說是樂迷的狗)走丟了。人們花了一整個周末去找他，最后所有的觀眾都在叫著“Wally!Wally!”。這場鬧劇肯定持續了很久。有趣的是，美國的一本謎語書《Waldo在哪?》在英國被叫做《Wally在哪?》，很可能是因為Wally這個詞有著“傻”的含義，就像這本書一樣。

　　Someone who's a wally is probably also a bit of a chump -they just haven't thought things through very well. The story behind its originis a little dubious, but urban-legend has it that, at a 1960s music-festival, a festival-goer (or, in some accounts, his dog) named Wally got lost. The search for him lasted all weekend, and left the entire festival audience shouting 'Wally! Wally!'. It must have stuck. Interestingly, the US quiz book 'Where's Waldo?' is called 'Where's Wally?' in the UK, probably because 'Wally' has the connotations of being silly, just like the book itself。