地道英语

Read the room 察言观色

内容简介

主持人 Phil 和菲菲因工作繁忙，不得不取消假期计划。可办公室里另一个部门的同事们却在大声地炫耀自己的度假安排，完全不顾他人的感受。主持人 Phil 和菲菲说他们应该 “read the room”。听下面的对话，学习如何用 “地道英语” 短语 “read the room” 告诉他人 “有点眼力见吧”。

文字稿

（关于台词的备注: 请注意这不是广播节目的逐字稿件。本文稿可能没有体现录制、编辑过程中对节目做出的改变。）

Phil
Welcome to Authentic Real English, with me, Phil…

Feifei
And me, Feifei.

Phil
We have a phrase which is about being able to judge how the people around you think or feel. 

Feifei
'Read the room'. 这个短语怎么用呢？咱们来给大家举个例子吧。 

Phil
Well, you know that we're all so busy at work, we had to cancel our holidays to make sure everything gets done. 

Feifei
I know! Terrible! I'd been planning to go somewhere for ages, and now that's all ruined. 

Phil
Someone from the other team came in and started talking about the great holiday they're going on next week. He tried to get us interested in it, but none of us want to talk about holidays right now – he needs to learn to read the room! 

Feifei
哈哈，是的。这位同事确实需要学习如何 “read the room”。“Read the room” 的字面意思是 “读懂房间”，实际意思是 “观察、理解、评估周围的环境，了解在场人的情绪和态度，以便选用恰当的言语或行动”。通俗地说，“read the room” 想表达的意思就是 “要有眼力见，注意观察眼前的气氛”。Well, some people just don't get it, do they? You'd think they'd be able to read the room from people's reactions. 

Phil
No, he just kept going on about it, saying how nice the beaches are and how great the weather is where he's going. He definitely wasn't reading the room.

Examples
You've been talking to us about football for 15 minutes now – none of us care. Read the room! 

Look, the three of us have given up sugar, and you're offering us doughnuts? Come on, learn to read the room!

You're always complaining, but read the room – none of the rest of us feel like that. 

Feifei
你正在收听的是 BBC英语教学的 “地道英语” 节目。我们正在学习 “read the room” 这个短语。它的意思是 “判断你周围的人的感受或他们对某事的看法”。 

“Read the room”和我们汉语中常说的 “察言观色” 的意思基本一样。 不过，“read the room” 多数情况下都被用来提醒某人 “注意点场合，有点眼力见吧！”

Phil
Yes, it's often used in the imperative to criticise someone who isn't doing it. If they say something inappropriate, or just something that no one else is interested in. Now, Feifei, did I tell you about my new hobby?

Feifei
Read the room, Phil! I don't want to hear any more about your stamp collecting. 

Phil
Maybe I do need to learn to read the room better! 

Feifei
You do that. We'll see you again next time. 

Phil
Bye! 

Feifei
Bye-bye.