Poor show: Inattentive service is seen as a good reason to remain tight-lipped |
Millions of Brits have ditched the traditional 'thank you' and replaced it with the less formal 'cheers', according to a poll. Although the average person will say 'thank you' nearly 5,000 times a year, one in three are more likely to throw in a 'cheers' or 'ta' where it's needed, rather than risk sounding old fashioned. One in 20 now say 'nice one' instead, while younger generations are more likely to offer a 'cool' than a thank you. 'Merci', 'fab' and even 'gracias' were also listed as common phrases to use, as was 'much appreciated'. One in twenty who took part in the poll of 2,000 people by the Food Network UK for Thank You Day, which is marked on November 24 said a formal 'thank you' was now not often needed in everyday conversation. More than one in ten adults said they regularly won't say thank you if they are in a bad mood. Most people claimed that saying thank you was something drilled into them by their parents, but four in ten will utter a thank you purely out of habit. A huge 70 percent of those questioned will say thank you to a person's face without even meaning it, while a fifth avoid saying it when they know they should - on at least two occasions every day. It seems our friends and family get the brunt of our bad manners with half admitting they're rubbish at thanking those closest to them - many justifying the lack of thanks because their family 'already know I'm grateful.' When spoken words won't do, it falls to a nice text to do the job for most people. A thank you email is also popular, while a quarter turn to social networks to express gratitude. A quarter of Britons say thank you with food, with 23 percent cooking a meal to show their appreciation to someone. Another 15 percent bake a cake. A third will still send a handwritten thank you note - but 45 percent confess it’s been more than six months since they bothered to send one. It follows that 85 percent of people will be annoyed at not getting the gratitude they feel they deserve. (Read by Nelly Min. Nelly Min is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies) |
根据一项民意调查,数百万英国人不再用传统的thank you来表达谢意,代之以不太正式的cheers。 尽管英国人一般每年会说近5000次thank you,但是有三分之一的人在需要表达谢意时更喜欢说cheers或ta,而不想显得太老套。 二十分之一的英国人现在用nice one来代替thank you,年轻一代表达谢意则更喜欢说cool。 Merci、fab以及gracias也是英国人常用的表达谢意的用语,much appreciated也是。 有2000人参与了英国食品网为11月24日的“感谢日”开展的这一民意调查。二十分之一的被调查者说,现在日常谈话中不大需要用正式的thank you来表达谢意。超过十分之一的英国成人说,如果他们心情不好的话,一般不说thank you。 大多数人称,说thank you是父母教化的结果,十分之四的人说thank you完全是出于习惯。 多达70%的被调查者可以心中毫无感激之情却依然能对着一个人说thank you。五分之一的人在自己知道该说谢谢的时候尽量避免——每天至少两次。 我们的朋友和家人似乎是我们无礼态度的最大受气包,有半数被调查者承认自己在向最亲的人表达感谢这方面做得很糟——许多人为不说谢谢做的辩解是自己的家人“已经知道我很感激”。 大多数人在感谢的话说不出口时,就用善意的文字来表达。 致谢电子邮件也比较流行,还有四分之一的人求助于社交网络来表达感激之情。 四分之一的英国人用食物来表达谢意,23%的人通过做饭来向某人表示感激,还有15%的人通过烤蛋糕来表达。 三分之一的人还会送手写的致谢便笺,不过其中有45%的人承认已经有六个多月没写过致谢便笺了。 调查还发现,85%的人如果没得到自己认为应得的感谢,会感到恼怒。 相关阅读 (中国日报英语点津 陈丹妮 编辑:Julie) |
Vocabulary: ditch: 抛弃,丢弃 ta: 谢谢 Merci: <法> 谢谢 fab: =fabulous 极好的 gracias: <西班牙> 谢谢 drill: 操练,训练 brunt: 最沉重(或强烈)的部分 fall to: 成为……的责任(或任务) turn to: 求助于;转向 bother to do sth.: 费心去做某事 |