Cheers, oh and ta for dinner: The traditional 'thank you' is being usurped by snappier ways to show thanks, like 'Wicked', 'You star' and 'Cool' |
If you do someone a good turn today, don’t expect a thank you. ‘Cheers’, ‘ta’ or even ‘wicked’ is the more likely response, if a survey is to be believed. Research among computer users suggests that the traditional expression of gratitude has fallen by the wayside. Almost half of those polled said they now use ‘cheers’ more often than ‘thank you’. Four out of ten said ‘thank you’ sounded too formal - so they used more catchy, chatty words such as ‘fab’, ‘lovely’ or ‘wicked’. A third said they would often just resort to a quick wave instead of saying ‘thank you’. And 77 percent said that any of the words used to say thanks were irrelevant, believing a pleasant gesture works just as well. The poll of 3,000 people was carried out by the online gift store Me to You. Spokesman Caroline Weaver said: ‘While the great British public might feel uncomfortable saying thank you these days, they do like to show their gratitude in other ways. ‘Respondents felt it didn’t matter how you thanked someone for their kind actions, as long as you did so in a friendly and polite way. ‘At the end of the day everyone knows that a big smile and some form of acknowledgment is all it takes to show we are grateful.’ According to the survey, two thirds of respondents believed Britain was a ‘rude’ nation and 84 percent think others should make more of an effort to show appreciation. (Read by Renee Haines. Renee Haines is a journalist at the China Daily Web site.) (Agencies) |
一項(xiàng)調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn),如果你幫了別人一個忙,別以為他會說“thank you(謝謝你)”,他很可能說cheers(謝謝)、ta(謝了)或wicked(真棒)等詞語來表達(dá)對你的感謝。 一項(xiàng)對互聯(lián)網(wǎng)用戶開展的調(diào)查顯示,如今人們已不再愛用傳統(tǒng)的詞語來表達(dá)感激。 近一半的受訪者稱,相比于thank you,他們現(xiàn)在更喜歡用cheers來表達(dá)感謝。 四成受訪者說thank you聽起來太正式,所以他們用fab(太好了)、lovely(太可愛了)或wicked(太棒了)等一些容易記住、更加口語化的詞來表示感謝。 三分之一的人說他們經(jīng)常會簡單地?fù)]一揮手來表示感謝,而不說thank you。 77%的人說任何用來表達(dá)感謝的詞語都不是太合適,不如用一個友好的動作來表達(dá)效果好。 這項(xiàng)共有3000人參與的調(diào)查是由英國網(wǎng)上禮品店Me to You開展的。 Me to You的發(fā)言人卡洛琳?韋弗說:“盡管如今英國民眾可能不太習(xí)慣說thank you,但他們還是會用其他方式來表達(dá)感激。 “無論你用何種方式來表示對別人的感謝,只要你的方式是友好禮貌的就可以了。 “總之,每個人都知道一個燦爛的笑容和某種形式的認(rèn)可是我們表達(dá)感激的最好方式?!?/p> 該調(diào)查顯示,三分之二的受訪者認(rèn)為英國是一個“粗魯”的國度,84%的人認(rèn)為英國人應(yīng)該多學(xué)學(xué)如何表達(dá)感謝。 相關(guān)閱讀 英國人不再愿意排隊(duì) 網(wǎng)絡(luò)讓人失去耐心 (中國日報(bào)網(wǎng)英語點(diǎn)津 陳丹妮 編輯:蔡姍姍) |
Vocabulary: do sb. a good turn: 為某人做了一件好事,幫了某人的忙 cheers: thank you 謝謝 ta: thank you 謝謝 wicked: very good 極好的;很棒的 fall by the wayside: to fail or be unable to make progress in something 半途而廢;中輟 fab: extremely good 極好的;絕妙的 resort to: 訴諸 irrelevant: not applicable 不符實(shí)際需要的 make more of an effort: 做出更大的努力 |