關於世界各國文化的十大誤解(下)

French are Prone to Collapse in a Wave of Surrender

3.法國人容易投降

Shortly after the events following 9/11 that changed the United States in many ways, we were finding ourselves going to war in the Middle East.

9/11事件對美國各方面都產生了重大影響，而之後不久，美國士兵便投身中東戰場。

When France made the difficult choice not to help us – their ally – on this particular occasion, many people starting leveling very pointedly accusing fingers at them.

這種情形下，作爲盟友，法國左思右想後還是決定不幫助我們。因此，很多人強烈指責他們。

They were insulted by many publications and political figures in the United States, who essentially referred to the French people as cowards.

一些出版物和美國的政治人物辱罵他們，將法國人稱爲懦夫。

Some went so far as to quote a joking The Simpsons episode, and quite seriously call them "cheese eating surrender monkeys".

一些甚至引用《辛普森一家》中的一個情景，很嚴肅地稱他們爲"只會吃奶酪的投降猴子"。

People claimed that they surrendered easily in World War II, and that in general they are cowards who don't want to fight.

人們聲稱法國人在二戰中輕易投降，法國人是懦夫，不想戰鬥。

However, the truth is that the French are one of the most dangerous countries in the world, and always have been.

然而，事實是，法國是世界上最危險的國家之一，這一點從未改變。

Many people don't realize that the defeat in World War II may have been a defeat for France's leadership and infrastructure, but that the French warriors never once stopped fighting.

許多人沒有意識到，第二次世界大戰對法國的領導和基礎設施來說是一場失敗，但法國的戰士從未停止戰鬥。

France also has a long history of war, and currently wields the third largest nuclear stockpile in the entire world.

法國有着悠久的戰爭歷史，目前擁有整個世界第三大的核儲備。

The big two, the United States and Russia, are the only countries that can boast a significantly bigger nuclear stockpile than the French, and France still maintains one of the strongest and biggest standing armies in the world.

美國和俄羅斯這兩個大國，是世界上僅有的能夠擁有比法國更大核儲備兩個國家，而且法國軍隊仍然是世界上最強大的軍隊之一。

While France has been choosing to pick their battles more carefully in recent years, their reputation shows they are far from cowards, and more than prepared for serious engagements.

近年來，法國對於選擇需要參與的戰鬥愈加謹慎，種種事實顯示出他們不是懦夫，且隨時準備迎接嚴峻挑戰。。

Island of Jamaica is a 24/7 Weed Lover's Paradise

2.牙買加島是大麻愛好者的天堂

When most people think of a place where weed is considered as normal as eating, they think of the island of Jamaica.

若說有什麼地方吸大麻和吃飯一樣正常，很多人會想到牙買加島。

After all, it is the place where you are likely to find one of the highest concentrations of Rastafarians in the entire world, and as we all know, those who follow Rasta believe in smoking weed as part of a religious tradition.

該島上的拉斯特法裏教徒應該是世界上最多的，衆所周知，吸食大麻是拉斯特法裏教的一個宗教傳統。

However, religions are not always accepted fully by the law, even in countries where they are most popular. Despite what some may think, for the longest time weed has been severely illegal in Jamaica.

但是，即使在最推崇拉斯特法裏教的國家，吸食大麻也並沒有完全得到法律的許可。甚至有些人認爲，在牙買加島，長時間吸食大麻嚴重違反了法律。

Lots of weed is grown on the island but the government has done their best to crack down hard on illegal growing, smuggling, and even individual use.

雖然島上種植着很多大麻，但政府一直盡力鎮壓非法種植、走私及吸食大麻的行爲。

Just this year they relaxed some of the laws regarding use for personal or religious reasons. They have also relaxed some of the laws in an effort to gain more money from foreign tourism – especially with some US states now allowing medical marijuana to some degree.

今年，政府放鬆了對個人或宗教吸食大麻的法律要求。也放鬆了那些從外國遊客身上獲利的法律（尤其是來自美國部分州的遊客，這些地方已經允許把大麻作爲藥物使用），

However, this is only a small relaxation of the laws for individuals, and the country is still doing its best to prevent large scale growing or trafficking within the confines of the island.

但只是略微放鬆了對個人吸食大麻的限制，整個國家仍然在盡力阻止大麻的大規模種植和島內的非法交易。

The idea behind the new law is to allow for personal use, in order to accommodate the island's large Rasta population, but still fight the rise of large grow operations on the island.

允許個人吸食大麻只是爲島內的拉斯特法裏教徒考慮，大規模種植大麻仍然遭到反對。

German People are Mostly Humorless

1.大部分德國人都缺乏幽默感

The German people get called a lot of complimentary things.

德國人有許多值得稱讚的優點。

They are hardworking people, who tend to be rational, industrious, and with the large influx of refugees they take in every year, they have certainly proven themselves to be a caring people.

他們努力工作，理性，勤勞，每年接納大量難民，努力讓自己成爲一個善解人意的人。

However, most of Europe and the rest of the world considers Germany to be a little amusing for the fact that, as far as much of the world is concerned, Germany doesn't know how to be funny.

然而，大部分歐洲及其他地區的人都覺得德國人過於嚴肅，他們似乎不知道如何成爲一個有趣的人。

Surveys have even found that among much of the world, Germany is sometimes seen as literally the least funny country of all.

調查發現，德國被公認爲世界上最無趣的國家。

Now, while many of us may think this about Germans, in truth it can't really make that much sense. Humor is something universal to all people; it's just likely Germans see it differently.

現在很多人都持有這種看法，但事實上，幽默感是所有人共有的東西，德國人只是以不同的眼光看待它罷了。

The truth is that Germany has a rich history of comedy, but that the style is so far removed from the traditional British and even American comedy, that it's hard to translate the style at all.

事實上，德國的喜劇歷史悠久，但其風格與傳統英國和美國喜劇大相徑庭，所以我們很難完全理解。

The style of standup comedy we are used to was pretty much a foreign concept when first introduced in Germany – the Germans had complicated theater style shows in order to impart comedy that would be hard for other cultures to understand.

我們熟悉的單口喜劇首次引入德國時，它還是一個非常陌生的概念——德國人的劇院式表演十分複雜，創造出一些其他文化難以理解的喜劇。

The other issue is that many of the countries considered most known for their humor tend to use a lot of wordplay that a German audience would struggle with, and the complicated form of German humor also would not translate well for audiences from other countries.

另一個問題就是，許多幽默感爆棚的國家常使用德國觀衆理解不了的雙關語，而其他國家的觀衆也不能把握好德國幽默的複雜形式。

Comedy unfortunately is one of those things that easily becomes lost in translation.

因此，喜劇不幸成爲在翻譯中最容易失去韻味的東西之一。