關於世界各國文化的十大誤解(中)

da is Completely Free, Independent, and Sovereign

7.加拿大是獨立自由之邦

Most people think of Canada as an entirely free and sovereign nation with an advanced modern democratic system of government.

大多數人認爲，加拿大主權完全自由，有先進的現代民主政府。

They have healthcare for all, a robustly running economy and a standing military that is certainly no joke.

該國給所有人提供醫療保險，經濟穩健，軍隊不容小覷。

Most people may not take Canada particularly seriously, but most people would consider them very much their own country.

人們可能不太重視加拿大，但都會希望自己的國家發展成這樣。

However, the truth is that Canada takes part in some very strange traditions hearkening back to the monarchies of old.

然而，加拿大有一些很奇怪的傳統，讓人回想起君主制時期。

The Queen of England is also considered the Queen of Canada – for whom she is considered to be a constitutional monarch, like she is in England.

英國女王也是加拿大的女王，她在加拿大和在英國一樣，是個立憲君主。

She is Colonel in Chief of most of the armed forces, and visits the country more than any other.

她是大部分軍隊的名譽團長，並且訪問加拿大的頻率超過訪問其他國家。

While, like in England, she always goes by ceremony and takes the recommendation of her government minister's choices, she still gets to choose the people who are in very high level government positions.

跟在英國一樣，女王也會出席典禮，聽取總督的建議，決定政府高層職位人選。

However, it goes beyond simply paying homage to old traditions.

然而，這並不僅僅是爲了尊重傳統。

Everything in the country, including elections, are still called in the Queen's name, and everyone must swear allegiance to the Queen, including all new citizens of Canada – who must accept the Queen as the living symbol of their country.

加拿大的所有事務，包括選舉，仍然以女王的名義進行，所有人都要發誓效忠女王，即便加拿大的新移民也是如此，必須奉女王爲國家元首。

ish People Don't Care About Their Teeth

6.英國人不在意自己的牙齒

Around the world, apart from being known for drinking tea and trying to take over the world, the British are also famous, or rather infamous, for having some of the worst oral hygiene among all developed countries.

英國人以喜愛喝茶和企圖稱霸世界而聞名，除此之外，英國人口腔衛生也可謂舉世皆知，或說聲名狼藉，是所有發達國家中最糟的。

The claims are that the British have plenty of money to do so, have the proper health infrastructure, and just really don't care.

傳言稱英國人有足夠多的錢，也有正規的衛生基礎設施，但他們不在乎這些。

They let their teeth get misshapen, brown, and rotting, and would practically let the suckers fall out of their mouths if they didn't actually need them.

他們任由自己的牙齒扭曲變形、呈褐色並伴有口臭，如果他們願意的話嘴裏的菜葉也會掉出來。

Jokes about British teeth have been popularized by shows like The Simpsons – and almost everything else. However, the truth behind this claim is a bit more complicated.

關於英國人牙齒的笑話通過《辛普森一家》等劇廣爲流傳，額，其實，隨處可見。但是，這些說法背後的真相卻更復雜。

While the average British teeth may appear misshapen to an American, they also have a different idea when it comes to teeth in general.

雖然美國人覺得英國人的牙齒畸形，但談及牙齒這個問題，英國人還是持不同看法。

The British still care about oral hygiene – brushing teeth, and going in for annual tooth cleaning – but most of them prefer a more natural look and only go for minimal tooth straightening.

英國人覺得他們還是在意口腔衛生的——比如刷牙、定期清潔牙齒——但因爲大多數英國人喜歡看起來更自然一些，所以只做一些牙齒微矯正。

Whereas Americans will spend countless thousands making sure all their chompers line up just right, many of our friends across the pond are fine as long as the teeth are healthy and line up fairly straight – enough to be mostly functional.

美國人爲了使牙齒整齊花銷無數，而英國人只要牙齒健康、差不多整齊（夠用就行）就可以了。

However, even this stereotype is beginning to change. Due to exposure to American media and popular culture, it is becoming an increasing trend to go for extra teeth whitening and straightening, so as to mimic the look seen on television.

不過，這一文化定勢也已經有所改變，由於美國媒體和大衆文化的曝光，牙齒矯正和美白在英國也已成爲潮流。

ish People are Extremely Lazy

5.西班牙人懶惰至極

One of the most popular stereotypes around the world is that Spanish people are lazy.

世界上有一條廣爲流傳的誤解：西班牙人很懶。

This stereotype has evolved from Spanish people being lazy, to anyone who speaks Spanish also being lazy, and is often misapplied by racists to anyone vaguely Hispanic looking who is working within the United States.

該文化定勢從"西班牙人很懶"發展爲"講西班牙語的人也很懶"，種族主義者又將其擴展爲"在美國工作的任何西班牙長相的人都很懶"。

This stereotype originally began because in Spain, due to a long held tradition in the country of napping during the middle of the day – or siesta.

其實這最初是因爲，西班牙有午間打個小盹或者午睡的傳統。

If you ask most people, they will tell you that in the early afternoon Spaniards take three hours off to go take a break and nap to get some rest, before going back to work.

如果你詢問一些人，他們會告訴你，在午後，西班牙人會休息三個小時再繼續工作。

This has created a reputation as a people who really don't care about hard work, and would rather spend their time resting.

這就給西班牙人帶來了"不認真工作，寧願花時間來休息"的名聲。

However, the truth is that the traditional siesta is not only becoming less and less of a reality, but that Spaniards may still be running themselves into the ground harder and faster than the people of most nations.

但真相是，堅持這個午睡傳統的人越來越少了，西班牙人可能比其它任何國家的人工作都要賣力。

The siesta was originally designed to give people some respite during the hottest hours of the day, but now it is rarely used to actually get any sleep.

最初午睡的目的是爲了讓人們能夠在一天最熱的時候得到一些休息，但是現在真正睡上一覺的人是少之又少。

And, due to the three hour break during the day, Spaniards tend to get up much earlier for work, and leave work much later than those in other countries.

而且由於西班牙人每一天中午要休息三個小時，所以他們比其他國家的人上班更早、下班更晚。

This has led many in Spain to seek reform in recent years, as some believe that an incredibly long work day with long, fragmented breaks in between is not really good for anyone.

因此，近年來很多西班牙人希望對此加以改革，他們認爲每天長時間工作、中途長時間休息是無益於任何人的。

It may be a long time before there is change though, as the siesta and the long work day are an entrenched part of Spanish culture.

不過這種情況可能需要很長時間纔會有所改變，畢竟午睡和工作時間長早已是西班牙文化中根深蒂固的一部分。

k People and Their Alleged Love of Fried Chicken

4.黑人和他們"熱愛"的炸雞

If most people ask you what kind of foods black people like, you will get a lot of answers that generally describe Southern comfort food.

如果有人問黑人喜歡什麼樣的食物，可能會得到很多答案，而這些答案通常提到南方爽心食物。

This should not be surprising, as the majority of the black people who were brought to this country spent much of their time in the South as slaves, and even after being freed, money would have been tight so the majority of people would have settled nearby.

這不足爲奇，因爲黑人被帶到這個國家之後，大多數時間都在南方做奴隸，甚至在被釋放後，因爲資金缺乏，大多數人會選擇在附近定居。

However, if you asked for two specific foods the most common you'll always hear are fried chicken and watermelon.

但是，如果要說兩種特色食品，你通常會聽到炸雞和西瓜。

This has led some people to wonder over the years if there is actually any truth to this stereotype at all, or if it is just a Southern myth.

這就讓人好奇，這種文化定勢到底是事實還是隻是一個南方謬傳。

Back in the early 1900s race relations in this country were not so good (we'll take that "Understatement of the Year Award" anytime).

回溯到20世紀初，這個國家的種族關係不太理想(我們將獲得"輕描淡寫獎")。

One of the earliest and most controversial films – Birth of a Nation – was released by the notoriously racist D.W. Griffith.

《一個國家的誕生》是美國最早和最具爭議的電影之一，由臭名昭著的種族主義者D.W.格里菲斯執導。

The film depicted what Griffith considered the consequences of black people being freed and having power.

這部電影描述了格里菲斯眼中黑人解放並掌握權力的後果。

In one scene in the film, black lawmakers are shown generally behaving badly in an assembly, and one of them is chomping on a piece of fried chicken while his feet are up on the desk. Some believe this was the birth of the stereotype, and really entrenched the idea in popular culture.

在其中一場戲中，一羣黑人議員行爲粗魯，其中一個還把腿翹在桌上，嚼着一塊炸雞，人們認爲該刻板印象由此誕生，從此在流行文化中根深蒂固。

It also is likely that foods like fried chicken and watermelon were chosen to represent black people because they are foods you have to eat with your hands, and hence can be considered "dirty foods".

不過，人們之所以選擇炸雞和西瓜之類的食物代表黑人，也有可能是因爲這些食物必須用手吃，因此可以被認爲是"骯髒的食物"。