礼节美语 169 Saving Face 1

Jerry要去中国出差，找同事Amy请教。

Jerry: Hey Amy...your family is from China, right?

A:Yep. I was born and raised in Shanghai. Why do you ask?

J: Well, I hope you don't mind...but I'm planning a business trip to China soon and I was wondering if you could give me some pointers.

A: You mean like where to go for food or shopping?

J: That would be good, too. But I'm actually hoping you might give me some insights into doing business in China.

A: Ah...sure! I think I can help. Do you have a specific question?

Jerry准备去中国出差，希望Amy能给自己点建议give me some pointers. pointer is spelled p-o-i-n-t-e-r, pointer是指点，建议的意思。Amy从小在上海长大，看来Jerry算是找对人了。Jerry并不是想了解吃饭、购物的事，而是想知道在中国做生意的一些规矩。

J: Well, for starters, what do they mean by "saving face?"

A: "Saving face" is a catch-all term for the concept of honor. In China there is a protocol to everything and it should be followed, otherwise you and the other party might be embarrassed.

J: So in short...saving face is about avoiding embarrassment?

A: Exactly. Say you're late to a meeting. This would cause you to lose face.

For starters, 首先，Jerry想知道什么是有面子，saving face. Amy解释说，saving face is a catch-all term for the concept of honor. 有面子包括了所有跟荣誉和颜面有关的问题。

这里所说的catch-all is spelled c-a-t-c-h, catch, a-l-l, all, catch-all，意思是全部包含、统统适用的。Amy说，中国人干什么都讲究规矩，protocol, p-r-o-t-o-c-o-l, protocol, 按规矩做事，大家都有面子，破坏了规矩，就会让人lose face，丢脸，比如说开会迟到。

J: How can you go about regaining your "face", or your honor?

A: It depends on how serious the offense was. If you were late, you can repeatedly apologize and the other person will probably forgive you.

J: But I would need to apologize more times than I would if I was late here in America?

A: Yes. Make many apologies. The person will probably say it's not a big deal, but in fact it could be a pretty big deal to them, so make sure to say sorry if you make a mistake.

如何才能regain face挽回面子呢？Amy说，这要看你错误的严重程度。It depends on how serious the offense was. 如果开会迟到，你最好使劲道歉，请求对方原谅。对方可能嘴上会说，it's not a big deal，没什么大不了的，但事实上，他们心里可能非常在意，所以一定要再三道歉。