英国上流社会规避七大词

英国在历史上一直是一个有着明确阶级意识的国家，而不同的阶级有属于其自己不同的行为言语方式。上层阶级不会轻易的去使用让他们看上去不是那么“gentle”的语言，Kate Fox将七个被上层社会所敬而远之的词称之为“The Seven Deadly Sins”(七宗罪)。

一宗罪：Pardon

Pardon在我们看来是最为普通也是普遍运用的词了，没听懂时来一句“Pardon?”问清楚说话人刚才说了什么。但是在英国的上层社会看来，这个词可是用不得的！Kate Fox提出来了这个小小的测试来分辨不同的阶级，但这也正体现出了英国人中存在的比较明显的阶级意识。

This word is the most notorious pet hate of the upper and upper-middle classes. Here is a good class-test you can try: When talking to an English person, deliberately say something too quietly for them to hear you properly. A lower-middle class will say "Pardon"; an upper-middle will say "sorry"(or parhaps "What- sorry?" or "Sorry- What"); but an upper class and a working class person will both just say "what". 这个词被上层和中上层阶级视为眼中之沙。这儿有一个分辨阶级的好方法：当你和一个英国人说话的时候，说的快一点让他们听不清楚，那么这时，一个中下层阶级的人就会用“pardon”，而中上层阶级的人会用“What”或者“What-sorry”或者“Sorry-what”,上层阶级和工人阶级的人都会说“What”。

二宗罪：Toilet

"Toilet" is another word that makes the higher classes flinch or exchange knowing looks, if it is uttered by a would-be social climber. The correct upper-middle/upper term is "loo" or "lavatory". 当一个想挤进上流社会的人说了个“Toilet”,立马会让上层社会的人为之色变。因为上流社会会用到“loo”或者“lavatory”，而非“Toilet”。

三宗罪：Serviette

It has been suggested that "serviette" was taken up by squeamish lower-middles who found "napkin" a bit too close to "nappy" and wanted something that sounded a bit more refined.Upper-middle and upper-class mothers gets very upset when their children learn to say "serviette" from well-meaning lower-class nannies, and have to be painstakingly retrained to say "napkin". 有一个讲究的中下层阶级因为“napkin”的发音太像“nappy”，他想要一个听起来更优雅的词，便创造出“serviette”。所以当中上层以及上层阶级的人发现他们的孩子跟着处于好意的下层阶级保姆学会说“serviette”时，她们不得不费心思的将孩子们改回到说“napkin”。

四宗罪：Dinner

There is nothing wrong with the word "dinner" in itself: it is only a working-class hallmark if you use it to refer to the midday meal, which should be called "lunch". Calling your evening meal "tea" is also a working-class indicator: the higher echelons call this meal "dinner" or "supper". “dinner”这个词本身并没有问题，只不过这是一个工人阶级的特点，用“dinner”而不是“lunch”来形容午饭。将晚饭称之为“tea”也是工人阶级的一个特点，上层人士称其为“dinner”或者“supper”。