商務禮節美語第204期:Superstitions Etiquette 迷信禮節(下)

來自中國的僱員Sue跟男同事Pete和女同事Julie一起去吃飯。三個人談到了東西方的迷信。Sue說，

S: What about walking under a ladder? What's wrong with that?

J: You know, I'm not really sure! But it's probably a good idea to avoid thing might fall on your head!

P: That makes sense!

S: So many of your superstitions don't really have a specific origin?

J: Many of them might be related to religious the origin kind of gets lost in history.

Julie說，西方很多迷信都不知道是從哪來的了。The origin kind of gets lost in history. 比如說，從梯子下面走會帶來壞運氣，可爲什麼呢？或許是上面會掉東西下來砸到你吧。

P: Oh! I can think of one superstition that's related to religion. Many Western people say "Bless you!" to a person if they sneeze.

J: Right. That's because around 500 years ago, people thought saying "God Bless You" could help heal the person and stop the spread of disease.

P: Still today, many people say, "Bless you" after someone sneezes. It's now considered polite.

S: I think that's a sweet thing to say. Tell me some more Western superstitions!

不過，不少迷信跟宗教有關。 Pete舉例說，有人打噴嚏，旁邊的人說"Bless You" 就起源於宗教。 Julie說，大約五百年前，人們覺得說上帝保佑你God Bless You能防治疾病，但是今天，別人打噴嚏，你說Bless You已經變成一種禮貌了。

P: Well, if you see a black cat walking in front of luck might be coming very soon!

S: A black cat is kind of evil, huh? I guess that's why a witch always has a black cat!

J: I have a black cat at home and he's not evil at all. He's a sweet little cat.

P: I'd say many Western people don't take these things very seriously, but they are still a part of our culture.

J: I know one! Breaking a mirror is seven years of bad luck! Back in ancient times, a mirror was said to be a window to your soul, so breaking one was very bad!

在 西方，如果你前面有一隻黑貓，那可糟了，意味着厄運臨頭。可Julie就養了只黑貓，可愛極了。看來西方人也並不真信，They don't take these things very seriously. 另外，打碎鏡子代表七年的壞運氣，因爲古代人覺得鏡子是通向心靈的窗口。

S: Do you have superstitions about where things are built?

J: You mean like Feng-Shui?

S: Yes! Exactly! How do you know about that?

P: Feng-Shui is becoming quite popular in the West. Some people now do try to follow some of the rules if they can.

S: Wow! It seems we are starting to share traditions!

P: Sure! Why not?

J: Yes...I think it's good to get to know each other's culture better.

風水在西方越來越流行，這也算是文化互通吧。