調查:法國人自認全球牢騷之王

Irritable waiters huffing in cafes. A gallic shrug in a heated debate. Street protests at every new government initiative. Many may already see France as a nation of grumblers, but a new survey shows the French agree.

The poll commissioned by insurance company Maaf found that 93 percent of French people think their compatriots grumble often, although only 37 percent admit they tend to complain.

The older you are the more likely that you will be grouchy, with politicians being the biggest bugbear for sexagenarians.

"You have to grumble in life, otherwise you get trampled on," was the main reason given by almost one in six people in the land of liberty, equality and fraternity.

Just under one third said grousing was in the French temperament.

Men were the grumpier of the two sexes, said 43 percent of respondents, with around one in five men saying they moaned to get what they wanted compared with 16 percent of women.

One in four said carping was a way of relaxing.

The survey, entitled "Are the French moaners?" polled more than 1,000 people over 18 across France and was carried out by market research firm Opinionway ().

The French also see themselves as the world champions of moaning. More than 70 percent believe they outgripe the rest of the world compared with 15 percent of Italians, 4 percent of Americans and 3 percent of Britons.

Banks, insurance firms and other administrative centres were the main target of gripes among those polled.

And the biggest cause of grumbles? Thirty-one percent of women said their partners gave them the most grief -- ahead of their children, colleagues and bosses.

餐廳裏的服務生脾氣暴躁、態度蠻橫；激烈的爭論中他們總會給你一個法式聳肩；政府每出臺一項新政都會出現街頭抗議。很多人可能早已覺得法國人愛發牢騷，然而一項最新調查表明法國人竟然也對此表示認同。

這項由法國Maaf保險機構委託開展的調查發現，93%的法國人認爲本國人愛抱怨，不過只有37%的人承認自己有此傾向。

人年齡越大，越愛發牢騷，法國六十多歲的老人最愛抱怨政治人物。

至於法國人愛發牢騷的原因，這個宣揚自由、平等和友愛的國家的六分之一的人稱，這是因爲“在生活中必須得抱怨，不然就會受到輕視。”

近三分之一的人說法國人愛發牢騷是性情使然。

43%的受訪者稱，相比於女性而言，法國男性更愛抱怨。約五分之一的男性說他們之所以抱怨是爲了得到自己想要的東西，而僅有16%的女性表示會這麼做。

四分之一的人說發牢騷也是一種放鬆的方式。

這一名爲“法國人是牢騷鬼嗎？”的調查由Opinionway市場調查公司開展，對1000多名18歲以上的法國人進行了訪問。

法國人也認爲他們是全球“牢騷之王”。超過70%的法國人認爲他們比世界上其他國家的人都愛發牢騷，而這一比例在意大利爲15%，在美國和英國分別爲4%和3%。

銀行、保險公司和其他行政中心是受訪者的主要抱怨對象。

那麼人們究竟因爲什麼而抱怨呢？31%的女性稱是因爲她們的伴侶，其次是孩子、同事和老闆。

Vocabulary:

huff: to say something or make a noise in a way that shows you are offended or annoyed 生氣地說；怒氣衝衝

gallic shurg: a gesturethat has a number of meanings: It's not my fault; I don't know; I doubt it can be done; I don't really agree...（法式聳肩；表示“不是我的錯”、“我不知道”、“我懷疑”和“不同意”等含義）

grumbler: 愛抱怨的人

grouchy: bad-tempered and often complaining 脾氣不好並常發牢騷的；好抱怨的

bugbear: a thing that annoys people and that they worry about 使人煩惱擔憂的事；牽掛

sexagenarian: someone whose age is in the sixties 六十至六十九歲的人

fraternity: a feeling of friendship and support that exists between the members of a group （團體內的）情誼，兄弟般友誼，博愛

grouse: to complain about somebody/something in a way that other people find annoying 抱怨；發牢騷

grumpy: bad-tempered 脾氣壞的；性情暴躁的

carp: to keep complaining about somebody/something in an annoying way 不停地抱怨；嘮叨

gripe: a complaint about something 抱怨；怨言；牢騷