提醒读者：这篇文章包含一些粗俗的语言。
When we learn a foreign language or culture, curse words are particularly fascinating. So try to answer this question: Who tends to use curse words more often in daily life – Americans or Brits?
当我们学习外语或异国文化时，脏话是一个特别有趣的现象。那么请回答下面这个问题：谁在日常生活中更爱飚脏话——美国人还是英国人？
If you think the answer is the easy-going, casual Americans rather than the reserved Brits with a stiff upper lip, then think again.
如果你的答案是更加随和、随性的美国人而不是拘谨、冷淡的英国人，那么你得再考虑考虑了。
According to a recent BBC article, it is the British who seem far less squeamish
据英国广播公司最近发布的一篇文章，英国对咒骂的敏感程度远不及美国人高。该文章解释说，英国人更喜欢把粗俗的语言和幽默联系起来，而不是野蛮、无礼。
Brits like to use insults among friends. It’s fairly common for a Briton to tease a friend of either sex by calling them a moron or the four-lettered c-word (associated with the female anatomy), which is so strong and offensive that it is considered a taboo like the n-word (a racial slur for African Americans) in the US.
英国人喜欢损自己的朋友。他们经常会取笑朋友，把男性友人和女性友人都称为笨蛋或者c打头的四个字母组成的单词（这个词儿和女性生理相关），相反，这种称呼在美国是一种禁忌，如同那个n打头的单词（对非裔美国人的蔑称）。
Ruth Margolis, writing for BBC blog Mind the Gap: A Brit’s Guide to Surviving America, has an explanation for this: “Brits exchange jovial insults because we’re too uptight and emotionally stunted to say how we really feel. The stronger your friendship, the more you can lay into each other and still come away with warm feelings.”
在露丝•马戈利斯为英国广播公司博客写的一篇题为《注意差异：英国人在美生活指南》的文章里，她解释过这种现象：“英国人之间愉快地互损，因为我们太过拘谨，情感发育不良，无法直接说出我们的真实感受。你们的友谊越坚固，你们就越能贬损对方，还觉得很暖心。”
But this is not how Americans roll, warns Margolis. “Tell your US pal he’s a moron or anything stronger, and you likely won’t get invited to his wedding.”
马戈利斯提醒说，美国人可不这么想。“如果你叫你的美国朋友为笨蛋或者其他更粗俗的称呼，他很可能不会邀请你参加他的婚礼。”
If you are a fan of US movies and TV shows, you probably get the impression that Americans swear a lot. The 2014 movie The Wolf of Wall Street, for example, drops a total of 506 F-bombs in just 179 minutes. In real life, however, Americans are quite prudish when it comes to using strong language. They may swear, but sometimes replace words with less offensive ones or euphemisms. “Gosh darn it!”, “What the dickens?” and “What the flood/duck?” are just a few examples. As a result, swearing retains more of its shock value, says the BBC article.
如果你是美国电影或者电视节目的粉丝，你可能会有美国人爱骂人的印象。以2014年的电影《华尔街之狼》为例，这部179分钟的电影总共使用了506次那个f开头的词儿。而现实生活中，美国人爆粗口时相当谨慎。他们也许会咒骂，但是有时会用冒犯性小的词或委婉语代替。举几个例子，比如“真讨厌！”“什么鬼？”“我去，这是啥？”等。这篇文章称，（在美国）咒骂还是保有很强的冲击力。
The difference between swearing in the US and the UK doesn’t stop here. Brits also have a larger vocabulary of curse words, words that Americans don’t usually use. “Bugger”, used to express frustration, is one example. The word has an ugly history and was originally associated with sodomy. Like the F-bomb, “bugger” can be used in a lot of situations. “Bugger off” means “leave me alone” or “go away”. “I’ll be buggered” and “bugger me” both express surprise and astonishment. A similar example is the word “sod”. If you hear someone say “sod off” (“get lost”), there is a chance that he or she hails from the UK.
英美之间爆粗口的差异不仅限于此。英国人的脏话词汇完爆美国人，其中很多是美国人不常用的。比如，“Bugger”过去常用于表达失望。这个词的有一个不光彩的起源，最早常和“鸡奸”联系在一起。和F开头的那个单词一样，“Bugger”可以在许多场合使用。“Bugger off”是“离我远点”，“走开”的意思。“I’ll be buggered”和“bugger me”则都可用于表示惊讶、吃惊。类似的例子还有单词“sod”。如果听到有人说“Sod off”（“闪边”），那他八成是英国人。
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