Why is it so common to be cold/unfriendly/antisocial in the UK?为什么在英国冷漠/不友好/反社会很普遍？

 

获得9.8k好评的回答@Mike Richmond：

My guess is that you have gained that experience in London, or another large city. This is a common attitude to London, Paris, New York, Zurich or Rome.我猜你这种经历是发生在伦敦或其他大城市，这是伦敦、巴黎、纽约、苏黎世或罗马的通病。Where I was brought up (in deepest rural Derbyshire), it was normal to say hello to everyone you pass on the village, we walked in and out of our neighbours' (unlocked) houses, and conversations were struck up at the slightest pretext.在我长大的地方（德比郡最偏僻的乡村地区），在村子里跟每个经过的人打招呼很正常，我们随意出入邻居家（不上锁），随便找个话题就能聊起来。Big cities are anathema to casual sociability.大城市很讨厌随随便便的人际交往。The British are more reserved in general than some nationalities, but they are not unusually so for people living in a northern clime.英国普遍比其他国家更高冷，但对于居住在北方地区的人来说这也很正常。

 

获得11.8k好评的回答@Christina Carè:

I don't know where you are originally from, but I guess I somewhat understand your question - I moved to London at the start of this year, and previously lived in Edinburgh. In Edinburgh I always felt as though people were quite friendly, though of course, London is very different.我不知道你从哪儿来，但我猜我有点儿明白你的问题——我今年年初搬来伦敦，之前我生活在爱丁堡。在爱丁堡，我总感觉好像人们很友好，当然和伦敦差别很大。I'm Australian. In Australia, we do tend to be "actively polite". I actually lived in Japan also and I think they too are more actively polite than here (in the sense that they must welcome you into a shop rather actively, they will ask you if you need help promptly, etc). Certainly, the UK is reserved in many ways, but I do think that people are genuine once you perforate that initial apparent 'coldness' (which is usually just reservedness, I think).我是澳大利亚人，在澳大利亚我们倾向于“积极表现出有礼貌”，我其实在日本也生活过，我认为他们也在“有礼貌”这方面比这儿积极多了（比如，他们要很积极地欢迎你走进一家店铺，然后立即询问你是否需要帮助等等）。当然，英国在很多方面很高冷，但我确实认为透过最初那层看似“冷漠”（我认为那仅仅是“矜持”）的面纱你会发现人们还是很真诚的。For me the most annoying thing is customer service. Here everyone is eager to get rid of you and not help you, not say hello or speak to you in stores/anywhere. In Australia I think we have a very good balance between being friendly and not overstepping the mark.对我而言最受不了的是顾客的待遇。在这儿的商店或任何地方每个人都急于摆脱掉你，不愿意帮忙，不会打招呼或跟你说话。我认为在澳大利亚我们能很好地找到“友好”和“不越界”的平衡点。But the reality is that I can't expect the UK to be like it is back home. I have to just remember that it might take more time here to get things done, or to form a relationship. I am hopeful though that when and if I do form new friendships with people here, they will be the kinds of ones that last.但事实是我不能期待英国像我们国家一样，我只需要记住在这儿想要做事或交朋友都要花更多时间，但我还是充满希望地认为一旦我真的在这儿交到了新朋友，那一定会是天长地久的朋友。

 

（翻译：菲菲）

(来源:沪江)