每日英語 #169: Sensitivity and Changing Terms 敏感度與詞彙的變化

2024/11/02閱讀時間約 6 分鐘

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Describing People: Sensitivity and Changing Terms 形容人的詞彙：敏感度與詞彙的變化

Words that are used to describe people can sometimes cause problems. Some words, such as “fat,” “pudgy” (big, overweight), and “skinny” (thin), are considered by many people to have a negative meaning or are insults. You would never want to call a person “fat” if he or she were your friend, for example.

用來形容人的詞彙有時會引起問題。一些詞彙，如“fat”（胖）、“pudgy”（圓胖，超重）和“skinny”（瘦）被許多人認為具有負面含義，甚至是侮辱性詞彙。例如，如果對方是你的朋友，你絕不會稱他或她為“胖”。

Since the United States is a country mostly of immigrants, people are often described by their race (skin color) or ethnicity (what country or group they were originally from before coming to the United States). The words we use to describe someone’s race, for example, have changed over the past 25 years.

由於美國是一個由移民組成的國家，人們經常以其種族（膚色）或族裔（移居美國前來自的國家或群體）來描述。例如，過去25年中，用來形容種族的詞彙已經發生了變化。

Currently, we usually describe people who used to be called “blacks” as “African-American” (although you will still hear and see the word “black” used). Thirty or forty years ago, the word “black” was more common, and sixty years ago people used the words “colored” or “Negro.” But nowadays, to say “colored” or “Negro” is considered very, very insulting to African-Americans, and should never be used.

如今，我們通常用“非裔美國人（African-American）”來形容那些過去被稱為“黑人的人”（儘管你仍然會聽到或看到“黑人”這個詞的使用）。三、四十年前，“黑人”這個詞更為常見，而六十年前人們則使用“有色人種”或“黑人（Negro）”。然而，現在說“有色人種”或“Negro”被認為對非裔美國人非常侮辱，因此絕不應該使用。

Similarly, people whose families were originally from Asia are now called “Asian-Americans,” not the old term, “Orientals.” Ethnic groups are usually described according to the country where their families originally came from. For example, someone whose family was originally from Ireland would be called “Irish-American,” and someone from Iran would be an “Iranian-American.”

同樣地，家庭原本來自亞洲的人現在被稱為“亞裔美國人（Asian-Americans）”，而不是以前的“東方人（Orientals）”。族裔群體通常會根據其家族原來來自的國家進行描述。例如，家庭原來來自愛爾蘭的人被稱為“愛爾蘭裔美國人（Irish-American）”，來自伊朗的則是“伊朗裔美國人（Iranian-American）”。