How Do Americans Address People (Ⅰ)

(Morris Waller)

点评：

语言真的是包罗万象的东西。比较一下不同语言下的称呼也是饶有趣味。作者作了一番比较后，甚至得出这样的提问：Do the Chinese use titles much because they focus on social status instead?（中国人在称呼上注重头衔，是否反映了中国文化中注重社会地位的传统？）。你想过这个问题吗？推究起来，这恐怕又要归到文化范畴里面了。

I have noticed that in restaurants my Chinese friends hail waitresses by calling out “xiaojie” (miss) and, for waiters, “xiansheng” (mister) or “shifu” (master). One of them pointed out that “xiansheng” should really be used with older men, so it is an awkward choice when addressing a young waiter. He asked me how to summon a waiter in the US.

In the US it is possible to address a waiter or waitress with his or her job title, but generally the more polite“Excuse me!” is used to draw their attention. “Excuse me” is a very useful phrase. Whenever you are interrupting a person’s activities or asking for his attention, you should preface your questions or remark with “Excuse me”. This is unlike China, where people commonly use expressions such as “lao days” (aged uncle), “lao dama” (aged aunt) or “lao shifu” (aged master－in theory a master craftsman) to draw a stranger’s sympathetic attention. If you misjudge a situation, calling, say, a 30-something matron “lao dama” or a professor “lao shifu”, the person addressed is likely to be at least mildly displeased.

I think that the forms of address used in China are rather complicated, but also quite interesting. For instance, I am amused by the recent Chinese tendency to call Mr. Li, if he happens to be the leader of a “ju” (a bureau), Li ju (“Li bureau” or “bureau Li”), or Ms Wang, if she happens to head a “ke” (a department, more or less), Wang ke. If somebody is a chief engineer or a chief editor, he will be called something like “Li chief” or “chief Li”. There is no equivalent practice in the English-speaking world. Bosses are not addressed by their title and surname, much less by their surname plus part of the name of their organization. In informal conversation in relatively friendly environments it is common to call one’s director “Boss”, but remember that the world boss is not a title. If you are an American addressing your immediate supervisor, in most cases you will call him by his given name just as you address colleagues on the same level as yourself. If the superior is several degrees above you in the organization hierarchy, you are expected to call the person “Mr. Schmidt” or “Ms O’Brien”.

In certain situations special titles are used to address people. For instance, the ambassador to China is called “Ambassador Sasser” or “Ambassador” by the staff in the embassy. Americans would never address the American ambassador “Your Excellency” and in deed they have to overcome sense of the unnatural ridiculous when they use the phrase with foreign diplomat. Clinton is addressed as “President Clinton” or more often, “Mr. President”.

There is, by the way, significant difference in how Chinese and Americans view titles. Americans, in contrast not only to Chinese but to many Europeans as we tend to regard titles as trivial unless they give a clear idea of what kind of work a person does, what his responsibilities are. Chinese people always seem expected to let you know what they are, for example, “senior engineer”－a title that says nothing about what a person’s functions are. For Americans it’s what you actually do that counts, not where you fit on organizational chart. Your professional role defines you. The Americans treat titles like “vice president for marketing” and “sales manager” as meaningful. Nonetheless they will not use them to address a person, even reduced to “manager” or “vice president”.

Do the Chinese use titles much because they focus on social status instead?

参考译文：

美国人如何称呼别人（一）

在餐厅里，我注意到我的中国朋友们称女服务员为小姐，称男服务员为先生或师傅。一位中国朋友告诉我，“先生”是对年长的男人的称呼，称年纪轻轻的服务员为先生并不合适。他问我在美国如何招呼服务员。

在美国可以直呼“服务员”，但更经常更礼貌的作法是说一句“Excuse me”（请原谅）来引起对方的注意，并不使用什么称呼。“请原谅”这个词很有用，当你要打断别人或引起对方注意时，就要先说“请原谅”。这点与中国不同，中国人常常使用“老大爷”、“老大妈”、“老师傅”这样的称呼来引起陌生人的注意。如果你情况判断不准，比如说，将一位30岁的妇女称为“老大妈”，或是称一位教授为“老师傅”，人家就会不高兴。

中国人的称呼挺复杂，但也很有意思。最近在中国流行一种对领导的称呼使我觉得很有趣。比如，姓李的局长被称为李局，姓王的科长被称为王科；如果你是总经理、总工程师或总编，就会被称为什么总。在英语国家中没有相似的称呼，称领导不用头衔加上姓，更不会用单位名称的一部分加上姓去称呼。在非正式的友好的气氛中，往往称领导为“头儿”，但是“头儿”这个词并不是头衔。当你称呼最直接的领导时，往往直呼其名（去掉姓），就像称同级的同事一样；如果称呼高出你几级的领导，则称××先生或××女士比较得体。

只有在某些情况下特定的头衔在称呼中才使用。例如，美国驻华使馆的工作人员称呼驻华大使时使用“塞瑟尔大使”或者“大使先生”，但绝不会称“大使阁下”，因此他们在与别国外交官打交道使用“大使阁下”这个词时，必须克服心理上不自然或觉得荒谬的感觉。再有，美国人称克林顿为“克林顿总统”，但更常用的称呼时“总统先生”。

顺便说一句，在头衔问题的区别上，美国人不仅与中国人不同，而且与很多欧洲人也不同。美国人认为头衔无足轻重，除非头衔能够明确指出一个人的工作性质和责任。中国人似乎总是急于让你知道他是什么，比如，“高级工程师”——其实这是个很含糊的头衔。对于美国人来说，重要的是你的工作究竟是什么，而不是你在机构中的地位。你的职业角色界定了你。因此，美国人认为“市场部副总裁”、“销售经理”这样的头衔是有意义的，但他们也不会使用他们来称呼对方，或是简称对方为“经理”、“副总裁”。

中国人在称呼上注重头衔，是否反映了中国文化中注重社会地位的传统？

• 6小时掌握学英语的秘诀！——点击看答案
• 专治男女记不住单词的秘密