餐桌上的"禮儀":十大全球風俗禁忌(下)

Can't Eat Melons in the US

5.美國：不許吃西瓜！

Our global dining taboo list has found its way back to the Americas. You're probably thinking, I have American etiquette down packed, what else can you teach me? We bet you didn't know that you could be arrested for eating a watermelon in Beech Grove, Indiana. The wacky law applies to Beech Grove's parks. It was established after a bunch of watermelon pierced park trash bags, making a terrible mess. So when you're in Indiana, you best be sure to mind your melons.

好吧，看來美國也難逃這份全球風俗禁忌榜單了。大家或許會納悶，從小就是聽着各種規矩禮儀長大的，還有什麼禁忌不知道？小編敢打賭你肯定不知道在印第安納州Beech Grove市吃西瓜會被拘留吧。以前有段時間，公園的垃圾袋常常會被西瓜皮刺破，影響公園環境，於是政府就頒佈了一項新奇的法律，規定在該州所有公園內都不允許吃西瓜。所以，如果到了印第安納州，吃瓜果的時候最好小心些，別被逮住。

We're not finished with the U.S. of A. just yet. If you thought park-eating watermelon offenses were crazy, then don't ever visit Gainesville, Georgia. To this day, it is illegal to eat fried chicken with anything but your hands. Passed in 1961, these crazy outdated taboos normally go overlooked. One lucky 91-year old's friends thought it would be funny to have her arrested for eating her birthday meal with utensils. (Oh look, a heart attack- just what I always wanted!) Everyone had a good laugh and the charges were dropped.

別急着驚訝，你不知道的美國禁忌可還多着呢。大家要是覺得印第安納州的“禁瓜法律”已經把自己雷到了，那估計去了喬治亞州的蓋恩斯維爾，你會被雷得外焦裏嫩。直到今天，那裏還明文規定，吃炸雞隻可用手拿着吃，如果藉助任何餐具那都是犯法的。這項法律於1961年通過，不過因爲年代久遠，大家現在一般都無視它。有位91歲高齡的老朋友曾經打趣兒說，要是過壽的時候因爲用餐具吃飯而被逮捕，那可就悲催了。（天吶，快看，心臟病發作了——正如我所願！）

Careful What The Baby Eats

4.注意孩子的飲食！

Jamaicans believe children should not be given chicken before they can talk or else the baby will never speak. They even believe that infants who drink milk from the bottle will grow up to be drunks. Intriguing superstitions can be found all across the Pacific. In Nigeria, children are not allowed to eat eggs out of fear that it will cause them to steal when they get older. Silly as it may sound to us, if this is what has been passed down from generation to generation, would you rather go with the flow or risk raising a sticky-fingered mute? Some even say that pregnant women should stay away from eggs for the same reason. Sweet food, snails, puffer meat, and kola-nuts are also added to an expectant Nigerian's list of foods to avoid. The reasons behind this taboo vary from causing the baby to drool all over itself to having scaly skin.

牙買加人一直篤信，如果在兒童會說話之前給他們吃雞肉，會導致兒童失聲。更甚者是，他們認爲如果給嬰兒直接用瓶子喝牛奶，那麼這個孩子長大後肯定是個酒鬼。太平洋彼岸有趣的迷信可多着呢。在尼日利亞，大人不允許小孩吃雞蛋，他們擔心如果小時候吃雞蛋，長大後會變成小偷。在我們聽來，這些似乎很荒謬，可是轉念一想，這些迷信都是一代一代傳下來的，你敢冒着你孩子未來可能變成一個愛小偷小摸的啞巴的危險去挑戰“權威”嗎？！還有些人認爲最好在懷孕期間就讓孕婦遠離雞蛋，不怕一萬，就怕萬一啊。還有，尼日利亞人覺得甜食、蝸牛、河豚、可樂果等，孕婦也不宜食用。造成這些禁忌的理由也是多種多樣，什麼可能會導致嬰兒以後容易流口水啊，或者生的孩子是鱗狀皮膚之類。

With the Right, Wipe with the Left

3.右手吃飯飯左手擦屁屁

This taboo is respected in many different nations. African, Caribbean, and even Muslim countries all believe that only the right hand should be used for eating. For certain hygienic reasons, these customs teach that each of our hands serves its own purpose. The left is solely for wiping. We touched on it earlier but the eat with the right, wipe with the left taboo deserves further explanation. If overlooked, you pose great risk of offending others. Not only should you dine with your right hand, it is the only one to be used in greetings. When arriving for a meal, never offer the left for a shake. If you catch the right one on the wrong day, you might fall victim to a swift right hook.

很多國家都有這個說法。不管是非洲、加勒比海、甚至還有一些穆斯林國家，他們都認爲人應該用右手吃飯。出於某種衛生原因的考慮，這個習俗告訴大家每隻手都應該各司其職。左手只能負責擦擦屁股啊、提提鞋之類的“髒活”。這一點我們之前談到過，不過“右手吃飯飯，左手擦屁屁”這個禁忌，小編還得多給大家解釋解釋。因爲如果忽視了這個習俗，你可能會冒犯到別人。不僅我們吃飯的時候要用右手，見面握手也要用右手。赴約用餐跟人打招呼時，千萬不要伸左手跟對方握手。如果哪天你悲催地去握你對面的右手，那你就等着挨一記右鉤拳吧。

Some will give you a pass on holding a cup with your left hand, but never ever wipe your mouth with it. To be on the safe side, keep it under the table. Put it between your legs or even sit on it. Do whatever you need to do to keep from being offensive.

有時候，人們可能不會介意你左手拿着水杯，但是一定不要左手持水杯喝水。爲了保險起見，儘量把左手放在桌子下邊，夾在腿中間，或者乾脆壓在腿下邊。總之，要時刻留心自己的舉止，別讓別人覺得你很無禮。

2.A Polite Goodbye

2.禮貌的告別方式

Hopefully you never get too thirsty in Kazakhstan. If you happen to order a cup of tea, don't look as it as half empty. See the miniature portion of your steaming drink as a nice, warm, half-full hug. Never ask the server to pour you some more. In Kazakhstan, a full cup of tea is the most polite way we've ever heard of telling someone they've overstayed their welcome. The people of Kazakhstan drink tea about 6 times per day. Now we can understand why they use it as a form of communication. (And why they only give you half a cup!) Formally a nomadic society, the people of the Republic still carry deep superstitious beliefs. Tea is only consumed warm, they believe cold drinks will make you sick. Aside from telling you to get out, the half full cups of tea also show how much the guests wants to be able to serve you during your visit. The passing of an empty cup for a refill is a courteous act hosts love to participate in. Other taboos are a lot more common. Things like picking your nose… just don't do it. Anywhere.

但願在哈薩克斯坦旅遊的時候，大家別渴着自己。如果你點了一杯茶，端上來以後卻發現只有半杯的量，請息怒。你就把這半杯熱騰騰的“迷你茶”當作當地人友好而熱情的“迷你抱抱”吧。千萬別讓服務生給你續杯。因爲在哈薩克斯坦，如果對方給你倒了滿滿一杯茶，就意味着他在禮貌地暗示你待的時間太久了。哈薩克斯坦人平均每人每天要喝六次茶，現在大家知道爲什麼他們以喝茶作爲交流方式了吧。（既然喝茶是爲了交流，爲毛就只倒半杯呢！）哈薩克斯坦共和國算是一個典型的遊牧民族，所以仍存有根深蒂固的迷信思想。當地人認爲喝冷飲會使人生病，所以只喝熱茶。此外，主人給你倒的茶的量也能表示出他們有多歡迎你。客人喝完茶後，主人一般都主動添茶，以示熱情友好。哈薩克斯坦還有很多在其他國家也常見的禁忌，就比如說不要挖鼻孔……記住，不管在哪兒，都別挖～

't Eat With Your Hands

1.不可直接用手吃東西

Some customs tell you which hands to use but if you're traveling to Chile you better grab your utensils. Chileans never eat anything by hand. Even the smallest French fry must be stabbed with a fork. Pizza, chicken nuggets, and whatever else you can think of, the people of Chile don't believe in finger food at all. Usually, dinner is not served until 8pm or later. Even if you're ravished with hunger, keep those hands out of your mouth. Licking your fingers or utensils is considered vulgar. Avoiding the temptation is obviously why they eat everything with utensils. Standard European manners are taken to the max to avoid being disrespectful. In Chile, you need to know which utensils are the correct ones to use for your meal. If we ever visit, we'll need to write a few notes on the palm of our hands. To us, salad fork or dinner fork… they all work the same.

有些習俗可能會規定什麼場合用哪隻手，但是如果到了智利，大家最好時刻備好餐具。因爲智利人從來不直接用手吃東西，即使是小小的薯條，也必須用叉子叉着吃。不管是披薩還是炸雞，還有任何你能想到的可以直接用手吃的東西，智利人都要用餐具吃。一般情況下，直到八點或者更晚纔會吃晚餐。就算你已經餓到肚子咕嚕咕嚕叫，也別妄想進食口糧。當地人覺得舔手指或者舔餐具是很粗俗的行爲。很明顯，他們吃任何東西都要用餐具的原因是避免讓別人產生想吃的慾望。爲了儘量不冒犯到別人，智利人真是把標準化的歐洲禮儀發揮到了極致。在智利吃飯的時候，你需要搞清楚吃哪個菜要用哪種餐具。要是哪天大家去智利，估計還得提前在手上寫個小抄啥的。畢竟對我們而言，吃沙拉用的叉子和吃正餐用的叉子沒什麼兩樣，不都是叉子麼。

翻譯：毛志遙 來源：前十網