(Sound FX – A road rage incident between a cyclist, car driver and pedestrian) 
 

"Mind your language, dear. This is the BBC after all."

Cyclist:  You idiot. Watch where you're going!
Pedestrian:  Shut your BLEEP gob! I had right of way.
Driver:  Oi! Get off the road you BLEEP pair of BLEEP, BLEEP, BLEEP!
 
Jean:  Uh-oh, 听起来像是两个司机在吵架。Wow, those people sounded very angry indeed, didn't they?
 
Diarmuid:  They certainly did, and they used a lot of bad language too. Lucky the bleeps stopped our ears from being offended.
 
Jean:  So how can we express anger without using bad language?
 
Diarmuid:  Well coincidentally, that's our question for this edition of Question and Answer of the Week with me Diarmuid.
 
Jean:  And me, Jean. 大家好，欢迎收听我们本期的BBC《你问我答》节目。
 
Diarmuid:  Yes, today we are answering a question from Lee, a student at the South East University in China. 
 
Jean:  好，让我们先来听一下这位中国听友给我们提出的问题： 
 
Insert
 
Dear BBC,
You know that we may feel angry under some circumstances which annoy us very much. But I don't like the dirty words. Are there any useful words for us to express the angry feeling while keep good manner at the same time? 
 
Looking forward to your reply,
Lee 
 
Jean:  看来这位中国朋友Lee 想了解在英语里如何能充分和恰当的表达我们愤怒或者不满的情绪，当然不能是使用不文明的语言。
 
Diarmuid:  Or swear words.
 
Jean:  Swear words. 就是骂人的话。
 
Diarmuid:  That's a very good question from Lee. It's very important to be able to express your feelings and emotions but without swearing.
 
Jean:  Swearing 咒骂。
 
Diarmuid:  Many British people think that using swear words shows that you are uneducated and have a small vocabulary.
 
Jean:  我同意。经常使用这种咒骂词语的人不仅是不文明，而且也体现出他们的词汇量可能实在是有限。
 
Diarmuid:  And since all of our listeners are highly-educated and intelligent people…
 
Jean:  …with excellent manners.
 
Diarmuid:  That's right. Now let's hear from some British people. Interestingly, a lot of them said that people these days do swear when they are angry.
 
Jean:  But that people of older generations didn't use bad language as much.
 
Diarmuid:  So listen out for expressions that people's older relatives use.
 
Insert
 
If I'm really trying not to swear then I'll try and think of things that my dad used to say because he was quite an old-fashioned man. So he would say things like ruddy Moses! 
 
Another thing that my dad would say that I would use now is I'll knock your ruddy block off! But of course that's only an expression. I don't actually mean I'm going to hit them. 
 
Ooh! I always swear! But my elderly aunt who is 90, she says crumbs, and my grandfather used to say rhubarb. 
 
Jean:  听起来好像就连老一辈的英国人就是实在气急了也不会用到特别难听的词语。
 
Diarmuid:  A lot of expressions that people use instead of swearing are rather old-fashioned, such as crumbs.
 
Jean:  Crumbs 不是“面包渣”吗？
 
Diarmuid:  Or rhubarb.
 
Jean:  Rhubarb. 就是药用植物大黄。
 
Diarmuid:  It seems that you can almost use any word but if you say it in a loud and angry manner, people will know you are not happy.
 
Jean:  I liked that phrase 'knock your block off'. What does it mean? 
 
Diarmuid:  In this context block means head so it means I'll knock your head off!
 
Jean:  Let's hear some more acceptable phrases people use when they are angry.
 
Insert
 
I think I use a lot of expressions such as damn or blimey. 
 
Well, a very mild way of expressing your anger and not swearing would be to say damn or blast. I think these expressions used to be considered far more offensive and were stronger, and now they're seen as very old-fashioned and mild.
 
Jean:  从刚才这两段录音中我们学到了不少平常生活中可以使用的表示气愤的词语和说
法。
 
Diarmuid:  An important word we heard was mild.
 
Jean:  Mild. 柔和的。 
 
Diarmuid:  The angry words used are very mild so it's acceptable to use them.
 
Jean:  让我们把这些词语和我们中国人使用的类似词语做一个比较，大家应该就能更充分的体会到它们的意思和柔和程度了。
 
Diarmuid:  I'll do the English and you do the Chinese, ok Jean?
 
Jean:  Let's do it.
 
Diarmuid:  Damn.
 
Jean:  就是讨厌、该死。 
 
Diarmuid:  Blast.
 
Jean:  真倒霉。
 
Diarmuid:  Blimey.
 
Jean:  啊呀， 我们的感叹词。 
 
Diarmuid:  I think it's worth pointing out that the word blimey is used more commonly to express surprise than anger.
 
Jean:  说了这么多表达愤怒的话，我们能不能给大家讲讲如何去帮助自己消除愤怒的方法呢？最好不要等到自己气急得不得了的时候说出什么冒犯他人的言语来。
 
Diarmuid:  Some people in the UK would use the expression 'take a deep breath and count to 10', meaning take a pause, breathe deeply and let yourself calm down instead of getting angry. 
 
Jean:  Take a deep breath and count to 10. 深吸一口气，同时心中默数到十。
 
Diarmuid:  What do other people do to control their anger?
 
Insert
 
I try and control my anger by biting my lip. That stops any rude words coming out of my mouth.
 
Jean:  Biting my lip. 紧咬自己的嘴唇。
 
Diarmuid:  Good idea. And in fact, that is also a phrase in English. We say, "I bit my lip", meaning I didn't say anything even though I wanted to say something.
 
Jean:  Sometimes that's the most sensible thing to do. 或者你也可以就让自己尽情地抒发出自己的感想。让我们听下一个这位英国女士是如何形容自己如何像用  cathartic 泻药一样把自己的愤怒释放出来，而且她有的时候干脆就全力反击to lash out。
 
Insert
 
I usually just get angry. I find it quite cathartic. I sometimes lash out at objects. Sometimes I have to stop myself – say my shower is broken and I want to smash it against the tiles in my bathroom, but I thought, "No, come on Rosie", so I just screamed instead.
 
 Diarmuid:  So according to that speaker, sometimes you need to let that anger
out.
 
Jean:  But it's better to scream 尖叫  than smash things打烂东西。
 
Diarmuid:  But what if it's too late and you have said a rude word?
 
Jean:  Is there any way back?
 
Diarmuid:  What can we say too someone if we have just used a swear word?
 
Jean:  是啊，如果我们已经不假思索的骂了一句脏话，那怎么能够挽回局面呢？
 
Diarmuid:  Let's hear an unusual phrase you can use after swearing.
 
Insert
 
There is quite a common expression in English if you have sworn, and you want to apologise for it, or acknowledge that you have sworn, you can say, "Pardon my French" or "Excuse my French", which sounds quite strange, and I have got no idea why people say that.    
 
Jean:  Excuse my French.不好意思我说了一句法语。这听上去有点让人莫名其妙嘛。为什么在说了脏字之后要用这样的话来表示道歉呢？
 
Diarmuid:  I'm afraid I have to agree with the speaker –I know the phrase but I don't know why we say that. Maybe that could be a homework task for the listeners?
 
Jean:  这倒是个好主意。那好，就把这算作给大家的调研功课好了。如果大家找到了这个英语里的说法 excuse my French 它的出处的话，那就请你一定给我们发个邮件过来，我们的邮箱地址是  chinaelt@bbc.co.uk.
 
Diarmuid:  Look forward to reading your replies.
 
Jean:  Now let's finish off by considering what to do or say if you have got angry or sworn at somebody, and afterwards you feel bad.
 
Diarmuid:  Yes, often after we cool down, we feel bad about getting angry. What should we do then?
 
Jean:  Let's listen.
 
Insert
 
I usually just say sorry. I'll just say, "I'm really sorry I was really angry", and that usually works. People understand.
 
Diarmuid:  What do you think Jean? Is that good advice? Should we apologise?
 
Jean:  Absolutely. Especially if you have sworn or gotten angry with a friend you should kiss and make up. 拥吻一下言归于好。
 
Diarmuid:  I agree. Now do you remember the clip we heard at the beginning of the programme?
 
Jean:  Oh yes. 就是我们在节目开头听到的两位司机在路上开车时出现摩擦而导致的争吵. Those people arguing in the traffic.
 
Diarmuid:  Exactly, let's hear that how it would have been if they had listened to this programme first.
 
Insert
 
Cyclist:  Oh crumbs. Watch where you're going!
Pedestrian:  Damn it! I had right of way. Excuse my French.
Driver:  Blimey! I had to bite my lip there. I'm really sorry.

What sorts of things make you angry and how do you react?

You may want to use swear words but using that kind of language may make people think badly of you.

Many British people do not like to use strong language.

Many more think that people who swear have a limited vocabulary or have very little education.

So what words and phrases can we use to express anger or annoyance?

Diarmuid and Jean discuss this problem and invite others to tell them what to say when they get angry.

They also look at strategies to stop you losing your cool and how to apologise if you have already used bad language.

Do you have a question about the English language for team?

If so, send us an email to questions.chinaelt@bbc.co.uk.

If it's a good question, we'll make a programme about it.

Glossary

swear words 脏话

limited vocabulary 局限的词汇量

strategies 策略

losing your cool （情绪）失控