Office English: Small talk

这个BBC播客由英国以外的广告支持。

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside The UK.

图帕克·沙库尔被谋杀案已经引发了近三十年的谣言、阴谋论和未解之谜。

The murder of Tupac Shakur has generated nearly thirty years of rumors, conspiracy theories, and unanswered questions.

现在，随着审判开始，内华达州的检察官试图解开谁杀了图帕克以及1996年那个晚上拉斯维加斯大道上到底发生了什么，神话即将与法庭相遇。

Now the mythology is about to meet the courtroom as the trial gets underway and Nevada prosecutors try and solve the mystery of who killed Tupac and what really happened on the Las Vegas Strip that night in 1996.

是时候分清事实与虚构了。

It's time to separate fact from fiction.

我是阿努什卡·米坦达·多维蒂。

I'm Anushka Mittanda Dowity.

在BBC的《名声之火》播客中，我将每天在法庭内，带你一起。

And for the BBC's fame under fire podcast, I'll be inside the courtroom every day, and I'm bringing you with me.

加入我的《名声之火》，图帕克谋杀案审判，证词、辩论、关键时刻，以及所有法律分析。

Join me for fame under fire, the Tupac murder trial, the testimony, the arguments, the moments that matter, and all the legal analysis.

在bbc.com或你获取播客的任何地方收听。

Listen on bbc.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

你害怕说英语吗？

Are you scared of speaking English?

你不是一个人。

You're not alone.

我是Hanan。

I am Hanan.

我是Georgie。

And I'm Georgie.

我们的新系列《战胜说英语的焦虑》会帮你克服说英语的恐惧。

And our new series, Beating Speaking Anxiety, helps you fight your fears of speaking English.

听听学习者和专家的分享，获取关于提升口语能力的实用建议。

Hear from learners and experts and get practical advice about how to improve your speaking skills.

在我们的网站bbclearningenglish.com上找到《战胜说英语的焦虑》。

Find beating speaking anxiety on our website bbclearningenglish.com.

你在工作中会聊些闲话吗？

Do you ever use small talk at work?

我可能会聊天气。

I might talk about the weather.

那总是个好话题。

That's always a good topic.

当别人介绍我认识新朋友，或者遇到我有点熟的人时，我会用闲聊。

And I would use small talk when I'm introduced to new people or just someone that I know a bit.

比如问别人下班后有没有安排，周末有什么计划，或者如果是周一，就问周末过得好不好。

If someone is if you're up to something after work, if you've got any plans for the weekend, or if you had a good weekend if it was Monday.

在今天的《办公室英语》节目中，我们来聊聊闲聊，什么时候用，以及聊什么。

In today's episode of Office English, we're talking about small talk, when to use it, and what to talk about.

你好。

Hello.

欢迎收听新一季的《办公室英语》，这是你的职场英语播客指南。

Welcome to a new series of Office English, your podcast guide to the world of work.

我是皮帕。

I'm Pippa.

我是菲尔。

And I'm Phil.

你可以在我们的网站bbclearningenglish.com上找到这期节目的文字稿。

Find a transcript for this episode on our website, bbclearningenglish.com.

节目开头我们听到了尼尔和贝丝关于在工作中使用闲聊的讨论。

We heard from Neil and Beth at the start of the programme about using small talk at work.

那么菲尔，什么是闲聊呢？

So what is small talk, Phil?

就是那些你觉得不太重要，但为了表示友好的对话。

It's those conversations that you have that are about things I guess you don't think they're that important, but it's like being friendly.

当你见到某人，可能认识也可能不认识，但在工作日开始时或者遇到某人时，或者等公交车时，你会聊上几句，这就是闲聊。

When you see someone, maybe you know them, maybe you don't, but you have a chat at the start of the workday or when you meet someone or maybe you're waiting for a bus or something, you just make small talk.

是的。

Yes.

在英国，我们在工作中经常闲聊，因为我们通常想对同事礼貌，而且一天中你会和很多人打交道。

And we use quite a lot of small talk at work in The UK because we usually want to be polite with people that we're working with, and you're interacting with lots of different people throughout the day usually.

所以这时候闲聊就派上用场了，这样见面时就不会觉得尴尬。

And so that's when small talk can be helpful so that it doesn't feel awkward when you meet someone.

本期节目里，我们会聊一些常见的闲聊话题，也会提到一些工作中要避免的话题。

In this episode, we'll talk about some common small talk topics as well as some topics to avoid at work.

我们还会讨论什么时候适合在工作中闲聊。

And we'll also talk about when to use small talk at work.

那我们就从一些闲聊话题开始吧。

So, let's start with some small talk topics.

哪些话题适合聊？怎么自然地引入对话中呢？

What are good things to talk about, and how would you introduce them naturally into a conversation?

好的。

Okay.

嗯，关于英国人有种刻板印象，就是他们总爱聊天气。

Well, this is the stereotyper about people in Britain, is that they always talk about the weather.

这虽然是刻板印象，但我觉得可能还真是这样。

And it's a stereotype, but I think it might be true.

我觉得确实是这样。

I think it is true.

我们这里的天气变化多端，我觉得我们都有点着迷了。

We have a lot of different weather here, and we're kind of obsessed with it, I think.

所以你可以这样聊天气，比如说天气很好，外面阳光明媚。

So a way that you could talk about this is say that the weather is good, it's sunny outside.

你可以问同事：你喜欢这样的好天气吗？

You could ask a colleague, are you enjoying the good weather?

如果天气不好，聊坏天气的好方法就是问：你怎么应对这么热/下雨/这么冷的天气？

Maybe the weather's bad, so a good way to talk about bad weather is to say, how are you coping with the heat or the rain or the cold?

所以“你怎么应对”这句话，

So how are you coping?

暗示天气有点糟糕，让人有压力。

Implies that it's kind of bad and stressful.

我们经常还会加上一些反问句。

We we often put little rhetorical questions in there as well.

所以有点像冷，对吧？

So sort of like cold, isn't it?

或者热，对吧？

Or hot, isn't it?

对。

Yeah.

还有一种谈论天气的方式，如果你在打电话或视频通话，对方在国家的另一个地方，甚至可能在另一个国家，你可以说：哦，你那边下雨了吗？

And another way that you can talk about the weather, if you're talking to someone on the phone or maybe a video call and they're in a different part of the country to you or maybe even a different country, you can say, oh, is it raining where you are?

今天这里天气糟透了。

It's been horrible here today.

听起来就像我们的视频通话。

That sounds like one of our video calls.

另一个闲聊中经常出现的话题，或者容易聊起来的话题，就是谈论周末计划或旅行。

Another topic that often comes up in small talk, or an easy one to talk about, is to talk about weekend plans or trips.

所以如果快到周末了，你可以问别人：你周末有什么好安排吗？

So if it's going to be the weekend soon, you can ask someone, Are you up to anything nice at the weekend?

或者如果周末刚过，你可以问，你周末干什么了？

Or if it's just been the weekend, you could ask, what did you get up to at the weekend?

另一种把天气和周末结合起来的方式是，如果天气好的话，你可以说，你周末有没有享受到阳光？

Another way to combine weather and weekend is to say, did you manage to enjoy the sunshine over the weekend if it was nice?

这真是完美的闲聊话题。

That's a perfect piece of small talk there.

可能还有其他可以聊的事情。

And there might be other things that you talk about.

人们常常发现，如果他们对体育感兴趣，他们就会和别人聊这个。

People often find if they're interested in sports, they often talk about that with someone.

如果你在同一个地方工作，通勤也常常是聊天的话题，特别是当出了什么岔子的时候，这种情况经常发生。

Your commute to work, if you work in the same place, that's often a topic of conversation, particularly if something's gone wrong, which does often happen.

对。

Yeah.

另外，你可以聊任何你了解对方的事情。

And other things you can talk about are anything that you know about the person.

所以如果你知道他们对某项运动或某个活动感兴趣，你可以问一个大概相关的问题。

So if you know that they're interested in a particular sport or a particular activity, you could ask sort of a general question about that.

随着你越来越了解对方，你们之间的对话往往会变得更自然，也就不需要刻意寒暄了。

As you get to know people better, you often kind of have more normal conversations with them and you don't have to have small talk.

但即使是熟悉的人，寒暄也还是存在的。

But even people you know well, small talk is a thing.

所以菲尔，我们每天都一起工作，但我们还是经常聊天气，因为当你在工作中不想深入聊什么的时候，聊天气就是一种正常友好的方式。

So Phil, you and I work together every day, but we talk about the weather quite a lot anyway, because it's just a normal friendly way to talk when you don't want to get into a big deep conversation with someone at work.

是的。

Yes.

确实如此。

It is.

今天天气真不错，对吧？

It's quite great today, isn't it?

对。

Yeah.

太糟糕了。

It's horrible.

好的。

Okay.

这些是很棒的闲聊话题，但我们什么时候该用它们呢？

That's some great small talk topics, but when should we be using them?

我们总不能整天聊天气吧？

We don't wanna talk about the weather all day, do we?

对。

No.

所以一天中有几个时间点适合闲聊。

So there's a few points in the day where it would be normal to use small talk.

比如会议开始的时候。

So one example is the start of a meeting.

特别是在视频通话中，当你加入通话等待其他人时，可能只有你和一两个人，那是闲聊的好时机，因为如果大家沉默不语，会有点奇怪。

So particularly on a video call, when you join a video call and you're waiting for everyone to join, there's maybe you and one or two other people, that's a good time to use small talk, because if you sit in silence, it's just a bit odd.

这有点奇怪。

It's a bit strange.

如果你在等人来开会，当面的时候可能也会这样做。

You would also do this probably in person if you're waiting for someone to come to the meeting.

对，除了会议开始，如果你在办公室，一天开始或结束的时候，遇到某人或者道别，我们也会聊上几句。

Yeah, and as well as the start of meetings, if you're in an office, then at the beginning or the end of the day when you're meeting someone or you're just saying goodbye, yeah, we'll often go into a bit of small talk then.

是的，那时候你可能会说，比如，周末过得好吗，或者晚上有什么计划？这在一天结束时是个好话题。

Yeah, so that's where you might say something like, oh, good weekend, or do you have any plans for the evening?' would be a good one at the end of the day.

另一个我们经常闲聊的地方是办公室的厨房。

Another place that we do a lot of small talk is in the kitchen at work.

比如你去厨房泡杯咖啡，可能会碰到你认识但不常一起工作的同事。

So if you pop to the kitchen to make a coffee maybe, you're probably going to run into somebody that you know that you don't work with all the time.

那就是你用闲聊的好时机。

That's where you can use your small talk.

你可以问类似，你今天过得怎么样？

You can ask something like, how's your day going?

或者随便说一句，比如‘今天真是忙疯了，对吧？’

Or sort of make a comment, say, oh, it's been manic today, hasn't it?

意思就是今天特别忙。

That means it's been really busy.

而且，当然，闲聊的时候我们不只是问问题。

And, yes, of course, with small talk, we don't just ask questions.

有时候你只是发表一些看法，特别是当你觉得对方会同意你的时候。

Sometimes you're just making observations, particularly when you think the other person's going to agree with you.

所以某种程度上你是在试图建立一种联系。

So you're kind of trying to create a connection there in a way.

对。

Right.

我觉得我们应该聊聊哪些话题不该聊。

I think we should talk about what not to talk about.

那么，菲尔，在闲聊中我们一般应该避免哪些话题呢？

So are there any topics that we should generally avoid in small talk, Phil?

好的。

Okay.

这个问题挺有意思的，因为答案会因地方而异。

This is an interesting one because it will vary depending on where you are.

不过特别是在英国，我们跟人打交道不会那么直接，所以一般不会问太私人的问题。

But particularly in The UK, we're not that direct with people, and so we probably wouldn't ask anything too personal about people.

如果你知道对方家里的一些情况，你会聊你知道的那些，但闲聊时一般不会问太深入的问题。

If you know something about someone's family, you'll ask about kind of what you know about, but you're probably not gonna ask deep searching questions in small talk.

对。

Yes.

比如说，菲尔，我知道你有孩子。

For example, Phil, I know that you've got kids.

所以如果我们聊天，我可能会问问你孩子们怎么样，或者说，你周末过得怎么样？

So if we're chatting, I might ask you how your kids are or sort of say, how was your weekend?

有没有带孩子去做什么好玩的事？

Did you do anything nice with the kids?

但我可能不会问太多关于他们的私人问题。

But I probably wouldn't ask you lots of personal questions about them.

尤其是在工作场合闲聊时，我不会问这些，因为周围有很多人。

And particularly I wouldn't ask those during small talk at work because there'd be lots of other people around.

而且这也不是闲聊时通常聊的内容。

And it's just not what you generally use for small talk.

另外，闲聊时我们通常不会谈论政治或有争议的话题。

Another thing that we don't generally talk about during small talk is politics or controversial topics.

所以我们不会在闲聊中讨论个人的政治观点或意见。

So we don't tend to discuss our personal political views or opinions during small talk.

闲聊的目的是让对话顺畅，保持礼貌和友好。

And the idea with small talk is to keep the conversation flowing, to be polite and friendly.

所以如果你在工作中跟人争论政治，那就达不到这个目的了。

So you can't really do that if you end up in a bit of a political debate with someone at work.

对。

Yeah.

我觉得尤其是当你不了解别人想法的时候，更是这样。

I think this is particularly the case when you don't know what someone else might think.

所以如果你觉得可能会有很大分歧，那通常就是我们在闲聊中会避开的话题。

So if you think there could be a big disagreement, it's probably an area we'd usually avoid in small talk.

对。

Yeah.

还有一个我们通常避免谈论的话题就是钱。

And the final topic that we generally avoid talking about is money.

我觉得在英国，我们一谈到钱就特别不自在，对吧？

I think in Britain, we're just very awkward about talking about money, aren't we?

所以在闲聊中，人们不太愿意谈钱。

So it's not something people feel comfortable about talking in in small talk.

就是不太……我也不太清楚。

It's just not I don't know.

就是有些话题我们平时不怎么聊。

It's just something we don't often talk about much.

对。

Yeah.

比如说，你一般不会问别人挣多少钱，或者他们花多少钱买东西。

So for example, I you wouldn't generally ask about how much somebody earns or how much they spend on things.

所以，菲尔，如果你进来，我问你周末过得怎么样，你告诉我你买了辆新车，我可能不会问你花了多少钱，因为那会显得有点不礼貌。

So, Phil, if you came in and I asked you about your weekend and you told me you bought a new car, I wouldn't probably ask you how much it cost because that would be seen as a bit impolite.

本期《办公室英语》就到这里。

That's it for this episode of Office English.

下周我们会回来聊聊如何组织和主持会议。

We'll be back next week to talk about how to organise and lead meetings.

与此同时，你可以在我们的网站上找到关于闲聊中应避免的话题的短视频系列，了解更多信息。

In the meantime, you can find out more about small talk with the short video series on subjects to avoid on our website.

这个节目的备注里也有链接。

And there's a link in the notes for this program.

再见。

Bye for now.

再见。

Bye.

图帕克·沙库尔被谋杀一案，近三十年来一直充斥着各种谣言、阴谋论和未解之谜。

The murder of Tupac Shakur has generated nearly thirty years of rumors, conspiracy theories, and unanswered questions.

现在，这些传说即将在法庭上接受检验，随着审判的进行，内华达州的检察官们试图解开谜团，查明是谁杀害了图帕克，以及1996年那个夜晚在拉斯维加斯大道上究竟发生了什么。

Now the mythology is about to meet the courtroom as the trial gets underway and Nevada prosecutors try and solve the mystery of who killed Tupac and what really happened on the Las Vegas Strip that night in 1996.

是时候分清事实与虚构了。

It's time to separate fact from fiction.

我是阿尼什卡·梅坦达·道迪。

I'm Anishka Mettanda Dowdy.

在BBC的《名声之火》播客中，我将每天在法庭内，带你一起见证。

And for the BBC's Fame Under Fire podcast, I'll be inside the courtroom every day, and I'm bringing you with me.

请加入我的《名声之火：图帕克谋杀案审判》，聆听证词、辩论、关键时刻，以及所有法律分析。

Join me for fame under fire, the Tupac murder trial, the testimony, the arguments, the moments that matter, and all the legal analysis.

在bbc.com或你收听播客的任何平台收听。

Listen on bbc.com or wherever you get your podcasts.