（來源：滬江英語）
The weather – and the British obsession with talking about it – has been puzzling outsiders for decades。
英國人痴迷於談論天氣，這個問題數十年來一直讓外界人士困惑不已。
Several features of Britain『s geography make the weather the way it is： mild， changeable， and famously unpredictable。 Britain’s position at the edge of the Atlantic places it at the end of a storm track – relatively narrow zones over oceans that storms travel down， driven by the prevailing winds。
英國地理的特點造就了英國天氣的現狀：溫和多變，眾人皆知其難以預料。英國位於大西洋邊緣，處於風暴軸的末端。所謂「風暴軸」，即海洋上暴風經過的相對狹長的地帶。
As the warm and cold air fly towards and over each other， the earth『s rotation creates cyclones。 Then there is the Gulf Stream， which makes the British climate milder than it should be， given its northern latitude， and the fact that the UK is made up of islands， meaning there is a lot of moisture in the air。
冷熱氣流相互對衝，地球旋轉引起旋風。英國地處北緯、由島嶼構成，在墨西哥灣流影響之下空氣中有許多水分，英國氣候因而更溫和了。
Many of the day-to-day conversations British people initiate about the weather， however， are mundane。 Comments like 「cold， isn『t it？」 don’t even particularly demand a full response； a grunt of agreement will suffice。
然而，英國人發起談論天氣的日常對話枯燥乏味。諸如，「很冷，不是嗎？」這樣的評論根本不需要完整的回答，咕噥一聲表示同意足矣。
Weather talk is a kind of code that we have evolved to help us overcome social inhibitions and actually talk to one another。
談論天氣是幫助人們克服社交障礙演變而來的代碼，讓人們可以真真正正相互交談。
In some situations， weather talk is an icebreaker。 In others it『s used to fill awkward silences， or divert the conversation away from uncomfortable topics。 We can also use weather speak to gauge other people’s mood。
有些情況下，談論天氣可以破冰、活躍氣氛；另一些情況下，可以填補尷尬的空白，轉移令人不自在的話題。也可以通過談天氣來判定別人的心情。
Of course， these kinds of purely social conversations also occur in other cultures。 But both the nature of the conversation – and their content – will vary。 A country like Britain will choose a safe and personally unobtrusive topic – such as the weather。
當然，這樣純社交對話在其它文化裡也有，但談話性質和內容不一。英國這樣的國家會選擇安全低調、不會唐突傷及個人的話題，比如天氣。
責任編輯：蘇仕穎