Words! Did I Really Say That? （我真的说过吗？）

Did I Really Say That ——我真说这话了吗？

There's been a lot in the news lately about the way we speak and how dangerous our choice of words can be in stirring up people to behave badly, causing division rather than cohesion. The old adage would speak louder than actions is true, and just like we have the choice to use a certain word over another, it seems the choices of some leaders of society may need re consideration when the words they choose spark actions which harm others where words or curse words are in most languages and in those few that they're not hurtful. Words can offend and change peoples moods in a flash.

最近有很多关于我们说话的方式的新闻，选择的词是多么的危险，它会煽动人们做出不好的行为，导致分裂而不是团结。谚语说“语言的方式，胜过行动”。是正确的。就像我们可以选择使用一个特定的词。似乎社会的一些领导人，选择那些促进人们行动，或诅咒的语言，但不是那么伤人。言语会冒犯人，并在一瞬间改变人的情绪。

The guardians of anger managements knowonly too well how that happens when their patients or as they're now calledclients blow their stack and produce a verbal explosion of expletives. So is itpossible to tone down the volume when we want to make a point and be just aseffective in getting our message across without sending the troops into action?Years ago I attended a football match in the river in a district of new southwales in australia as an anchor on the local tv station where I communicated thenightly news. One of my colleagues suggested I accompany him to the dressingroom at the halfway break to hear some local interesting communication of adifferent kind.

懂得愤怒管理的人们，当“病人”或“客户”爆发出一连串的咒骂时，这种情况是如何发生的。所以，当我们想要表达一个观点，并且在“不动武”的情况下有效地传达我们的信息时，有没有可能降低音量呢?

几年前，我在澳大利亚新南威尔士州的一条河上观看了一场足球比赛，当时我是当地电视台的主播，负责播报晚间新闻。我的一位同事建议我在中场休息的时候陪他去更衣室，听听当地另一种有趣的交流。

Butwhy I asked him, because you'll hear the coach giving his call to action andcalling out those who haven't played well. But what you want here is the kindof language you might expect. So more than curious, I went along and stood nearthe back of the dressing room where the coach started giving what could only becalled a dressing down at the players, especially with their apparent inabilityto score. He started fairly slowly, then picked up the speed of his criticism,pointing out where he thought the players could improve in the second half.That was about to start.

为什么，我问他？因为你会听到教练的命令，他的行动，并呼吁那些没有发挥好的球员。但这里，你可能会想到的那种语言。因此，我不仅好奇，还走到更衣室后面，站在那里，教练开始训斥球员，尤其是在他们明显无法得分的情况下。他开始时速度很慢，然后加快了批评的速度，指出了他认为球员在下半场可以改进的地方。这就要开始了。

Whenthe game was over. My friend ask, so what did you think? He didn't swear atthem? I replied, not a word of bad language. The way he talked without a singleswear word was not what i'd expected from a hard driving aussie football coach.His pep talk was measured and I think you know the result. Yes, the players hadbeen sufficiently motivated to pick up on the respectful dialogue and win thegame convincingly. The coach had his own way of speaking naturally and washighly respected not only for his own expertise, but admired by a bunch offootball as who themselves probably had more than just a few curse words intheir own vocabulary.

当比赛结束的时候。我的朋友问我，你觉得怎么样?他没有骂他们?我回答，一句脏话也没有说。他说话的方式，没有一个字的诅咒，不是我所期望的一个苛刻的澳大利亚足球教练。他的鼓舞人心的话是经过衡量的，我想你知道结果。是的，球员们已经有足够的动力去接受彼此尊重的对话，并令人信服地赢得比赛。这位教练有他自己的自然表达方式，他不仅因为自己的专业知识而备受尊敬，而且还受到一群足球爱好者的钦佩，因为他们自己可能也不只是在自己的词汇表中有几个骂人的话。

I'dbe interested to know your thoughts on the effectiveness of what we often callbad language in getting a message across in situations whether we're angry ornot, perhaps would become resigned to using and hearing words that were neveruttered publicly decades ago and now heard on tv and in movies, as well asother forms of mass entertainment, especially some song lyrics. Well, is badlanguage really bad? Or is it just the way we use it? The english and otherlanguages have effective substitutes, but it seems a swear or curse word tolive a dynamically can allow us to make a point without anyone needing to ask,what exactly do you mean to less explicit words, not give us the verbalammunition to make a point with less offense?

我想知道你的想法，我们效果不好的沟通语言，在这样的情况下，是否愤怒？或许辞职。几十年前从未公开到现在，听到的电视和电影,以及其他形式的大众娱乐,特别是一些歌词。那么，糟糕的语言真的很糟糕吗?或者只是我们使用它的方式?英语和其他语言的有效替代替代语言。但似乎发誓或诅咒的词，可以让我们强调语气。如果我们口存善意，将如何清晰地表达呢？

Ordo we achieve nothing more than a war of words, which may unhappily elicit aphysical reaction? Or at the mildest extreme, the retort, I don't like the toneof your voice. It would be hard to imagine mark antony addressing the crowddeclaring friends, romans and countrymen lend me a bloody years, or winstonchurchill rousing the nation with a few expletives dropped in for the shockeffect, which may or may not have resulted in being his finest hour. And let'sface it, you would never hear queen elizabeth beginning her christmas messagewith it's been a shitty year, even if it had, if she did, it would be a messageto remember.

还是说，我们所做的不过是一场可能引起身体反应的口水战? 或最温和的极端，反驳，我不喜欢你的语气。很难想象马克•安东尼(mark antony)会向人群宣称，他是朋友、罗马人和英国人让我度过了一个血腥的年代，或者温斯顿•丘吉尔(winston churchill)会用几句咒骂话唤醒整个国家，带来震撼效果，而这可能会——也可能不会——成为他最辉煌的时刻。让我们面对现实吧，你永远不会听到伊丽莎白女王以“这是糟糕的一年”开始她的圣诞致辞，即使有，如果她有，这将是一个值得记住的信息。

Community standards of what's acceptable and what's not in speaking naturally havecertainly shifted as languages continue to evolve. And while the internet is afree for all to say just about anything, community standards prevail in thesechanging times. Traditional newspapers and broadcasters understand this and acton those who try to break the rules, talk back radio stations, invitinglisteners to air their views, have a delay system which prevents anyunacceptable dialogue, getting past even the most extreme shock jocks. Buthere's one example from my own working history when listeners didn't alwaysbelieve what they heard.

随着语言的不断发展，自然语言中哪些是可以接受的，哪些是不可接受的，这些在社区的标准已经发生了变化。尽管所有人都可以自由地谈论互联网上的任何事情，但在这个不断变化的时代，社区标准依然盛行。传统的报纸和广播公司明白这一点，并对那些试图打破规则的人采取行动，对电台进行反驳，邀请听众发表他们的观点，有一种阻止任何不可接受的对话的拖延制度，甚至连最极端的令人震惊的滑稽演员也不能容忍。但这里有一个例子，来自我自己的工作历史，当听众不总是相信他们听到的

Ijust started out my career as a radio announcer in new zealand in the latenineteen sixties. That was an era when you couldn't even say damn on the http://air.In fact, the public broadcaster, the new zealand broadcasting corporation wasso strict about protecting it's believed standards of public decency. It bandrecords which its purveyors of public standards to creed might pollute theminds of its young listeners becoming attached to the ripples of rock and roll.For example, the song bloody mary from the hit musical south pacific was bannedsimply because of its title.

我的职业生涯始于20世纪60年代末，当时我是新西兰的一名电台播音员。在那个时代，你甚至不能在广播中说“该死”。事实上，公共广播公司，新西兰广播公司在保护公众礼仪方面是如此严格。这支乐队所录制的唱片，可能会污染年轻听众的思想，使他们迷恋上摇滚乐的涟漪。例如，热门音乐剧《南太平洋》中的歌曲《血腥玛丽》就因为其歌名而被禁。

Little chance anyone acting in a radio playcould ask for a bloody mary to quench their thirst. The very big hit for bobbydarren called splits splash was banned outright because it suggested peoplecould be having new bathing parties. Any records by little richard were bannedfrom airplay because they were deemed too noisy. And elvis presley, his bigseller, it's now or never was banned out of respect for the song. It was basedon. Oh, solo me. Oh, and for those who might be offended by he's got the wholeworld in his hands. That song by laurie london was banned because it mightoffend the churches and those who attended each sunday.

在广播剧中表演的人几乎不可能要求血腥玛丽来解渴。博比·达伦(bobby darren)的大热作品《劈开飞溅》(split splash)被彻底禁止了，因为它暗示人们可能会举办新的沐浴派对。小理查德的唱片因为太吵而被禁止播放。而他的畅销歌曲猫王埃尔维斯·普雷斯利(elvis presley)，出于对这首歌的尊重，《现在或从未被禁》。它是基于。哦,我独唱。对于那些可能会被他冒犯的人来说，整个世界都掌握在他的手中。劳丽·伦敦的这首歌被禁，因为它可能会冒犯教堂和那些每个星期天都来的人。

Thatwas the environment. When I started broadcasting, the chief announcer gave mewhat he considered was a gentle way of being introduced to the livebroadcasting environment. When he gave me my first shift on the air. I simplyhad to read the weather forecast on the main national network preceding theseven pm news. Now the news reader that night was a seasoned announcer, billleftwich, who was a character with a wicked sense of humor. He told jokesdefinitely went off the air. And on this night of my broadcasting day boo, hearrived early with his news bulletin and one minute before I was about to startreading the weather, he told me a joke, the contents of which have long fadedfrom my memory. But what hasn't is that instead of trying to stay calm for myfirst broadcast, I was trying to control my laughter from bill's joke at twominutes to seven. I had to start the weather because at this point otherstations up and down the country joined the network to relay this all importantinformation.

这就是当时的环境。当我开始播音时，首席播音员用他认为是温和的方式向我介绍了现场直播环境。当他让我第一次上电视时。我只需要在晚上7点的新闻之前，阅读主要国家电视网的天气预报。当晚的新闻播报员是一位经验丰富的播音员，比尔·莱夫特维奇，他是一个有着邪恶幽默感的角色。

他讲的笑话非常出格。在我播报的那天晚上，他很早就拿着他的新闻简报来了。就在我开始看天气预报的前一分钟，他给我讲了一个笑话，其中的内容早已从我的记忆中消失了。

但没有的是，我没有在第一次广播时保持冷静，而是在差2分7分的时候努力控制住比尔笑话中的笑声。我不得不从天气预报开始，因为此时全国上下的其他电台都加入了这个网络来，转播这一切重要信息。

Wellbelow my microphone was a switch which allowed me to turn it on or off. And Ithought if I turn the microphone off briefly I could catch my breath and calmdown, then turned it on to continue reading the weather. That as you will haveheard on my earlier episodes about the need to breed for speech and calm thebutterflies, things I didn't really know about. Then I was in a state of utterconfusion, still thinking of that joke. I said to myself, oh shit! Because Iknew bill leftwich had dumped me in a verbal pile of it, quickly turning themicrophone switch to what I presumed was the off position, I said my exploitiveat least three times little realizing that what was going out on the veryserious highly respected national radio program was not all the weatherinformation.

我的麦克风下面有一个开关，我可以打开或关闭它。我想，如果我把麦克风短暂地关掉，我可以喘口气，冷静下来，然后打开它，继续读天气预报。正如你们在我之前的几集里听到的，为了演讲和让蝴蝶平静下来。然后我陷入了一种完全混乱的状态，仍然想着那个笑话。我对自己说，哦，该死!

我知道比尔·莱夫特维奇在我脑海“堆砌”了什么语言, 迅速把麦克风开关，我说至少三次，意识到发生了什么。在非常严肃非常，受人尊敬的国家广播节目内的，并不是天气信息。

WhenI had finished, I looked across to the new studio where bill left work washaving trouble reading his news with a big smirk across his face. Seated in theconnecting control room was the female control operator who was out of control.She had a head in her hands, thinking I had masked my own laughter. Well, Iasked what was wrong. Her reply, stand away, edwin. I think you should begetting ready to pack up your bags and leave. To which I asked why I found outto my horror that in my state of un coordination, I was turning the microphoneoff to read the weather and turning it on to say how I felt listeners acrossthe length and breadth of new zealand would have heard long gaps of silence,some brief information about the weather, and then clearly not one, but up tothree times.

当我看完的时候，我看到了比尔离开的新闻工作室，他在看新闻的时候脸上带着一个大大的坏笑。坐在连接控制室的是失控的女控制操作员。她手里拿着一个脑袋，以为我把自己的笑声给遮住了。我问怎么了。她的回答是，埃德温，站远点。我想你应该准备好打包离开了。我问为什么我发现我的恐惧, ,我关闭麦克风，播报天气预报。然后关掉麦克风，说听完笑话的感受。新西兰的听众会在节目中大大的间隔中听到他。,一些简单的关于天气的信息, 然后三次其他的信息。

Yep.Oh, shit. And from this, a lesson was learned. It appears. People listening totheir radios don't always believe what they've heard. There were only two phonecalls. One listener complain, saying he thought it was a bit poor, that theannouncer should laugh during the weather. I think it would have been more likecrying. And then there was a call from a technician at one of the outlyingrelay stations wanting to know when edwin maher would be on national radioagain, because it had never been so entertaining. Well, I didn't have to packmy bags because when the matter was reported to the network manager who wasacting in the job while the real manager was on leave, he promised to take noaction. If there were no further cause of complaint that they were none.

是的。哦,狗屎。从中，我得到了一个教训。它出现了。听众的人并不总是相信他们听到的。只有两个电话。一位听众抱怨说，他觉得天气不好，播音员应该笑。我想那更像是哭泣。

后来，一个偏远中转站的技术人员打来电话，想知道Edwin什么时候会再次出现在国家电台上，因为它从来没有这么有趣过。

嗯，我不需要走人，因为当这件事被上报给经理时，他正在代理工作，而真正的经理正在休假，他承诺不采取任何行动。如果没有其他的理由来抱怨，那就不用走人。

Sothanks to all those death new zealanders. I survived to tell the story. Ittaught me one lesson never to swear again, because you never know was abroadcaster. When you walk near a microphone, it could be live. So we're backwhere we started with the way we use words, not just in our quest to speaknaturally for our own wellbeing, but for the well being of those we communicatewith in families, in schools and in the workplace. In heated moments. There'sno time to think before we speak, as I found out on new zealand radio.

所以，感谢所有的新西兰人。我活下来！讲了这个故事。这给了我一个教训:永远不要再骂人，因为你永远不知道自己是个播音员。当你走近麦克风时，它可能是带电的。

所以我们又回到了我们开始使用语言的方式，不仅仅是为了我们自己的幸福，而是为了那些我们在家庭、学校和工作场所中与我们交流的人的幸福。在激烈的时刻。在我们说话之前，没有时间思考，就像我在新西兰电台发现的那样

Andit's often a mad rush to the finish mouthing our way through the mud that getsslung at our target. There's an expression which carries more weight than gold.But unlike gold, it isn't expensive. Choose your words carefully. I think it'sworth doing, especially when we had the choice. Hopefully some of our leaderswill consider it and set a better example than they have in the past. Theymight even find their own gold with another word of advice. Hold your tongue. Ithink most of us wish we had at some time or another.

通常情况下，冲到终点的时候，我们会在泥泞中狂奔，然后被甩向目标。有一种说法，语言比金子更有分量。但与黄金不同的是，黄金并不贵。说话要谨慎。我认为这是值得做的，尤其是当我们有选择的时候。希望我们的一些领导人能考虑一下，做出比过去更好的榜样。找到给自己的黄金建议。管住你的舌头。我想我们大多数人都可能遇到，我那种情况。