1. What are the essential American cultural common senses

The Melting Pot is another name for the United States.

Because the United States is a country composed of immigrants from different nationalities from all over the world. The English spoken by these immigrants does not have strong class and regional diversity like the British English.

They have developed similar living habits and etiquette; the differences between urban and rural residents are not as obvious as those in other countries. Although American society is highly competitive and racially discriminatory, it has shown considerable flexibility and tolerance in assimilating immigrants from different ethnic groups.

As a result, a new overall culture and a unique national consciousness were formed, making the United States "a multi-ethnic country." The American outlook on life is based on personal struggle, self-discipline and a competitive spirit.

Yuppies and Yuffies---Yuppies and Yuffies Yuppies is a new word copied by Americans based on Hippies, which means "young urban professional workers." Yuppies work in professions that require higher education, such as lawyers, doctors, architects, computer programmers, business administrators, etc.

Their annual salary is very high. Yuppies are very successful in their careers, are ambitious, proud of their talents, and live a luxurious life.

Unlike hippies, yuppies have no decadent emotions and do not care about political and social issues. They only care about making money and pursuing a comfortable life. Yafiz means "failed young people in the city".

Although they feel that their lives cannot be compared with the lives of yuppies, they are unwilling to feel lost and vow to find their own destination. Uncle Sam is the nickname and symbol of the United States.

Uncle Sam’s English name is Uncle Sam, and its abbreviation is U. S.

It happens to be the same as the English abbreviation of the United States. But how did it become a nickname and a symbol of America? The common saying is: In 1812, during the American-British War, there was a businessman (some say he was a military ordering officer) named Samuel? Samuel Wilson (1776-1854), people usually call him Uncle Sam.

The beef boxes bought by the American *** are all stamped with U. S.

words. People then joked that these were stamped with U.

S. The boxes with the inscription all belong to Uncle Sam.

Later, "Uncle Sam" became the nickname of the United States. In the 1830s, American painters painted "Uncle Sam" as a thin old man with a goatee and a star-spangled flag on his hat and trousers.

Black Friday---Black Friday The word "black" comes from the martyrdom day of Jesus (Good Friday). On October 19, 1987, stock prices in the New York Stock Market plummeted. Because that day was a Friday, it was called "Black Friday" in the stock market.

On October 19, the stock indexes in the New York stock market generally fell sharply, surpassing the record stock plunge on October 28, 1929, which triggered the Great Depression. Shortly after the market opened that day, there was a frenzy of selling stocks. The New York stock market set a record-breaking 604.3 billion shares traded, causing heavy losses to several large companies in the United States. The entire stock value of 5,000 listed companies fell in one day. 500 billion US dollars.

The plunge in stock values ??quickly swept through major financial markets around the world, causing great panic in the West. This stock plunge was the worst for the stock market since World War I, and also the worst decline in the history of Wall Street. The most severe one.

2. Common sense of British and American culture

1. (1) United States currency

The United States currency is composed of US dollars and cents. One dollar is equal to 100 cents.

Its banknote bills have denominations of one, two, five, ten, twenty, fifty and one hundred dollars; coins have one cent (or a penny), five cents (or a nickel), ten cents (or a dime) and twenty-five cents (or a quarter), etc. Add $ before the number to represent U.S. dollars, such as: $500 represents five hundred dollars; add C after the number to represent cents, such as: 50C represents 50 cents; when expressing the number of dollars and cents, it is often expressed by $, such as: $6.50.

(2) British currency

British currency consists of pounds and pence, and is also divided into notes and coins. Paper money has a face value of five pounds, ten pounds, twenty pounds and fifty pounds; coins, that is, metal currency, have one penny, two pence, five pence, ten pence, twenty pence, fifty pence and one pound. If it refers to a certain amount of coins, it is usually expressed as piece, such as 2P (pieces); coins carried with you can be expressed as change. 100 pence equals 1 pound. Adding ￡ before the number indicates how many pounds, such as: ￡800 means 800 pounds; adding P after the number indicates how many pennies, such as: 5P means five pennies (the plural of penny); it is usually not used when expressing the number of pounds and pennies. Say pence, such as three pounds and fifty pence, which can be said as ￡3.50 or three pounds and fifty.

3. What are the cultural differences that should be paid attention to in British life?

Don’t mince words in your conversation. When talking about business or work in the UK, it is best to go directly to the topic. Talking in a roundabout way will be regarded as Waste of time.

When the British say "no" they don't mean to start bargaining with you, they mean that's what they mean. At the same time, the British have a great sense of humor, but when they are joking, they may look very serious on the outside, interspersing some light-hearted jokes with serious conversations.

Therefore, our friends who study abroad must keep these cultural differences in mind. Socializing starts in the bar. Chinese students may have the impression of British people being polite but cold.

Usually British people don't like being too affectionate, thinking it is superficial and insincere. Too much enthusiasm and attention can make British people feel strange and uncomfortable, so it does take some time to establish friendship with them. Privacy is very important to British people.

Nowadays, there are more overseas students purchasing on behalf of others. For those who are not accustomed to eating habits abroad, they should pay more attention. Especially in this era of soaring prices, international students abroad must not only learn to open source That is to say, in addition to working part-time to increase income, you must also learn to save money. Personal issues such as marriage, romantic relationships, finances, health, etc. should be avoided unless the person is a very good friend.

In addition, bars are social centers where British people like to get together with friends. Chinese students may be invited to "go out for a pint" (goout to have a pint) as the beginning of socializing with British students. Eat and chat alternately. When visiting a British home, you should arrive on time and prepare some small gifts. Arriving early will be considered impolite.

When eating, it is polite to finish all the food on your plate. If there is leftover food, it means that the guest does not like the food in the UK. There is no habit of eating hot pot in the UK. They usually eat a soup pot at most. The seasoning is relatively light and there is no hot pot base. Instead, they boil it and stir in some seasonings.

I didn’t expect that if you are not used to the British diet, you can also buy it at Aikewo or ask your family to send you some Chinese food you like. British people like to chat while eating. At this time, you need to pay attention to eating and talking alternately.

It is very impolite to open your mouth wide and talk while eating, so it is best to only put a small amount of food in your mouth when eating. If you have to open your mouth wide, it's best to cover it with one hand.

In British culture it is considered polite to stay for social conversation after a meal, so the party may extend for a few hours. Make an appointment for everything. When interacting with people in the UK, you should also be careful. You should inform your friends in advance before visiting them. Uninvited guests will be annoying.

You should try to avoid calling other people's homes after 10 pm. Calls after 11 pm may be regarded as an emergency by the British.

Many services in the UK require advance reservations, such as doctor's visits, haircuts, beauty treatments, glasses, etc.

If you need to cancel an appointment, you must notify the other party 24 hours in advance, otherwise you may have to pay a cancellation fee. When you are not used to eating foreign food, it will remind you of the street snacks in your hometown and the urge to buy specialties at the Aikewo International Student Mall, so maybe you will feel another kind of Jiangyang that is not written here: In fact, , in foreign countries, what you eat at first is just a strange feeling, but in the end, what you eat turns into countless homesickness.

Learning more colloquial sayings is very useful. In life in the UK, Chinese students may encounter many colloquial sayings that they are unfamiliar with or even do not understand. Knowing some common sayings in advance will be of great help when you first arrive in the UK.

4. Cultural common sense about Britain or English

The general structure of an English name is: Christian name + self-chosen name + surname. Such as William Jafferson Clinton.

However, in many cases the middle name is often omitted, such as George Bush, and many people prefer to use nicknames

instead of the formal given name, such as Bill Clinton. The above Christian name and middle name are also called personal names. The personal names, nicknames and surnames of the English-speaking people are introduced as follows:

I. Personal names

According to the custom of the English-speaking people, babies are generally baptized When the child is born, the pastor or parents, relatives and friends will give him a name, which is called the Christian name. In the future, I can use a second name after my given name.

The sources of English personal names are generally as follows:

1. Use names from the Bible, Greek and Roman mythology, ancient celebrities or literary classics as Christian names.

2. Use the name of the ancestor’s place of origin, mountains and rivers, birds, animals, fish and insects, flowers and trees as the Christian name.

3. Different variants of the given name.

4. Use a (nickname) nickname.

5. Use word-formation techniques to create new Christian names, such as reverse order and merger.

6. Use your mother’s maiden name as your middle name.

Commonly used male names among English-speaking people are: James, John, David, Daniel, Michael. Common

female names are: Jane, Mary, Elizabeth, Ann, Sarah, Catherine.

II. Nicknames

Nicknames include nicknames, abbreviations and nicknames. They are often used to express affection among relatives and friends of English-speaking people.

They are used in teaching. Derived from the name. Usually the following situations occur:

1. Keep the first syllable. For example, Donald =>Don, Timothy =>Tim. If the real name starts with a vowel,

you can derive a nickname starting with 'N', such as: Edward =>Ned.

2. +ie or -y such as: Don =>Donnie, Tim =>Timmy.

3. Use the final syllable, such as: Anthony =>Tony, Beuben =>Ben.

< p> 4. Two nicknames are derived from one given name, such as: Andrew =>Andy & Drew.

5. Irregular derivation method, such as: One of William's nicknames is Bill.

III. Surname

For a long time, the British only had a first name but no surname. The use of surnames did not become widespread until the 16th century. The etymology of English surnames mainly includes:

1. Directly borrowing the Christian name, such as Clinton.

2. Adding an affix to the Christian name to indicate the blood relationship, such as the suffix -s , -son, -ing; the prefixes M'-, Mc-,

Mac-, Fitz-, etc. all mean someone's son or descendant.

3. Add an affix indicating identity before the Christian name, such as St.-, De-, Du=, La-, Le-.

4. Show place names, landforms or environment Characteristic, such as Brook, Hill, etc.

5. Reflecting identity or occupation, such as: Carter, Smith.

6. Reflecting personal characteristics, such as: Black, Longfellow.

7. Borrowing names of animals and plants, such as Bird, Rice.

8. Derived from the merger of double surnames, such as Burne-Jones.

Although English surnames appeared later than Christian names, their number is Much more. Commonly used ones are: Smith, Miller,

Johnson, Brown, Jones, Williams.

IV. Some explanations

1. Originated earlier Christian names in the Bible, Greco-Roman mythology are usually not borrowed as surnames.

2. The British are accustomed to abbreviating both the given name and the middle name, such as M. H. Thatcher; Americans are accustomed

to abbreviating only the middle name, such as Ronald W. Reagan.

3. Sometimes there is an interpersonal title before the name, such as job rank and so on. Dr., Prof., Pres. can

be used before a surname or a given name; Sir can only be used before a given name or a given name.

5. British and American cultural knowledge

Britain is England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland United Kingdom.Unified central government and head of state.Britain in the northwest of Europe.Britain in the British Isles,was the North Sea,English Channel,Celtic Sea,Irish Sea and surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean,land area of ??24.36 kilometers,a population of about 60 million..

6. Cultural common sense about Britain or English

In 1840 AD during the Victorian era in England, Anna, the Duchess of Bedford, was in low spirits and never bored every afternoon. , thinking that it was still some time before the formal dinner party with complicated etiquette, and feeling a little hungry, he asked the maid to prepare some slices of toast, butter and tea.

Later, Ms. Anna invited several close friends to share a relaxing afternoon with tea and exquisite snacks. Unexpectedly, it suddenly became fashionable in the aristocratic social circle at that time, and ladies and ladies flocked to it. Until today, an elegant and comfortable afternoon tea culture has formed, and it has also become the orthodox "British black tea culture". This is also the origin of the so-called "Victorian Afternoon Tea".

Initially, tea was only enjoyed at home with high-end and elegant tea sets. Later, it gradually evolved into a social tea party for entertaining friends, and various etiquettes were derived. But now the form has been simplified a lot. Although afternoon tea has been simplified now, the correct way of brewing tea, elegant tea drinking arrangements, and sumptuous tea snacks are regarded as the tradition of tea drinking and continue to be passed down.

Create a complete Victorian atmosphere

In the British Victorian afternoon tea tradition, it is absolutely necessary to use the best room in the house (such as Solon) and the best porcelain to receive guests. It is necessary, and the finest tea and exquisite snacks are the protagonists of afternoon tea; accompanied by melodious classical music, coupled with a relaxed mood, you can spend an elegant and leisurely afternoon with close friends.

The life and cultural connotation of orthodox British-style Victorian afternoon tea

Britain was the most powerful era of the British Empire during the era of Queen Victoria (1837~1901 AD), when culture and art flourished; people Obsessed with the pursuit of the connotation of art and culture and exquisite life taste.

Victoria afternoon tea is a comprehensive art, simple but not shabby, gorgeous but not vulgar... Although the time to drink tea and the food (referring to pure British snacks) are orthodox British style Afternoon tea is the most important part, but without good tea, porcelain, music, and even a good mood, afternoon tea will seem to be a fly in the ointment.

With the advancement of the times and the wide variety of teas, there are not only many varieties of afternoon tea, but also many choices. If you use an afternoon to have an afternoon date with close friends, wouldn’t it be a feast for the eyes? thing.