Talk to a Briton and, unless you know him very well, chances are that you'll be talking about the weather within the first 10 minutes or so. Even if you do know her very well, chances are that the weather will come up . It's a pure British trait , and there are countless theories about why this might be. Here are the two main ones.
跟英国人聊天时，除非你跟他很熟，不然前10分钟，你们的话题很可能是天气。即使你跟她关系很好，也可能会聊聊天气。这是纯英国式的特点，而且有非常多的理由来说明他们为什么会这样。以下就是两大理由。
Reason one: Weather is safe. In a country where people are overwhelmingly uncomfortable about showing their emotions in a way that, say, the Italians aren't, weather gives the Brit something to latch onto that's safe to talk about. There are few Brits who'll give you their life story during an elevator ride; however, you might find out how much it's been raining, shining, or snowing, and where.
理由一：聊天气是个很安全的话题。在一个大家都不喜欢随便展现自己情绪的国家，当然意大利人除外，谈论天气对英国人来说是非常安全的话题。很少有英国人会在电梯里就开始谈论他们的生活经历，相反，你会听到一些哪里在下雨、天晴或下雪的字眼。
Reason two: There is just so much of it. In his 1990s mini-series about Scotland, comedian Billy Connolly once proclaimed that the reason there were so few trees on the Shetland Isles is that they'd all blown away to Norway. Britain is a country which only a few years ago topped 100 degrees F for the first time, a fact that made headline news. Britain is green, green, and green... and that's because it rains, rains, and rains. And then it coughs up rainbows.
理由二：英国人就是这么喜欢谈论天气。喜剧演员比利·康诺利曾出演20世纪90年代的有关苏格兰的迷你剧，他曾说道设德兰群岛的树之所以这么少是因为他们都被吹到挪威去了。英国是一个温度超过华氏100度（约摄氏37.8度）都要上报纸头条的国家，几年前，英国的温度首次突破华氏100度便上了报纸头条。英国一直绿意盎然，因为它总是下雨，有时候还会出现彩虹。
