‘Is this sweet or salty?’ ‘Is this food sweet or savory?’ Savory is a general word used to describe main course dishes like meat, and vegetables as well as others like cheese and crackers (salty biscuits). A cocktail party may offer savories (small portions of slightly salty foods) as well as drinks and sweets. Note that the most common word for the sweet food at the end of a meal is dessert, but it may also be called sweet or pudding.
Note: as English dinners usually revolve around one main course rather that many different dishes, hosts often ask beforehand whether guests do not like anything to avoid everyone being disappointed. There is also a sizeable minority of vegetarians, and hosts would wish to know about this before planning meals. If Jean were a vegetarian she certainly would not enjoy the planned ‘roast’. A roast is a large piece of meat such as a leg of lamb or a chicken cooked inside an oven. It is usually served with potatoes and one or two other vegetables such as cabbage 邀请 / Inviting
Dear James, Teaching in China is a real pleasure, but people here can sometimes be a little mean with their hospitality. Yesterday I was invited to an official banquet in the evening by the university. As you know, I enjoy Chinese food and would have loved to have gone, but for some reason Janiet was not included in the invitation. Naturally I couldn’t accept and leave the dear old wife at home so I had to make an excuse to get out of it. Can’t think why they should want to snub her in that way, but it has made both of us feel that we are not really welcome…
Situation 3 In a western meal, you’re offered a second helping but you have already had enough. What would you say? ‘No thanks. I’m full.’
‘No thanks. I’m full.’ This is fine with family or close colleagues. If you wish to be more polite in more formal situations it might be better to say something a little less direct, such as ‘That was delicious but I’ve already had plenty, thanks’. back
Note: Generally speaking for invitations to any meal taking place in the evening, ranging from those given at someone’s home through to dining out together or attending formal banquets, both husband and wife will be included. This is not expected in the case of mid-day meals, probably because couples often work in different places and some jobs involve taking a working lunch with clients or colleagues. Here in China, however, it is quite common for only the husband or wife to be invited to a meal, wither in work units or between friends, and neither husband nor wife will feel offended if one of them is not invited.
9.2 礼貌 / Politeness
Impolite and Over-polite
Impolite Case 1: After ordering food in a restaurant, one foreigner, for example, was reported as saying， ‘the dishes are quite good here; these dishes are quite famous’ instead of apologizing for the poor quality and quantity of the food. Chinese feel that it is impolite for the foreigner to claim the dishes are good, when there were only ten dishes ordered (for four people), and they were, in fact, rather ordinary. ‘I’m sorry. The restaurant is a little bit small and the dishes are just so-so, but I hope you’ll enjoy yourself.’
Michael: Hi, Peter, how’s things? Peter: Fine, fine. And you? Michael: Oh, so-so. Look, what are you up to this Friday? We were wondering if you and Jean would like to come over to our place for a bite to eat. Peter: Sounds lovely. Any particular time? Michael: Oh, say about eight. Oh, by the way, is there anything either of you don’t like? Peter: No, eat anything really. Oh, now I come to think of it, Jean’s a bit off spicy food at present, had a bit of a tummy from an Indian restaurant we went to last week. Michael: No problem. We were thinking of having a roast.
跨文化交际学
第九章 社会交往
9.1 好客/ Hospitality 9.2 礼貌 / Politeness 9.3 邀请 / Inviting 9.4 礼物 / Gifts 9.5 Eye Contact 9.6 Body Distance
9.1 好客/ Hospitality
Chinese: Hospitality means pressing you to accept the offer. West: Hospitality is shown by giving you freedom to choose whatever you really want.
Case 2: A foreigner don’t accompany guests to the gate upon leave-taking. Chinese: show greater degrees of concern and care toward guests. (Many Chinese think foreigners fail to express proper levels of concern and care for guests. Some complained of impoliteness ) West: give guests the chance to choose what is their favorite.