时差N小时 笑是一种社会信号(下)

How often have you found yourself laughing at someone's attempt at being funny in order to spare their feelings or make them feel good?

你是否经常发现因为他人的幽默而发笑只是为了照顾他们的感情或让他们感觉良好?

Wow. You've just described my relationship with my father.

没错。我和我父亲之间就是这样的关系。

It hurts me how unfunny he is.

他的无趣简直让我备受煎熬。

I'm sure I'd be able to tell if people were faking their laughter at my jokes, though.

我确信自己能够分辨出人们是否因为我的笑话而假笑。

Hmm. Well, Don, research has also found that women tend to laugh a good deal more than men.

嗯。嗯，唐，研究还发现，女性笑的频率往往高于男性。

And male speakers tend to illicit¹ more laughter than female speakers.

而男性演讲者往往比女性的笑更为不正当。

Also, laughter may very well be a sign of power dynamics² between people, signaling dominance and submission³, acceptance and rejection⁴.

还有，笑声很可能标志着人与人之间的权力分配，信号统治及顺从，接受和拒绝。

Certainly, that seems to be the case when someone is laughed at rather than with.

当然，这种情况无法与当有人嘲笑时相提并论。

Thanks a lot, Yael.

雅艾尔，非常感谢。

I think you've ruined my career in comedy, as well as laughter in general.

你这番话可以说扼杀了我的喜剧生涯，还有这个所谓的笑。

You've explained the life out of it!

你已经解释的够充分了!

1 illicit   

adj.非法的，禁止的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He had an illicit association with Jane.他和简曾有过不正当关系。
• Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year.今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。

2 dynamics   

n.力学，动力学，动力，原动力；动态

参考例句：

• In order to succeed,you must master complicated knowledge of dynamics.要取得胜利，你必须掌握很复杂的动力学知识。
• Dynamics is a discipline that cannot be mastered without extensive practice.动力学是一门不做大量习题就不能掌握的学科。

3 submission   

n.服从，投降；温顺，谦虚；提出

参考例句：

• The defeated general showed his submission by giving up his sword.战败将军缴剑表示投降。
• No enemy can frighten us into submission.任何敌人的恐吓都不能使我们屈服。

4 rejection   

n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃

参考例句：

• He decided not to approach her for fear of rejection.他因怕遭拒绝决定不再去找她。
• The rejection plunged her into the dark depths of despair.遭到拒绝使她陷入了绝望的深渊。