“There was this Asian lady married to an American gentleman and they lived in Honolulu. The poor lady was not very proficient in English, but managed to communicate with her husband. The real problem arose whenever she had to shop for groceries.

One day, she went to the butcher and wanted to buy pork legs. She didn't know how to put forward her request, and in desperation, lifted up her skirt to show her thighs. The butcher got the message and the lady went home with pork legs.

The next day, she needed to get chicken breasts. Again, she didn't know how to say, and so she unbuttoned her blouse to show the butcher her breast. The lady got what she wanted.

The 3rd day, the poor lady needed to buy sausages. Unable to find a way to communicate this, she brought her husband to the store...



What were you thinking? Helloooooooooo, her husband speaks English!!”


周末，照例，还是以笑话开始。首先我们必须声明，我们引用这个笑话没有任何影射或讽刺的意思。对可能产生的不安或不便，我们深表遗憾。

现在这种cross-cultural marriage越来越多。我们很容易发现我们身边的朋友或认识的人与异族的通婚。不能简单一句话概括说这种婚姻就一定不幸福，而只有和同种族的人结婚才会幸福。这样难免落入偏见或偏激的陷阱。只能说，这种婚姻要面对的困难和挑战更多，毕竟两人之间存在着文化和语言上的巨大落差，而这些差异往往都是通往幸福之路的绊脚石。

像笑话中的两人可以有幸福的婚姻吗？这种完全无法有深层次语言交流的两个人能吗？

这个也不能一概而论。不可否认，深层次的沟通和交流是两人之间相互理解，相互了解，相互信任的基础。缺少了这些，婚姻或爱情往往有如一潭死水，激情过后，容易变成只为琐碎的生活小事操忙。不要说难以产生夫唱妻合的共鸣，就连夫唱妇随也很难。这样的婚姻或爱情确实不容易持久。

但是，并非人人都需要或喜欢这种深层次的沟通和交流。有些人就是“Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day。” 诚然，我们生活中有一部分人并不像各位这样有很强的思考和分析能力，他们比较简单些，或常常半天也放不出一个屁来。对于这种人，深层次的沟通和交流基本上是多余的，而且往往会让他们头疼不已。

绝大多数的女人和相当一部分男人都喜欢沟通和交流，也有少部分的女人和一部分的男人不喜欢。如果你是一个感情丰富，喜欢交流的人，最好不要找一个完全不喜欢，或根本没有办法和你进行思想上沟通的另一半。这样情变的可能性很大，男女都一样。

So until next time，in your opinion, what is the most common universal language?也就是，你们认为世界上最通的语言是什么呢？