Funny English Expressions of “Convenience”

【Abstract】There are many expressions for “going to the toilet” in English， but in Chinese culture there is a tendency to use the word “convenient” at once. In fact， there are still many problems in our cultural communication on this issue， which will lead to problems in our daily life with people in the English-speaking world.

【Key words】Chinese culture； American culture； Cultural difference

【作者簡介】匡楚穎，湖南省衡陽市第一中學504班。

With the deepening of the internationalization of China， there is more and more communication between the Chinese and the people who use English. In this process， the differences in the use of sentences in daily life are highlighted. If there is not enough attention to cultural differences， it will cause a lot of misunderstanding. For example， the Chinese word “fang bian” is not really “convenient.” The author will discuss the subject.

1. The main forms of expression of Cultural differences between China and the West

With the continuous strengthening of contacts in the world， China and Western countries increasingly frequent exchanges in the political， economic and other fields. However， there are many misunderstandings in this process， because of different cultural backgrounds between China and English-speaking countries. So what causes the difference？ For example， as the representatives of Eastern and Western cultures， China and the United States have many different cultural characteristics.

In Western countries， family members， whether young or old， simply accept the help of the other side to express their gratitude. Chinese people often regard the provision of certain services or goods as warm and considerate. For example， the Chinese love to persuade others to eat at banquets and constantly add food to their guests to show that they are warm and considerate. Sometimes they even persuade them to drink， which makes Westerners feel at a loss what to do. Besides， there are different concepts of time between China and the West. If it is agreed to meet at five oclock， the Chinese think it will be about five oclock. They may arrive a little later than five oclock， but Westerners will not tolerate later than five oclock.

2. Sino-American cross-cultural conflict

All the above difference may result in cross-cultural conflict between Chinese and Americans. At first， I will take the example of conversation.

Research shows that conversation is a kind of cooperative behavior， which seems to be quite complex. However， communication parties can usually coordinate themselves automatically， provided they adopt similar conversational mechanism. But Chinese and Americans often use different tactics.The Chinese like to “l(fā)ay the groundwork layer by layer”. Kissinger has described his conversations with Mao Zedong as “roundabout”， usually “l(fā)aying the groundwork” and then getting to the point.

In addition， the central culture may also have different uses for certain words. For example， there are many Chinese idioms about dogs that have derogatory meanings， such as “stealing chickens and touching dogs”， “dog guard”， “wolfs heart and dogs lungs”， etc. In western culture， for example， there are many Chinese idioms that have negative connotations， such as “stealing a chicken and touching a dog.” Dogs are the most loyal companions of human beings， and the words associated with dogs are mostly commendatory words， such as “top-dog” meaning the winner， “l(fā)ucky dog” meaning the lucky ones and so on. In the last section， I will discuss about the different expressions for going to the bathroom in China and Amereica.

3. Different expressions for going to the bathroom

As we all know， in Chinese， “Fangbian” means both convenience and going to the bathroom. This is not the case in English speaking countries. If you say， “I want to fangbian， they may not understand what you mean。”

Although saying this can be correct in some contexts， it can be overly direct or even rude–especially in American English

Its not necessary to restrict yourself to just this literal phrase when in English we have so many varieties of expressing this phrase. And now Im going to teach you everything from the most polite ways to say this， to the crass [rude] expressions that youll only want to say around the closest of friends.

The following 22 toilet related vocabulary and expressions are sorted from the most polite， to the rudest and most vulgar22

The most formal expression is bathroom and restroom， you can say， “Im gonna [going to] go to the bathroom” or ask “ Where is the restroom？” if you want to go to toilet.

Do you think its funny？ Different countries have different opinions about the same thing. Mastering something as simple as going to the bathroom can avoid tuouble when we travel abroad.

4. In Conclusion

Having a rich vocabulary is important， especially if you want to sound like a native. However， its perhaps even more important to know when to appropriately use these phrases， and not to sound rude in a second language.

References：

[1]Post D.Video：New to Rent - Wedding of Convenience for Fans of Simple Fun[J].