摘要
Confucius said,"By nature we converge;by custom,we diverge."Simply put,people from all cultures are endowed with the same hardware;it’s our cultural programming that makes us different.Language use captures and shows differences in how we
Confucius said, ＂By nature we converge; by custom, we diverge.＂ Simply put people from all cultures are endowed with thesame hardware; it＇s our cultural programming that makes us different. Language use cap- tures and shows differences in how we express ourselves via our specific cultural norms. As humans, we all can agree that we share similar needs and desires. Differences arise in the ways we express those elemental wants and needs. Specifically, how people make choices regard- ing politeness does not always easily translate across cultures.
