这个词无法翻译，老外永远不懂，除非……他有个中国女朋友。,英国大家谈微信公众号文章

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中文博大精深，有很多词都是其他语言没法翻译的。

比如说咱们之前提到过的“江南”“江湖”“缘分”……你要想直译成英语，绝对是个大难题。

前段时间，有个妹纸说：唉我发现有个词老外真的理解不来。我有次在微信上和我的德国男票说，“我只是想撒撒娇嘛~”，结果纠结半天愣不知道这“撒娇”怎么表示！

当时小海狸也原地想了好几分钟，同样无解。（咦难道歪果仁就不撒娇的吗！）

别以为这词咱们能意会就很简单，对“撒娇”无解的老外可海了去了。一个叫Kelsi的加拿大妹纸，就在一个视频中表达过她对“撒娇”翻译的无能为力——

……装可爱是装可爱，撒娇是撒娇，一个重在形，一个重在神！（我到底在说什么……）

其实，对于学中文的老外来说，“撒娇”这种并不常用的词不了解也没关系。毕竟如果哪个中国人和你提起这词，甚至真的在你面前使用“撒娇大法”了，那你们的关系估计也非同一般了……

的确，能对“撒娇”一词无师自通的歪果仁（汉子），多半有个中国的女朋友。

有个名叫哈里森(Harrison)的外国小哥，就写过一篇文章吐槽过中国妹纸的“撒娇大法”。

小哥来中国，用交友app认识了个妹纸。两人约在酒吧见面，起初一切都很正常。

然而渐渐地，妹纸有些喝醉了，她的反应就把小哥给吓住了……

I told her that I was going to step outside to the 7-11 to buy another beer (beers at 7-11 are like $1 each and you can drink ’em anywhere), and she said she wanted to come with.

我和妹纸说，我要去酒吧外的7-11便利店买罐啤酒。她说她要和我去。

OOkay, no problem.

去就去咯，无所谓。

So I get into the 7-11 and she starts getting really whiny and saying things like, “comeeee onnnn, buyyyy me a beer.” Seeing how she was already pretty fucked up, I told her she didn’t need any more and told her she could have a sip of mine.

可我们一进7-11，她就开始碎碎念地发牢骚，哼哼唧唧什么“哎~~呀~~~给我也买一罐嘛~~~~”看她都醉得不成样子了，我说你不能再喝啦，实在想喝的话可以喝一点我的。

But that didn’t suffice.

然鹅，这并没有什么luan用。

As we stepped outside 7-11 the whining and complaining continued. She was starting to make a scene about me buying her another beer and bystanders were taking notice.

我们走出7-11了，她还在那里碎碎念啊碎碎念，吵吵嚷嚷地怪我不给她买啤酒，搞得路边吃瓜群众们纷纷侧目。（make a scene:当众大吵大闹）

I chugged my beer, gave her a kiss, and was on my way.

我一口气喝光了我那罐啤酒，亲了她一下，果断走人。

This went from a cool girl to a psychotic girl in about 1.5 dates and this confused the shit out of me.

这才是第二次约会啊，一个本来还不错的姑娘咋就突然变成了个神经病似的？我真是一脸懵X。

How could such a seemingly cool and normal girl act so ridiculous and inappropriate?

一个看上去还蛮好的正常女生，举止咋就突然这么荒谬反常？

Well, I’ll tell you.

好吧……让我来揭晓答案。

This wonderfully delightful, pleasant, cultural “thing” called Sa Jiao.

她（们）这种行径不是人格分裂，也不是基因突变，而是一种名为“撒娇”的东西——据说，这是个很有中国文化特色的、很萌很可爱的词。

▲What’s It Like To Have A Chinese Girlfriend? (via harrisonbevins.com)

……人妹子冤不冤，借着酒意撒撒娇发发嗲，居然被少见多怪的外国小哥认为是神经病？（如果对你没好感人还不惜得撒娇呢）

被“撒娇”这种神奇的东方招数困扰的，不止这一个小哥。

在Yahoo Answers（类似于百度知道）上，就有吃瓜群众很认真地问：“撒娇”到底是啥意思啊？

“当妹子撒娇时，她到底想干嘛呢？听过一些人谈论这个词，但我还是一脸懵啊。到底为啥要撒娇呢？”

下面的回(xiā)答(cāi)也是各种离奇：

@ Craftylass:

My daughter says that 撒娇 means "to whine in a very unattractive way" in order to get their way. It's not confined to only girls, but boys as well.

我女儿说撒娇就是为了达到目的，“以一种挺烦人的样子发牢骚”。不仅妹子们会撒娇，男生其实也会。

The reasons? Same as anywhere else in the world . . . people want what they want and will do whatever it takes to get it.

原因嘛……估计就是某些人为了达到目的而不择手段咯。世界上哪哪都有这种人啊。

（完全胡说八道……）

@Chan:

It is flirting, you know, foreplay before sex

这是在撩汉（妹）呢~~啪啪啪前的小情趣。

@star:

When a young girl or a young boy sajiao to boyfriend or girlfriend, they want to show they are lovely, they are like children, they need to be spoiled, they don't want to follow the rules or orders to do the things meant for them to do...

如果你向你的男（女）票撒娇，那就表示你想显得自己萌萌哒，希望像小孩子一样被对方宠着。如果对方希望你做某件事，而你不想做，就可以展现撒娇大法了……

（这个貌似还稍微靠点儿谱）

@longliveabcdefg:

This is an action, more often applied to female especially young girls, when someone appears to be clingy, tries to be cute and cajoling usually with an intention of getting something including attention.

撒娇这种行为通常发生在妹纸身上，尤其是年轻小姑娘。如果一个人突然变得非常黏人、卖萌、发嗲、说点小娇羞的甜言蜜语，以此来搏得你的注意力（或是别的什么东西），那她/他就是在撒娇啦。

It is not whining YET, as the word jiao 娇 suggests, which means womanly charm. Even when an old woman does it behind closed doors, it could be fun for the husband, as long as the woman knows not to overdo it.

撒娇不是发牢骚啊喂！“娇”是用来形容某种很有女人味的独特魅力哒。而且，即使是一个上了年纪的老太太，在她和老伴的二人世界里撒撒娇，老伴估计还会被萌到哈哈哈~~~只要把握好撒娇的度，其实挺浪漫哒。

（这个解释也不错，点赞~）

萌萌哒还是烦死人？

对于“撒娇”一词，部分汉语词典的解释是这样的：

指仗着受宠而故意作态

……虽然不太明白“故意作态”是啥，但感觉这成了个贬义词啊？

（顺便，撒娇的“撒”发音是一声sā，而不是三声sǎ，你念对了吗？）

▲“我就不嘛”“讨厌”“555”“亲亲”“你好坏哦”“吃饭饭”“走不动鸟”“老公最棒了”……

微博上曾有个“撒娇名句”非常火，引来许多人念着玩儿，放飞自我顺便恶心别人——

｡•ˇ‸ˇ•｡)哼！都怪你们 (`ȏ′) 也不哄哄人家(〃′o`)人家超想哭的，捶你胸口，大坏蛋！！！(￣^￣)ゞ咩QAQ 捶你胸口你好讨厌！(=ﾟωﾟ)ﾉ要抱抱嘤嘤嘤哼，人家拿小拳拳捶你胸口！！！(｡• ︿•̀｡)大坏蛋，打死你(つд⊂)

……这迷一样的内容配上恶意卖萌的颜文字，真让人起了一身鸡皮疙瘩。

然鹅，还是有不少妹子故意把这段话发给了男票，想看看他们有啥反应。

于是各种高能来了……

……你们这些汉子这么不配合真的好吗。

对于女票（以及某些男票）的撒娇小行径，大多数人通常还是挺喜欢（至少能接受）的。只要不过于矫作，不无理取闹，适当的撒娇还挺能营造浪漫氛围。

但对于老外——尤其西方人——来说，这种中国特有的撒娇发嗲他们实在是不能理解啊！看前面那几位仁兄的各种懵X和吐槽就知道，西方人对于“撒娇大法”不但欣赏不了，反而会有些反感。

在一个为老外介绍中国姑娘的相亲网站里，有一篇文章分析了东西方对于“撒娇”的文化差异——

To a Chinese woman, Sa Jiao is about ensuring that her boyfriend cares enough for her to put her needs above his own, but to a Western man, Sa Jiao can feel suffocating.

Western society tends to praise women who are independent, free spirited and can squash a bug by themselves.

While most Western men do not find weak and childish behavior particularly attractive in a woman, Chinese men are big fans of Sa Jiao. They love a woman who seems fragile and submissive as this makes them feel stronger and more like a man.

▲Looking for a Chinese Girl? Then Meet Sa Jiao (via My New Chinese Wife)

也就是说，在西方社会性格独立、精神自由的女性会更受欢迎，而东方则反之：男人更爱柔弱顺从的妹子，过于独立的姑娘往往不那么“可爱”。（呵呵）