Americans, as you may know, have a reputation for being talkative (a nicer word for loud). We tend to have a lot to say, and we tend to feel pretty comfortable saying it. Still, there are some taboo topics that even Americans don't like to discuss. So, when in conversation with a chatty American, try not to bring up …眾所周知，美國人向來以健談行走于江湖(換句話說就是聒噪)。他們總有說不完的話，他們很享受談話的感覺。然而，即便健談如老美，也有些話題需要回避。因此，與健談的美國人聊天，謹忌以下話題……

　　1. Money 金錢

　　Money makes the world go round, and Americans are, at times, "all about the Benjamins" (Benjamin Franklin appears on our $100 bill). However, just because money's on your mind doesn't mean it should be a key part of your conversational repertoire. It's considered impolite to ask about someone's salary, or to discuss other matters of personal finance.有錢能使鬼推磨，老美有時也“本杰明至上”(注：即“金錢至上”，100美元上有本杰明·富蘭克林的頭像)。不過，心里惦記錢跟討論話題集中在錢上又是兩碼事。如果你談論別人的薪資或個人財產，大家會覺得你沒禮貌。

　　2. Weight 體重

　　"Americans have famously enormous appetites – I once went to a French ice cream shop where the sizes were small, medium, large, and American." But discussing someone else's weight is considered extremely rude in the United States. A person’s weight is private, and making comments about is definitely considered disrespectful.“老美素以‘大胃王’著稱——我去過一家法國冰淇淋店，里面冰淇淋的尺寸分為小、中、大以及老美特供尺寸。”但是，在美帝，討論別人的體重是極其無禮的行為。個人體重屬于隱私，對此發表意見就是不尊重他人。

　　3. Politics 政治

　　We have all kinds of political opinions in the United States, and the range of popular beliefs runs across a much wider spectrum than in some other nations. Just follow an American presidential election and you'll see that our political system is hardly even civilized. It's not that talking politics is an unforgivable taboo in the United States, just that it's probably not such a good idea to bring it up unless you're prepared for a potential argument.美帝充斥著各種政治觀點，主流觀點的范圍也遠比其他一些國家寬松得多。參見任意一場美國總統大選，你都會覺得他們的政治體系遠非想象中那么文明。我并不是說在美帝談論政治是無法原諒的禁忌，而是奉勸大家，如果你沒有準備好進行一場強有力的辯論，那么最好就別開始這個話題。

　　4. Religion 宗教

　　Similarly, though the United States is a relatively religious country, personal beliefs are rarely brought up in casual conversation. It's a good idea to get to know someone a little bit before discussing his or her religious backgrounds or practices. Faith is usually considered a private matter (though it certainly plays a sizable role in the American public sphere as well, particularly amongst politicians who are keen to show an allegiance to it).同樣，盡管美帝相對而言是個宗教國家，個人信仰卻很少出現在日常對話中。如果在稍微了解對方一些后，再開始談論宗教背景或宗教活動的話題，會比較好。信仰也被視為個人隱私(盡管信仰在美國大眾生活中扮演著很重要的角色，尤其那些政客熱衷于宣誓他們忠于信仰)。

　　5. Soccer 足球

　　First of all: We call it "soccer", not football. Americans are proud of their homegrown sports like baseball and American football, and professional soccer is relatively unpopular. We prefer our sporting events to be saturated with American patriotism and plenty of game-day snacks. If you want to talk soccer with a stubborn American sports fan, be prepared to start with the basics—and to encounter a whole lot of resistance to the world's favorite sport.首先要指出，此處我們討論的是“足球”(soccer)，而不是美式橄欖球(football)。老美對他們諸如棒球和美式橄欖球的本土體育運動深以為豪，而職業足球就相對冷門了。老美更喜歡把體育賽事與他們的愛國情懷和比賽日零食融為一談。如果你執意要跟一位美國老頑固體育迷討論足球，請從基本常識談起——然后準備好迎接老美對這項風靡世界的體育運動狂風暴雨般的抵觸情緒吧!