Your shirttail 's hanging out . Don 't I look like a sheriff ?

你的衬摆还挂在外面呢我看起来像不像警长？

An englishman , writing in 1840 , noted : " if we could only persuade every person in china to lengthen his shirttail by a foot , we could keep the mills of lancashire working round the clock . "

1840年，一个英国人曾在书中写道：“如果我们能够说服所有中国人把他们的衬衣下摆加长一英尺，我们就能够让兰开夏的工厂昼夜不停地运转。”

The promise-and frequent disappointment-of doing business in china has been a common theme since at least the 19th century , when weavers in manchester were said to dream of adding a few inches to every shirttail in china .

据说19世纪时，曼彻斯特织布工就梦想着给中国人每件衬衣下摆加上几寸布，至少从那时候开始，在中国做生意的憧憬以及这一幻想的频频破灭就成了商界的主旋律。

The 19th-century englishman who mused that , if every chinese lengthened his shirttail by a foot , textile mills would spin year-round , has been replaced by 21st-century westerners hoping that chinese will step in to buy their sedans and insurance products .

19世纪的英国人会想，如果每个中国人都把衬衣下摆加长一英尺，那么英国的纺织厂就会整年运转不停；到了21世纪，西方人希望的是，中国人将加入购买西方轿车和保险产品的行列。