节日双语：美国情人节求婚带动消费

A delivery man carries a bouquet of white roses for delivery on Valentine's Day in New York City February 14, 2008.

Consumers will be digging deeper into their pockets to buy flowers, gift cards and chocolates on Valentine's Day with average spending expected to rise eight percent over last year to nearly $200.

And along with their expanding wallets 4 million Americans are expected to pop the question or receive a proposal on Feb 14.

"We've seen a consistent trend of consumers saying they will spend more, from holiday shopping to 2012 travel plans, and spending plans for Feb 14 are no exception," said Sonali Chakravorti, vice president at American Express.

In its latest spending and savings tracker American Express questioned 2,000 adults across the United States to gauge how much and on what consumers will be spending their money on Cupid's big day.

Nearly half of people said they intend to celebrate at a favorite restaurant, seven percent more than last year. Flowers are still the most popular gift for a Valentine, followed by gift cards, jewelry and electronics.

Among couples getting betrothed, 30 percent said they would propose during a weekend getaway or vacation, which have been dubbed engagementcations.

To seal the deal, 48 percent of people think an engagement ring costing between $1,000 to $5,000 would be appropriate but 22 percent said up to $2,000 for bling would be more realistic, while five percent thought nothing of spending $10,000 or more on a ring.

Although nearly 40 percent of women think whoever asked for the date should pay for it, 14 percent said the bill should be split, but most unmarried men said they would cover the cost of the date.

Finances can be a delicate subject, so half of people don't talk about money until they have been together six months and 20 percent of married couples did not broach the subject until after they have tied the knot.

After marriage money matters can be a cause of disagreements, although the poll showed arguments over household budgets, spending on the children and everyday purchases have declined since last year.

More men than women take credit for paying credit cards, property and school taxes and for filing income taxes, according to the poll, but 70 percent of women said they managed the household budgets.

情人节这天消费者将花更多钱用于购买鲜花、贺卡和巧克力，预计今年情人节的人均花费将接近200美元，比去年上涨8%。

随着钱包渐渐鼓起来，四百万美国人将在2月14日求婚或者接受求婚。

美国运通副总裁索娜丽?查克拉沃提说：“我们看到消费者一致倾向于更多消费，无论是假日购物还是2012旅游计划，2月14日的消费计划也不例外。

美国运通公司通过它最新的消费和储蓄追踪系统对美国各地2000名成人进行了调查，以此估测在丘比特的大日子里，消费者会在何种物品上消费多少钱。

近一半的人称他们打算去最喜爱的餐馆庆祝，该比例相对去年上升了7%。鲜花依然是情人节最受欢迎的礼物，其次是贺卡、珠宝和电子产品。

那些准备订婚的情侣有30%称他们会在被誉为“订婚假日的情人节周末或情人节假期求婚。

要达成婚约，48%的人认为一千到五千美元的订婚戒指是合适的，但是22%的人认为花两千美元买戒指将更为现实，5%的人认为就算花费上万美元买个戒指也没有什么。

近40%的女性认为约会邀请者应该买单，14%的女性却认为费用应该平摊。不过大多数未婚男性称他们会为约会买单。

资产是一个敏感话题，所以半数人在一起的前六个月都不谈钱，20%的已婚夫妇一直到结婚后才会开始提及这个话题。

结婚以后钱财问题可能会导致分歧，不过民意调查显示，自去年来有关家庭预算、孩子花销、日常开支的争吵已有所减少。

调查显示，男性会更多地承担偿付信用卡、上缴财产税和教育税以及申报所得税等责任，但也有70%的女性称她们家里的管账人。

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（实习编辑：刘伟）