与颜色有关的习语(共4页).doc
精选优质文档-倾情为你奉上与颜色有关的习语东华理工大学外国语学院 陈彩芬 在日常口语和听力学习中,我们经常碰到与颜色有关的习语。由于文化差异,大家往往从中文习惯出发,对习语的理解要么让人啼笑皆非,要么就是南辕北辙,大相径庭。下面这些习语知识,您知道吗?Blue 蓝色(blue)在西方文化中的象征意义较多一些。它能象征高贵、高远、深沉、严厉,如blue blood 名门望族,blue ribbon最高荣誉的标志,blue nose严守教规的卫道士,blue laws严格的法规;它又象征忧郁、沮丧,如feel blue感到无精打采,blue Monday不开心的星期一(相对于欢乐的周末而言);它也象征猥亵、下流,如blue movie 色情电影,blue talk下流言论;它还有突然迅速的意思,如out of the blue突爆冷门,完全出于意外。在日常生活中,blue是一个非常口语的词汇,美国人经常使用。它的意思就是情绪很低。正因为如此,blues成了一种伤感的美国黑人民歌或慢四步爵士舞曲称谓。blues 的音乐特点是节奏慢,曲调很低沉。 256Singing the blues诉苦、抱怨Every time I ask Joe to pay back the money he borrowed from me, he sings the blues about all the things at home he needs money for. 每当我要乔还他借我的钱的时候,他总是诉苦,说他家里有多少多少需要开支。Don't pay any attention to that guy! He's always singing the blues about how poor he is, but the truth is he has more bucks in the bank than the two of us put together.别听那家伙的话。他老是诉苦,说他多么穷。可是,事实上,他银行里的钱比我们两人的加在一起还多。 like a bolt out of the blue 晴天霹雳,出乎意外、没料想到A driver may testify that he was going the normal speed limit when a truck appeared in front of him out of the blue and he did not have time to stop. 一个开车的人可能会在作证时说,正当他以正常的速度行驶的时候,一辆卡车突然出现在他面前,他来不及刹车。The announcement that the president of our university was quitting to go to another school hit us like a bolt out of the blue. He's always said he liked it here so much he would stay until he retired. 我们大学校长宣布他决定辞职到另外一个学校去工作。我们都感到很突然,因为他老是说他很喜欢这个学校,要一直在这儿工作到退休。black黑色(black)是西方文化中的基本禁忌色,体现了西方人精神上的摈弃和厌恶。如black Monday放假后的开学第一天;执行死刑之星期一;黑色礼拜一(即复活节之后一日,因1360年的当天,天气严寒,爱德华三世之士兵都冻死于巴黎附近)。它象征死亡、凶兆、灾难,如black words不吉利的话,a black letter day凶日;它象征邪恶、犯罪,如black guard恶棍、流氓,blackmail敲诈、勒索;它也象征耻辱、不光彩,如 a black mark污点,black sheep败家子;它还象征沮丧、愤怒,如The future looks black前途暗淡,He gave me a black look。 他怒气冲冲地看着我。有时候,黑还具有肯定和积极的意思。例如,对一个做生意的人来说 in the black 就意味着赚钱,而不是亏本。White西方文化中的白色象征意义主要着眼于其本身色彩,如新下的雪、新鲜牛奶及百合花的颜色。西方人认为白色高雅纯洁,所以它是西方文化中的崇尚色。它象征纯真无邪,如a white soul纯洁的心灵;它又象征正直、诚实,如a white spirit正直的精神,white hand廉洁、诚实;它也象征幸运、吉利,如one of the white days of sb's life 某人生活中的吉日之一;它还有合法、无恶意的意思,如white market合法市场white list经过批准的合法明单。white lie无恶意的谎言,小谎My mother and dad taught me never to tell a lie. So I feel guilty every time I tell even a little white lie, although I do it just to make somebody feel better."我爸爸妈妈总是教我绝对不能说谎话。因此,每当我说一点谎,即便是为了让某人感到好受一点而说谎的时候,我都好像做错了事一样。I told Sally a white lie when she asked me how I liked her new party dress. I didn't like the color or the design but when I saw how happy she was with it, I told her it looked great.当Sally问我喜不喜欢她新的宴会服的时候,我对Sally撒了个小谎。虽然我不喜欢那件衣服的颜色和设计,但我看到Sally对那衣服的满意劲儿,我就告诉Sally那衣服真漂亮。Green西方文化中的绿色(green)象征意义跟青绿的草木颜色有很大的联系,是植物的生命色。它不仅象征着青春、活力,如in the green wood在青春旺盛的时代,in the green 血气方刚,a green old age老当益壮;而且表示新鲜,如green recollection记忆犹新,keep the memory green永远不忘,a green wound新伤口;但是它也表示幼稚、没有经验,如a green hand生手,as green as grass幼稚,a green horn容易上当的糊涂虫;它也象征妒忌,如green with envy充满妒嫉。Greenback美钞,因为美国钞票的背面都是绿颜色的。Green thumb某人在种花或种菜方面很有才能,或在这方面很有知识和技术I wish I had a green thumb like Mrs. Lee - look at the beautiful roses in her yard.我真希望我能像李太太那样会种花,瞧她院子里的玫瑰花多好看呐!I guess I don't have much of a green thumb: every year I plant cabbage, beans and sweet corn in my backyard but all I ever get is a lot of weeds.我猜想我在种菜方面是没有什么才能。每年,我在后院种菜、种豆和种玉米,可是长出来的大都是草。green light绿灯在全世界各地,绿颜色的交通灯就是可以通行的意思。可是,除了交通灯以外,人们也经常在日常生活中用开绿灯这个说法来表示某个计划获得批准,可以进行。在中文里,我们也经常这么说的。My boss liked my idea to open a branch office in Los Angeles and gave me the green light to go ahead. 我的老板非常支持我在洛杉矶开一个分公司的建议。他让我按计划去办。Red西方文化中的红色(red)则是一个贬意相当强的词,是"火"、"血"的联想,它象征着残暴、流血,如The red rules of tooth and claw残杀和暴力统治,red revenge血腥复仇;它又象征激进、暴力革命,如red hot political campaign激烈的政治运动,a red revolution 赤色革命;它也象征危险、紧张,如red alert空袭报警,a red adventure story一个令人紧张的冒险故事;做生意的人最怕in the red,因为那是指亏本。它还象征着放荡、淫秽,如a red waste of his youth他那因放荡而浪费的青春,a red light district花街柳巷(红灯区)。至于红色的褒义,如red-letter day喜庆的日子,the red carpet隆重的接待等,则得益于不同文化之间的交流和融合。据考证,red的褒义是从远东经波斯传到西方的。A red letter day大喜日子It was a real red letter day for me when my son came home from three years in the navy. We rolled out the red carpet to welcome him home.我儿子在海军里服役了三年。他回家的那天对我来说真是一个大喜日子。我们真是把他当贵宾一样来欢迎他。I'm lucky-my birthday is a real red letter day. It's on December 31, New Year's eve and all over the world people are out celebrating it.我运气真好,我的生日是十二月三十一号,刚好是新年前夕,全世界的人都庆祝那一天。red tape官僚主义,或文牍主义red tape 就是人们在和政府或官方机构打交道时往往会遇到的拖延、混乱等令人烦恼的障碍。那末,这和红带子又有什么关系呢?这是因为在古时候官方的文件一般都用红带子捆起来的,这样红带子就和官僚主义连在一起了。With all the red tape I ran into at city hall, it took me three months to get my business license.我在市政厅遇到了各种官僚主义的麻烦。我化了整整三个月才拿到营业执照。You can't believe how much red tape there is in getting a visa. You have to get a birth certificate and other personal papers and fill out a bunch of complicated forms and have an interview. After that you wait and wait.你简直不会相信,要拿到一个签证会遇到多少官僚主义的麻烦。你先要拿到你的出生证和其他有关你个人的证件,然后填一大堆复杂的表格,接着还要去面谈。办完这些事以后,你还得一等再等。其它非主流颜色习语如:in the pink 非常健康I really feel in the pink after a fortnight's holiday. 度了两星期的假后,我的确感到身体非常舒适。It's amazing what a good night's sleep can do for a man. I thought I was getting a cold yesterday so I went to bed a couple of hours early and I really feel in the pink now.晚上睡一个好觉能对一个人起多大的作用,这真实令人吃惊。我昨天以为我感冒了,所以比平时早两个小时就上床了。现在我感到精神好极了。brown out弄暗,使灯火转暗(以部分管制减少空袭的危险)或节约能源Power shortage browned out those cities that winter. 那年冬天,由于电力供应不足那些城市采取了节约用电措施。Brown out is an expression for a reduction in electric power. Brown outs happen when there is too much demand for electricity. The electric system is unable to offer all the power needed in an area. Black outs are common during World War two. Officials would order all lights in a city turned off to make it difficult for enemy planes to find a target in the dark of night. 专心-专注-专业