赤橙黄绿青蓝紫,总有一款适合你。
颜色词汇除了表达色彩本身,还会在不同的语言文化中被赋予更深层的含义,比如,蓝色代表忧郁,绿色代表环保,黑色代表邪恶,等等。
英语中有很多跟颜色相关的短语和习惯用法,了解并掌握这些用法以后,你会觉得英语理解能力立马上了一个台阶。
Black 黑色
在英语中经常有“不好的”、“坏的”、“邪恶的”意味。
例如:
black money:黑钱(指来源不正当而且没有向政府报税的钱)
black market:黑市交易或黑市(意为暗中进行政府禁止买卖的商品或外汇的交易,或指进行违法的投机市场);由此派生出black market price:黑市价格
另外,英语中,红色墨水记帐时代表亏损,黑色则表示盈利。
常用短语
black figure / in the black:盈利、赚钱、顺差
black figure nation:国际收支顺差国
interest in the black:应收利息
call white black /call black white:混淆是非
in the black:盈利、赚钱、顺差
black sheep: 害群之马
black lie:用心险恶的谎言
blackmail:勒索
the pot calls the kettle black:五十步笑百步
black dog:忘恩负义的人
black hat:坏人
black letter day:倒霉的一天
black-out:暂时性记忆丧失;昏迷;停电
black and blue:遍体鳞伤
Brown 棕色
常用短语
brown bread:黑面包
brown polish:黑白混血儿
brown rice:糙米
brown sugar:红糖
brown paper:牛皮纸
brown-bag:带午餐上班或上学
brown nose:献殷勤,拍马屁
to do sb. brown:使某人上当
the brown:黑压压的一群飞鸟
to do it up brown:把什么彻底搞好
a brownstone district:富人居住区
与棕色有关的社会内涵
a.英语动词短语to be browned off不满意,生气的意思。比如:
He was browned off at his boss because he didn't get a rise.他因没有加薪而对老板生气。
b.I left him in a brown study thinking over the question.这里的in a brown study意为“沉思冥想”。这句话的意思是:我让他思量一番,好好考虑一下这个问题。
c.英语中有Brown August之说,这是因为八月在草木树叶皆变成棕色而得名,当然这是在英国发生的现象,由于所处地理位置的不同,中国的八月正是绿意正浓的季节。
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