英语中的颜色丰富多彩

天津杨柳青第一中学   徐  勇

    英语中有许多颜色词具有特别的意义，适当使用这些词，会使语言变得更加丰富多彩。

1．black 黑色

1）to beat someone black and blue   把某人打得鼻青脸肿

He was beaten black and blue when he refused to say sorry.

当他拒绝道歉时被打得鼻青脸肿。

2）in black and white  白纸黑字

I won’t believe it unless I see it in black and white.

除非我见到书面文字，否则我不会相信。

3）the black sheep (of the family)    败家子

George is the black sheep of the family.

乔治是他们家的败家子。

4）a black look  愤怒的表情

He gave me such a black look when I passed him.

我从他身边走过时，他恶狠狠地瞪了我一眼。

5）black coffee  不加牛奶的咖啡

 

2．blue  蓝色

1）to feel blue / to have the blue / to be in the blues 心情郁闷

He was in the blues when he heard that he failed the exam again.

当他听说他考试有没有及格，心情简直糟透了。

2）out of the blue 意想不到的

The news was a great shock to me; it came absolutely out of the blue.

这消息对他来说简直就是晴天霹雳。

3）blue blood 高贵的血统

The prince of the country will not marry any girl who has no blue blood.

这个国家的王子不会与没有高贵血统的姑娘结婚。

4）once in a blue moon 极少；罕见

A thing like that only happens once in a blue moon.

那样的事情很少发生。

5）a blue-collar worker 蓝领工人

 

3．brown  褐色

to be in a brown study  陷入沉思

I left him in a brown study thinking over the question.

我让他仔细思考这个问题。

 

4．green   绿色

1）to have green fingers 精通园艺

Look at Mr. White’s garden. He must have green fingers.

看看怀特先生的花园。他肯定非常精通园艺。

2）to be green 幼稚；缺乏经验

He was so green that he was cheated several times.

他很幼稚，已经受了好几次骗了。

 

5．grey 灰白色

to turn grey 长白头发

After twenty years of teaching, he has turned grey.

当了20年教师后，他的头发都灰白了。

 

6．pink 粉红色

1）to be in the pink  身体健康

It’s certain that he is in the pink, for he can still eat a lot.

他身体肯定很健康，因为他还很能吃。

2）to see pink elephants 喝醉酒

When you see pink elephants, you can’t drive.

当你喝醉酒时，你不能开车。

 

7．red 红色

1）to see red 突然生气

When I see a man beating a child, I see red.

当我看到一个人打孩子的时候，我非常生气。

2）to catch someone red-handed 当场抓住某人

The policeman caught the thief red-handed.

警察当场抓住了小偷。

3）to put out the red carpet (for someone) 欢迎（某人）

They put out the red carpet for their future son-in-law.

他们欢迎未来的女婿。

4）to be in the red  欠债

I am in the red now. I spent too much money last month.

我欠债了。上个月我花得太多了。

 

8．white   白色

1）a white lie  善意的谎言

Sometimes it saves a lot of trouble to tell a white lie.

有时候撒个小谎会节省许多麻烦。

2）a white elephant   无用而又累赘的东西

A motor car would be a white elephant to me.

对我来说汽车可能是个累赘。

3）to show the white feather 表现出恐惧

He boasted (吹牛) a lot about his courage, but when danger came, he showed the white feather.

他吹牛说他很勇敢，但当危险来临时，他害怕了。

4）white coffee  加牛奶的咖啡

5）a white-collar worker 白领工人

 

    下面一段话中集中使用了几个颜色词，大家可以对照后面的汉译，进一步体会一下颜色词的妙用。

Mr. Green is a very white man. But he has been feeling blue recently. When I saw him the other day, he was in a brown study. I wanted to ask him if I could be of any help, but I turned away when I saw the black look on his face. I know that it was once in a blue moon that he would fail an important exam. So I don’t think that he will turn grey because of this.

格林先生是一个非常忠实可靠的人。但是他最近感到心情郁闷。那天我见到他时，他正在冥思苦想。我想问他我是否能帮忙，但是当我看到他脸上那不悦的表情时，我走开了。我知道他很少在重要的考试中失手，因此我不认为他会因此而愁白了头发。