繽紛生活

生活處處有陽光，充滿了五顏六色的林林總總。在英語中不乏與“顏色”有關的詞組，有的可以表示生氣（blue in the face），有的可以形容高興（tickled pink）。那么就讓我們在《小詞大義》中學習這些詞組吧。

Ever since I was a child， Ive wanted to be one of the boys in blue—a police officer. However， my father didnt like this very much. Every time I would mention it， hed give me a black look， a very angry look indeed. Eventually my mother told me not to talk to him about it anymore as it always upset him—like a red rag to a bull.

the boys in blue（the police）是“警察、警員”的非正式用法，這來源于美國警察的制服是藍色的。

a black look（The act of wrinkling the brow， as in thought， puzzlement， or displeasure）意思是“惡狠狠地瞪，怒目而視”。

like a red rag to a bull（something that will cause an angry or violent reaction）是“挑釁、刺激、故意激怒”的意思。這一詞組源于斗牛場。斗牛士用晃動的紅布激怒牛，并使牛沖向紅布。

Finally there came a day of great importance， a red letter day： my graduation from high school！ Id told my father that I was planning to go away for school； I just hadnt told him that it was the police academy. It was a harmless white lie that I told to be polite， so that I wouldnt upset him.

a red letter day（an important or significant day）最早起源于中世紀。那時候，教會的日歷上會把宗教節(jié)日和假日等日期印成紅色，就像我們現(xiàn)在的日歷把周末印成紅色一樣。后來這個短語的意思逐漸擴大為任何“值得紀念的或者喜慶的日子”。

white lie（an unimportant lie， especially one told to be tactful or polite）指的是“善意的謊言”，說的是那種為了避免使對方感到難受而說的謊話。

But wouldnt you know it？ Suddenly， out of the blue， my father tells me that he knows Ill be going to the police academy and that hes very pleased， tickled pink， and absolutely delighted. I was so confused！ He told me that he had been worried I was looking at the world through rose-coloured glasses， that I was seeing things in an overly optimistic light. He said that it was very hard to become a police officer， and that there was a lot of red tape， or rules and regulations， to cut through. But now that Id been accepted， he realized it was a golden opportunity for me， a great opportunity that might never come again.

out of the blue（an event that occurs unexpectedly， without any warning or preparation）是“突然地，出乎意料地”的意思。這個詞組中的“blue”源自“sky”，指藍色的天空，字面上就是“來自天空”的意思，我們可以這么理解，天有不測風云，往往來得非常突然。

tickled pink（very pleased； delighted）中的tickled 除了有“被弄得發(fā)癢或咯咯笑”的意思外，也有“被逗得高興”的意思。tickled pink的意思是“感到萬分高興”。

through rose-coloured glasses（with an unduly cheerful， optimistic， or favourable view of things）指的是“以一種過分簡單化、理想和積極的眼光看”。

red tape（obstructive official routine or procedure）字面意義上表示“紅色的帶子”，以前的英國官方文件慣例上是用紅色布帶系成一扎一扎的，直到19世紀早期，這個說法才成為一個常見比喻，指的是“形式主義；繁文縟節(jié)”。

a golden opportunity（an excellent opportunity that is not likely to be repeated）從字面上理解就是“黃金的機會”，失不再來，也就是我們通常所說的“千載難逢的機會”。

And so I was off to the academy！ The first day was great. Our teachers taught us that in police work， you cant think of everything as being black and white， which means that you cant judge everything as either good or bad. In police work， they said， theres a lot of grey area， or points that are not clearly one thing or another. I looked at these people who were already police officers and I was so jealous that I was green with envy. I so badly wished I were done with school and already working in my dream job. But boy， let me tell you， the grass is always greener on the other side. I thought that they had it better， but I was wrong！ Id never realized what hard work it was. I guess my father had tried to tell me over and over again， until he was blue in the face， but I just never listened.

black and white（a very clear choice that causes no confusion）指的是用兩種絕對標準來看，“善惡、真?zhèn)畏置鳌?，黑是黑，白是白?/p>

grey area（an area or part of something existing between two extremes and having mixed characteristics of both）從字面上就很容易理解為“灰色地帶”的意思，指的是介于兩種不同性質(zhì)的區(qū)域之間，難以或無法界定其究竟屬于哪一區(qū)域的中間模糊地帶。

green with envy（appearing jealous； appearing envious）的意思是“眼紅，嫉妒”，需要注意的是，在中文里我們說眼“紅”，而英文中卻是眼“綠”哦。

the grass is always greener on the other side（people always think they would be happier in a different set of circumstances）指“這山望著那山高”，意思是說得不到的總是看起來更誘人一些，總是比已經(jīng)擁有的好。

blue in the face（exhausted from anger， strain， or other great effort）是“臉色發(fā)青，（氣得、累得）說不出話來”的意思。

Now I tell my son that he doesnt want to be a police officer， and my father just laughs and tells me that Im the pot calling the kettle black！ Im guilty of exactly what Im telling my son not to do. I guess I should have listened to my father.

the pot calling the kettle black（something that you say which means someone should not criticize）是我們所說的“五十步笑百步”的意思，指責人嚴而律己寬。