缤纷生活

生活处处有阳光，充满了五颜六色的林林总总。在英语中不乏与“颜色”有关的词组，有的可以表示生气（blue in the face），有的可以形容高兴（tickled pink）。那么就让我们在《小词大义》中学习这些词组吧。

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、警员”的非正式用法，这来源于美国警察的制服是蓝色的。

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

like a red rag to a bull（something that will cause an angry or violent reaction）是“挑衅、刺激、故意激怒”的意思。这一词组源于斗牛场。斗牛士用晃动的红布激怒牛，并使牛冲向红布。

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）最早起源于中世纪。那时候，教会的日历上会把宗教节日和假日等日期印成红色，就像我们现在的日历把周末印成红色一样。后来这个短语的意思逐渐扩大为任何“值得纪念的或者喜庆的日子”。

white lie（an unimportant lie， especially one told to be tactful or polite）指的是“善意的谎言”，说的是那种为了避免使对方感到难受而说的谎话。

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。这个词组中的“blue”源自“sky”，指蓝色的天空，字面上就是“来自天空”的意思，我们可以这么理解，天有不测风云，往往来得非常突然。

tickled pink（very pleased； delighted）中的tickled 除了有“被弄得发痒或咯咯笑”的意思外，也有“被逗得高兴”的意思。tickled pink的意思是“感到万分高兴”。

through rose-coloured glasses（with an unduly cheerful， optimistic， or favourable view of things）指的是“以一种过分简单化、理想和积极的眼光看”。

red tape（obstructive official routine or procedure）字面意义上表示“红色的带子”，以前的英国官方文件惯例上是用红色布带系成一扎一扎的，直到19世纪早期，这个说法才成为一个常见比喻，指的是“形式主义；繁文缛节”。

a golden opportunity（an excellent opportunity that is not likely to be repeated）从字面上理解就是“黄金的机会”，失不再来，也就是我们通常所说的“千载难逢的机会”。

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）指的是用两种绝对标准来看，“善恶、真伪分明”，黑是黑，白是白。

grey area（an area or part of something existing between two extremes and having mixed characteristics of both）从字面上就很容易理解为“灰色地带”的意思，指的是介于两种不同性质的区域之间，难以或无法界定其究竟属于哪一区域的中间模糊地带。

green with envy（appearing jealous； appearing envious）的意思是“眼红，嫉妒”，需要注意的是，在中文里我们说眼“红”，而英文中却是眼“绿”哦。

the grass is always greener on the other side（people always think they would be happier in a different set of circumstances）指“这山望着那山高”，意思是说得不到的总是看起来更诱人一些，总是比已经拥有的好。

blue in the face（exhausted from anger， strain， or other great effort）是“脸色发青，（气得、累得）说不出话来”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）是我们所说的“五十步笑百步”的意思，指责人严而律己宽。