让阳光照进来
2021-09-13
Now, Words and Their Stories with expressions using the word “sun.”
The first expression is about everything, everything under the sun. If you own a store that sold many different items, your advertisements could say you sell everything under the sun. This would not be exactly true, of course. But what would advertising be without some creative descriptions?
Here is another example: Lets say you are talking with a friend you have not seen for a long time. The two of you could have a lot of catching up to do. So, you talk about everything under the sun.
Under the sun is an old expression—at least 3,000 years old. It means everywhere the sun shines. King Solomon of Israel used it in the Bible. He wrote that nothing under the sun is new. What has been will be again, he said, and what has been done will be done again.
If there is nothing new under the sun, there is nothing new anywhere.
New or old, few things can be hidden in the bright light of the sun.
That leads to another expression: a sunshine law. This law says that all government meetings must be open to the public. In some states, sunshine laws also say the government must permit the public to see government records.
The Atlanta Journal and Constitution newspaper published a report about the value of sunshine laws. It told about how officials of a local government met secretly with a land developer to discuss using public land for a private entertainment center. The deal was stopped when it finally became publicly known.
“It often takes a crisis,” the newspaper report said, “to awaken citizens to their rights under the state sunshine laws.” It said the laws are called that because they shine sunlight on dark corners where secret deals can be made.
Another expression about the sun is Sunbelt. The word describes the warmer states of the American south, from Florida to California. The warmer weather in the Sunbelt causes many people to move there. They move from the Frostbelt, the colder northern states, and the Rustbelt, the older industrial states.
In addition, labor costs are lower in the Sunbelt, and labor unions are not as strong as in the north. So many companies moved their factories to the Sunbelt. Workers followed. By 1990, the Sunbelt cities of Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio were among the ten largest cities in the United States.
From geographic areas to music, the word “sun” finds its place.
Every type of music—from rock to pop to country—has songs about the sun. One of the most popular is “You Are My Sunshine.” What began as a sad love song is now a classic childrens song. Many performers have recorded this song. Here is part of it.
You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are gray
Youll never know dear how much I love you
Please dont take my sunshine away
The rock group Beatles have several songs with “sun” in the title. A couple are “Here Comes the Sun” and “Good Day Sunshine.”
Elton John sang “Dont Let the Sun Go Down on Me.” And the musical group 5th Dimension wanted to “Let the Sun Shine In” on a United States that was heavily involved in the Vietnam War.
This song was originally in the musical theater performance and movie Hair, which criticized the Vietnam War.
“Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In” became a popular song in the anti-war culture in the 1960s U.S.
under the sun 表示世界上任何地方、在世界上、天底下的意思。
sunshine law陽光法案,又称信息自由法、资讯公开或资讯自由(Freedom of Information),是应用于促使政府机关的资讯向民众公开的一个通称,其基本假定是“在一个民主社会,人民有权利知道有关公共政策方面的决定究竟是如何达成的”。
Sunbelt 指的是阳光地带。近几十年来,美国社会经济经历了重大的变化过程,人口和生产投资已逐渐从“寒冷地带”( Frostbelt)向“阳光地带”( Sunbelt)转移。如何划分美国的“寒冷地带”与“阳光地带”并没有统一的标准和明确的界限。狭义上的“阳光地带”,专指属于亚热带气候类型的墨西哥湾沿岸和大西洋东南沿岸地区。而把属于大陆性温带阔叶林气候的东北部和中西部,称为“寒冷地带”。