5条习惯用语，带你了解流行的英美文化

　　据说颜色可以达到一个字不说就能交流的地步。但是，它所传达的意义就要高度依赖于颜色在各个国家的文化意义了。感觉讲得通，然而，颜色经常出现在各个国家的语言中，而且还不仅仅是用于传达字面意思。例如你知道什么是白色的谎言吗?White elephant是白色的大象吗?

　　1raise (or wave) a white flag

　　Meaning: to indicate that you have been defeated and you want to give up

　　暗示你被打败了，你愿意放弃。

　　例句：

　　After we captured them, they had to raise a white flag.

　　当我们抓住他们后，他们不得不举手投降。

　　流行文化推荐：

　　Pop Culture Reference: Pop singer Dido references the symbolism represented in this idiom in her song "White Flag," singing: "..and I won't put my hands up and surrender. There will be no white flag above my door..."

　　流行歌手蒂朵在她的歌曲”白旗“中采用了这个习语的象征主义手法，歌中唱到：”…我不会举起双手投降。在我门前绝不会有白旗飘起…“

　　2white-tie event/affair

　　Meaning: an event that requires guests to wear formal dress such as men wearing white bow ties with formal evening attire

　　要求客人穿着正装的场合，例如男人着正式晚礼服，带白色蝴蝶结领结。

　　例句：

　　There was a white-tie wedding ceremony last week which I had to attend.

　　上周我不得不参加一个白色领结结婚典礼。

　　流行文化推荐：

　　Pop Culture Reference: Band names are known for being creative or including play on words. The pop/electronica band The White Tie Affair chose to name themselves with this idiom.

　　以创新风格闻名或包含双关语的乐队名。流行摇滚/电子乐队The White Tie Affair就是以这个习语命名的。

　　3white elephant

　　Meaning: a useless, an unwanted possession that often costs money to maintain.

　　无用的，不需要的累赘物，通常会花费很多钱来维护它。

　　例句：

　　Your car is a white elephant, as it often breaks down, causing you too much expenditure.

　　你的车就是个累赘，经常抛锚给你带来那么多花销。

　　流行文化推荐：

　　Pop culture reference: As one alternative to the Western Christmas gift exchange tradition of "Secret Santa," a White Elephant gift exchange includes a group of family, friends, or coworkers each of whom gets one wrapped gift. Staying true to the idiom's meaning, the gifts are usually inexpensive, humorous, or used items from home, seeking to provide entertainment for those involved rather than value.

　　作为西方圣诞节Secret Santa(抽签交换礼物)的一个传统备选方案，"a White Elephant" 礼物交换是指在家人，朋友或同事之间进行的一种礼物交换游戏，每个人都会得到一个包裹好的礼物。而说到这个礼物习语，其实它原指便宜的，有趣的或家中用过的物品而并非有价值的物品，作为礼物送给对方以达到娱乐效果。

　　4white lie

　　Meaning: a harmless or small lie told to be polite or to avoid hurting someone's feelings.

　　一个没有恶意的或小的谎言，谎言的目的是为了礼貌或避免伤害某人的情感。

　　例句：

　　He told a white lie when his father asked where he was going.

　　当他爸爸问他要去哪儿时，他撒了一个善意的谎言。

　　流行文化推荐：

　　Pop Culture Reference: The popular TV series Breaking Bad has gained so many fans across the world that some have decided to craft special beers in honor of the protagonist Walter White who told many white (and perhaps even more unwhite) lies throughout the show. The India white ale beer is a play on words in itself, named Walt's White Lie.

　　流行电视节目《绝命毒师》在全世界获得众多粉丝热捧，剧中的主人公沃尔特.怀特由于讲了太多善意(也许更多的是非善意)的谎言，以至于一些粉丝决定为其特制一种啤酒以示庆祝。印度白啤酒这个名字本身就是一种文字游戏，名为沃尔特怀特的谎言。

　　5white as a sheet

　　Meaning: pale

　　苍白

　　例句：

　　Jane was as white as a sheet because of the illness she had suffered for months.

　　由于数月病痛折磨，简的脸色面如白纸。

　　流行文化推荐：

　　Pop Culture Reference: In the poem Song of Myself, in the famous poetry collection Leaves of Grass, the great Walt Whitman writes the line: "The captain on the quarter-deck coldly giving his orders through a countenance white as a sheet..."

　　在著名诗集《佰草集》中有一首诗歌叫做《自己》，伟大的诗人沃尔特·惠特曼曾在诗中这样写道：“船长站在甲板上，面色苍白地发着冷酷的指令。”

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