颜色词除表示其具体实际的色彩外，还会由于不同国家的不同文化而具有不 同的涵义。例如a white day可 译为"白色的日子"，但在英国，白色往往表 示"纯真"、"崇高"、"吉祥"、"幸福"之意。a white da y意为"吉日" 或"喜庆的日字"。此外，英语中与颜色词在一起组成的复合词或带有颜色词的 词组往往有其特 殊意义或习惯用法，这些都是在翻译颜色词时不可忽略之处。 下面就各种颜色词分别举例略作说明。

1. RED:

(1)The president was treated to the redcarpet in Rome. 总统在罗马 受到了隆重的接待。

(2)It was a red-letter day in the history of Chinese revolution. 这 是中国历史上值得纪念的日 子。

(3)A thief was caught red-handed in the act of breaking open alock. 一个窃贼在砸开锁时被当 场抓获。

(4)You said that l am very good. ls my face red? 你说我很好，真使 我难为情了。

(5)When he started criticizing my work,l really saw red. 当他批评 我的工作时，我就冒火、发脾 气。

(6)There is too much red-tape in obtaining an identity card. 领身 份证的手续实在太繁琐了。

(7)They had to sell the firm because for years they had operated it in the red. 因为经营这 家公司几年来一直亏损，所以他们只好把它卖掉。

(8)We'll soon be out of the red. 我们很快就会扭亏为盈。

(9)Every time he comes to New York,he wants to paint the town red. 每次来纽约，他都要痛饮一 番。

2. GREEN:

(10)He is still green to his job. 他对其工作尚无经验。

(11)Do you see any green in my eye? 你认为我幼稚可欺吗？

(12)lf you want to be a successful gardener,of course you've gotto have green fingers. 假如 你想当个称职的园工，那你就得有园艺技能。

(13)She is a green hand in teaching English. 在英语教学中，他还是 个生手。

(14)Mother gave us the green light to go on the camping trip this summer. 妈妈准许我们今年 夏天去野营一次。

(15)He has a green wound in the left breast. 他左胸上有一新伤口。

3. BLUE:

(16)He is proud of his blue blood. 他因出身名门贵族而骄傲。

(17)Things are looking extremely blue. 情况极其不妙。

(18)True blue will never stain. 真金不怕火炼。

(19)She ran and ran until she was blue in the face. 她跑啊跑啊，累 得脸色发青精疲力竭。

(20)lt's once in a blue moon that you get a chance like that. 你得 到的是个千载难逢的机会。

(21)He can read like a blue streak. 他看书极快。

(22)The bad news came like a bolt out of the blue. 这消息来得如青 天霹雳。

(23)John arrived out of the blue. 约翰突然来了。

(24)A rainy day always gives me the blues. 下雨天总是使我心情抑郁。

4. BROWN:

(25)The leaves browned slowly. 树叶渐渐枯了。

(26)We are all of us done brown. 我们都上当了。

(27)When she gives a dinner party,she always does it up brown.她举 行宴会，总是办得很出色。

(28)l'm browned off,sitting here all day with nothing to do. 我整 天坐在这儿没事干，感到抑郁 无聊。

(29)Aim at one bird, don't blaze into the brown. 瞄准一只打，不要 射击鸟群。

(30)l tried to attract his attention,but he was in a brown study. 我 企图吸引他的注意力，可是 他仍在沉思默想。

5. BLACK:

(31)The black dog is over him. 他意气消沉。

(32)Tom is the black sheep of his family. 汤姆是个败家子。

(33)Next time l see him, l'll give him a black eye. 下次我见到他一 定打他一顿。

(34)She gives me a black look. 她对我怒目而视。

(35)He blacked out the words he didn't want. 他涂掉不想要的词。

(36)He came out of the fight black and blue. 打架之后，他遍体鳞伤。

(37)He gave me assurance in black and white. 他给我作出了书面保证。

6. WHITE:

(38)They treated us white. 他们公正地对待我们。

(39)My children have bled me white. 我的一切都为孩子花光了。

(40)He said he didn't want to have a white-collar job and sit in an office all day. 他说他 不愿意做文职工作，整天坐在办公室里。

(41)Although they got a lot of nice wedding presents,they alsogot one or two white elephants . 虽然他们收到许多很好的结婚礼品，但也得到几件 昂贵而无用的东西。

(42)Don't show the white-feather fight for your beliefs. 不要怯懦， 要为你的信念而战。

(43)He is the white-headed boy of the new generation. 他是新一代中 的宠儿。

(44)Sometimes we are forced to tell white lies. 有时，我们被迫要讲 些无恶意的谎言。

(45)Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes. 等他们非常 靠近时再射击。

(46)ln his youth he was treated as the white hope of theAmerican theater. 他在青年时期就被认 为是能为美国戏剧界带来荣誉的人。

7. YELLOW:

(47)He is too yellow to stand up and fight. 他太胆怯，不敢奋起战斗。

(48)He has a yellow streak in him. 他胆小。

(49)We can't afford to have anyone in this enterprise who islikely to turn yellow when the testing-time comes. 我们的企业不能雇用在考验关 头可能畏缩不前的人。

(50)l dislike Tom for he is a yellow dog. 我讨厌汤姆，他是个卑鄙小 人。