VOA慢速英语:Words and Their Stories: I'm Feeling Very Blue

(MUSIC)
Every people has its own way of saying things, its own special expressions. Many everyday American expressions are based on colors.
每个人都有自己独特的说话方式以及特别的用语。美国有很多关于颜色的日常用语。

Red is a hot color. Americans often use it to express heat. They may say they are red hot about something unfair. When they are red hot they are very angry about something. The small hot tasting peppers found in many Mexican foods are called red hots for their color and their fiery taste. Fast loud music is popular with many people. They may say the music is red hot, especially the kind called Dixieland jazz.
红色是一种火热的颜色。美国人常用红色表示热度。他们会说他们对一些不公平的事情感到red hot，意思是说自己对此非常愤怒。很多墨西哥食物中都含有一种小辣椒，因其颜色和味道辛辣而得名red hots。很多人都喜欢快节奏热闹的音乐。他们觉得这种音乐非常劲爆（red hot），迪克西兰爵士乐（Dixieland jazz）更是如此。

Pink is a lighter kind of red. People sometimes say they are in the pink when they are in good health. The expression was first used in America at the beginning of the twentieth century. It probably comes from the fact that many babies are born with a nice pink color that shows that they are in good health.
粉色比红色稍淡。人们有时会用in the pink表示自己身体健康。人们第一次使用这个短语是在二十世纪初期时的美国。这可能是因为很多宝宝刚出生时的皮肤都是粉嘟嘟的，这种粉色是身体健康的表现。

Blue is a cool color. The traditional blues music in the United States is the opposite of red hot music. Blues is slow, sad and soulful. Duke Ellington and his orchestra recorded a famous song – Mood Indigo – about the deep blue color, indigo. In the words of the song: “You ain’t been blue till you’ve had that Mood Indigo.” Someone who is blue is very sad.
蓝色是一种冷色。美国传统布鲁斯音乐（blue music）与劲爆的音乐（red hot music）恰恰相反。布鲁斯音乐的节奏舒缓，曲调忧伤、深情。艾灵顿公爵（Duke Ellington）和他的乐队曾录制过一首十分有名的歌曲，叫做《靛蓝心情》（Mood Indigo），这是一首关于深蓝色的歌曲。有一句歌词是这样的“你不会悲伤，直到拥有那种深蓝色的心情”（You ain't been blue till you've had that Mood Indigo）。用Blue形容一个人表示他非常悲伤。

The color green is natural for trees and grass. But it is an unnatural color for humans. A person who has a sick feeling stomach may say she feels a little green. A passenger on a boat who is feeling very sick from high waves may look very green.
对于树和草来说绿色是它们最自然的颜色。但对于人来说就不一样了。如果有人觉得胃不舒服她可以说她感觉有点“绿”（胃不舒服）。坐船的乘客如果晕船，你也可以说他看起来很“绿”（脸色不好）。

Sometimes a person may be upset because he does not have something as nice as a friend has, like a fast new car. That person may say he is green with envy. Some people are green with envy because a friend has more dollars or greenbacks. Dollars are called greenbacks because that is the color of the back side of the paper money.
有时，当我们的朋友有了一些我们没有的东西时，比如说一辆跑的飞快的新车，我们可能会感觉心烦意乱。我们可以说那个人就是妒忌地“变绿”了（眼红了）。有些人眼红朋友美元多，或者说是美钞多。美元之所以又叫“绿背”（美钞），是因为美钞的背面是绿色的。

The color black is used often in expressions. People describe a day in which everything goes wrong as a black day. The date of a major tragedy is remembered as a black day. A blacklist is illegal now. But at one time, some businesses refused to employ people who were on a blacklist for belonging to unpopular organizations.
黑色也常常出现在各种表达中。人们把诸事不利的一天叫做黑色的一天。发生重大灾难的一天通常也被记作黑色纪念日。现在，列黑名单是不合法的。但是曾经有一段时间，有些企业会拒绝雇用黑名单上的人，因为其属于不受欢迎的组织。

In some cases, colors describe a situation. A brown out is an expression for a reduction in electric power. Brown outs happen when there is too much demand for electricity. The electric system is unable to offer all the power needed in an area. Black outs were common during World War Two. Officials would order all lights in a city turned off to make it difficult for enemy planes to find a target in the dark of night.
有时候，颜色还能用来描绘一个场景。彻底变棕色了（弄暗）这个表达的意思是电力不足。通常用电量超负荷时就会出现电力不足。此时电力系统就不能给所在地区提供电能了。在第二次世界大战时灯火管制常常发生。政府官员会下令所有人关掉电灯以希望敌军的飞机在一片漆黑的城市中找不到袭击目标。

(MUSIC)