-
Now, the VOA Special English program WORDS
AND THEIR STORIES.
Every
people
has
its
own
way
of
saying
things,
its
own
special
expressions.
Many
everyday American expressions are based
on colors.
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.
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.
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:
who is
blue is very sad.
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.
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.
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.
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.
现在大家收听的是美国之音慢速英语词汇典故节目。
人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。
红色是一种火热的颜色。美国人经常用它来表达热的
感觉，比如他们可能会说，
对不公平的事情感到非常愤怒（
re
d
hot
）
。许多墨西哥食物中含有
的红色小辣椒
由于其颜色和热辣口味被称为爆辣
（
red hots
）
。
很多
人喜欢节奏又快又强的音乐，
他们称为劲爆音乐，特别是那种被叫做迪斯科的爵士乐。<
/p>
粉色是一种淡红。有时，人们健康时会说自己
in the p
ink
。这个短语于二十世纪
初在美国被首度使用，这可能是来
源于许多婴儿出生时都是健健康康的粉红皮
肤。
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1
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