3。 Different cultural connotation of color words
3。1 Red
Red often has much to do with happy holidays and celebrations in both Chinese and English。 “Red letter day” can be translated into “纪念日” or “喜庆日”。 They are often used to represent Christmas or other holidays because these days are often marked red in calendar。
Red is an auspicious, prosperous, happy symbol with the strongest derogatory emotion。 What is more, “开门红,红娘,满堂红,红白喜事,红火,红榜,红利”can be translated into “get off to a good start, go-between, success in extremely popular, weddings and funerals, flourishing, honor roll, bonus”。
Besides, red also has the connotation of anger, violence, vice and danger。 Besides, “red figure, in the red, red ruin, red-handed, red-light district, red-necked” can be translated into“赤字,亏损,火灾,沾满鲜血的,红灯区,反动的”。
Red in English means cruelty, disaster, complication and fanaticism。 We can use “have red hands, red ruin, catch sb。 red- handed, red tape, a red battle, red herring, red ideas, see red” to represent “犯杀人罪,火灾,当场抓获,官僚作风,血战,题外话,思想,生气”。
Red in English don't have an extended meaning with “woman”, so we should avoid the “red” in English and translate into figurative meaning like 红颜(a beautiful girl) and 红楼(a boudoir)。
3。2 Black
Black is a color which means “dark, unfair and terror” in Chinese and English。 Illegal money earned through illegal methods can be called black money。 Black usually indicates bad guys and bad things。 Besides, there are many examples like black market(黑市),an inn run by brigands(黑店), evil mind(黑心), smuggled goods(黑货)。
Black means “solemn and serious”。 People always dress in black when they attend a formal meeting。 Besides, they also dress in black to attend a funeral to show their mourning to the dead。 So there is no surprise that black suit and black dress maybe the most favorite conventional garment of the westerners。文献综述
At some historical backgrounds, black can be used to represent specific person or concept like Black Hand(黑手党) and black list(黑名单)。 Black in China is associated with politically reactionary people or gangs, like reactionary gang(黑帮), sinister backstage boss(黑后台), inside story of a plot(黑幕), evil backstage manipulator(黑手), shady deal(黑交易)。
Black has other connotations of “dark, angry, dirty, unlucky” in both languages。 Besides, “black day, black dog, the black art, black coffee, a black mark, be in a black mood, a black look, black despair, black guard, black sheep, go black in the face” can be translated into“凶日,不开心,妖术,不加糖的咖啡,污点,情绪低落,怒视,绝望,恶棍,害群之马,气得脸色发紫”。
3。3 Green
In Chinese culture, green is a mixed color which is mixed by yellow and blue。 Green is the color of nature。 In English, green will be connected with the meaning of life which gives people a fresh feeling。 Therefore, we can call unskillful worker green hand (新手)。
Green in English also means money, jealousy, freshness。 The bill is green in America, so in the United States green often refers to money or economic strength。 The American dollar bill is called long green and green power, which is the symbol of power。 It also has many specific uses in specific situations。 Like green back(美钞),green fingers(园艺技工),a green old age (幸福的晚年)。