美国流行文化从A到Z——Red one
<p>2006年额，土耳其作家因为获得诺贝尔文学奖儿名声大扬，借着这个机会特德成名《我的名字叫红》终于被翻译成简体中文，在国内出版发行，中国的读者似乎很难买<span word="pamuk">pamuk</span>的账，这本书着实也红了一把。我还没来得及拜读这本书，但是他的流行让我想起了一些跟红有关的短语。<span word="red">red</span>-<span word="letter">letter</span> <span word="day">day</span> 表示喜庆日，重要特殊的日子”。早在15世纪，人们就有用红笔在日历上把教堂节日和其他一些“圣日”标出来的习惯。这些被加红的特殊日子就是<span word="red">red</span>-<span word="letter">letter</span> <span word="days">days</span>。后来这个名称渐渐褪去了宗教色彩，被用来泛指任何喜庆的、、值得纪念的特殊日子。</p><p>比如：<span word="July">July</span> 2 <span word="l">l</span>,2007 <span word="was">was</span> <span word="a">a</span> <span word="real">real</span> <span word="red">red</span>-<span word="letier">letier</span> <span word="day">day</span> <span word="for">for</span> <span word="countless">countless</span> <span word="people">people</span> <span word="in">in</span> <span word="the">the</span> <span word="world">world</span> .<span word="That">That</span> <span word="was">was</span> <span word="when">when</span> <span word="the">the</span> <span word="final">final</span> <span word="book">book</span> <span word="of">of</span> <span word="the">the</span> <span word="Hary">Hary</span> <span word="potter">potter</span> <span word="series">series</span> <span word="hit">hit</span> <span word="the">the</span> <span word="bookstores">bookstores</span> <span word="worldwide">worldwide</span>.(2007年7月21日对全世界许多人来说都是一个非常重要的日子。“哈利·波特系列丛书”的终结篇在这一天全球同步发行。) <span word="my">my</span> <span word="girlfriend">girlfriend</span> <span word="finally">finally</span> <span word="said">said</span> <span word="yes">yes</span> <span word="to">to</span> <span word="my">my</span> <span word="yesterday">yesterday</span> .<span word="it">it</span> <span word="was">was</span> <span word="definitely">definitely</span> <span word="a">a</span> <span word="red">red</span> <span word="letter">letter</span> <span word="day">day</span> <span word="for">for</span> <span word="both">both</span> <span word="of">of</span> <span word="us">us</span>..(我女朋友昨天终于答应了我的求婚。对于我们俩来说，这是值得纪念的一天。)</p><p><span word="red">red</span>-<span word="letter">letter</span> <span word="day">day</span>在英式英语和美式英语里都很普遍，这可以通过流行文化得到印证：著名英国乐队<span word="Queen">Queen</span>于1986年发行第30支单曲<span word="Friends">Friends</span> <span word="Will">Will</span> <span word="Be">Be</span> <span word="Friends">Friends</span>，这首歌的第一句歌词就是：<span word="Another">Another</span> <span word="red">red</span> <span word="letter">letter</span> <span word="day">day</span>。著名英国二人组合<span word="Pet">Pet</span> <span word="Shop">Shop</span> <span word="Boys">Boys</span>于1996年发行第六张专辑 <span word="Bilingual">Bilingual</span>，当中有一首歌叫<span word="A">A</span> <span word="RedLetter">RedLetter</span> <span word="Day">Day</span>。美国摇滚乐队<span word="The">The</span> <span word="Wallflowers">Wallflowers</span>于2002年发行第四张专辑，该 <span word="red">red</span> <span word="herring">herring</span>的本义是鲱鱼，但因为这种鱼已经很罕见，它的引申义成了它在日常生活里的主要用法：用来转移注意力、掩人耳目的东西。这个短语的来源目前尚未有统一说法，比较流行的有两种：在鲱鱼还十分普及的年代，它常被用来训练猎犬搜寻狐狸 本领。人们把熏干的、散发出特殊气味的红色鲱鱼用线栓住，放在森林里混淆猎犬的嗅觉，让它不能轻易追踪狐狸的气味。因此，<span word="red">red</span> <span word="herring">herring</span>引申出“用来转移注意力、具有迷惑性的东西”这层意思。</p>
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