红双喜) which is symbolic of good fortune.
Red is also associated with certain emotions. Let us see a few examples.
He clenched his fist and went very red.
Her face turned red when bombarded with such an embarrassing question.
I can see that he is red with anger.
When he criticized my work, I really saw red.
The mere mention of his enemy’s name is like waving a red flag to him.
In the sentences above, we can guess the meaning of some, for there is an Chinese equivalent, while the others are not so easy to understand by Chinese. For instance, in English, her face turned red or to become red-faced shows one’s embarrassment, as it does in Chinese 脸红. But what is the meaning of see red and waving a red flag? Both suggest anger. The former means to become very angry while the latter means to cause quick anger in somebody by doing something offensive.
“Government policy in interest rates, and on finance generally, has been marked by vacillation, wishful thinking, electoral expediency of the most shameful type towards the end of last year, contortions and contradictions, all to accommodate the redneck economics of the National Country Party. (Harsard Aug.27 1981)”
In the example above, “redneck” is used as an adjective, meaning “reactionary”. “redneckery” deriving from “redneck” refers to “reactionary attitudes”. For instance, “...the redneckery of the Queenland government...(Garth Nettheim ABC Books and Writing Apr.21.1982)”
The literal meaning of “redne无忧论文 【http://www.uklunwen.com】ck” is red-neck. How is it related to “reactionary”? “redneck” originally meant (AmE) Southern farmers of U.S.A., usually carrying a derogatory meaning. Now “reactionary”, the extended meaning of “redneck”, has something to do with its special historical and geographical background.
Another example.
“Ironically, it was Red Nose Day, the day when millions of Australians donned red noses to support research into sudden infant death syndrome. (New Idea. Oct.7 1989)”
Red Nose Day refers to a day on which an appeal is made for donations for research into sudden infant death syndrome, marked by the distribution of plastic red noses to donors. In Chinese, however, there is no such connotation.
Some Westerners take “red” as an evil omen or red for danger, stemming from the spirits of bullfighters. So the red rag (or red flag) that bullfighters use to provocate bulls is considered annoying. According to the Random House Dictionary, red further develops to be the synonym for political radical.
Furthermore, red has some extended meanings, such as cruelty, disaster, trivial formalities, etc.
red alertalarming in emergency
a red battlea cruel battle in which a lot of lives have been lost
be caught red-handedbe caught on site
have red handscommit a murder
red ideasrevolutionary concepts
red ruinfire(as a disaster)
red tapebureaucratic writings
in the redin debt
don’t care a red centdon’t care at all
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