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真金/金钱 Green: Chinese Culture
① young e.g. 绿窗(指少女闺阁)；红男绿女
② knightly, chivalrous, feral e.g. 绿林好汉；绿林大盗 ③ low-classified, shameful e.g. 戴绿帽子 English-speaking Culture
① young e.g. in the green; a green age ② fresh, new e.g. a green wound ③ lack of experience e.g. a green hand ④ wealth, money e.g. green power ⑤ envious, jealous e.g. green-eyed；green with envy in a green rage
In American political elections the candidates that win are usually the ones who have green power backing them.
在美国政治竞选中获胜的候选人通常都是些有财团支持的人物。 The new typist is green at her job. 刚来的打字员是个生手。
You cannot expect Mary to do business with such people. She is only eighteen and as green as grass.
你不能指望玛丽同这样的人做生意，她只有十八岁，还毫无经验。 Yellow: Chinese Culture
① royalty, power e.g. 黄袍，黄马褂，黄榜
② erotic, base, sensual e.g. 黄色书刊 English-speaking Culture
① erotic, sensual, base e.g. yellow journalism ② funk, sneak, spiritless e.g. yellow dog; yellow streak ―胆小、卑怯、卑鄙‖ ：a yellow dog可鄙的人，卑鄙的人
a yellow livered胆小鬼
He is too yellow to stand up and fight. 他太软弱，不敢起来斗争。 特定颜色
Yellow Pages黄页 （电话号码簿，用黄纸印刷）Yellow Book黄皮书 （法国等国家的政府报告，用黄封面装帧）yellow boy（俗）金币 象征低级趣味、色情庸俗、下流猥亵
yellow journalism(以低级趣味的文字或耸人听闻的报道吸引读者的）黄色办报作风；耸人听闻的关于丑闻的新闻报道/哗众取宠的新闻） Blue:
Chinese Culture: Few connotations English-speaking Culture
① erotic, sensual, base e.g. blue video ② depressed e.g. holiday blue ③ nobility e.g. blue blood ④ unexpected, very rare e.g. out of blue ——She looks blue today. What’s the matter with her? ——She is in holiday blue.
——她今天显得闷闷不乐，出了什么事情？ ——她得了假期忧郁症。
blue jokes下流的玩笑blue films/movies黄色电影once in a blue千载难逢drink till all’s blue一醉方休blue book/Blue Book蓝皮书（英国政府或议会发表的封皮为蓝色的官方报告；封皮为蓝色的官方出版物）blue button ―蓝徽‖（指伦敦证券交易所职员） White:
Chinese Culture
① funeral, sadness e.g. 红白喜事 ② failure, unvalued, foolish e.g. 白费力气，白旗，白痴 ③ tricky, crafty e.g. 白脸 ④ politically reactionary e.g. 白匪 English-speaking Culture
① pure, bright, cleanness e.g. white soul ② faithful, honest e.g. a white spirit ③ good luck, fortune e.g. a white day ④ legal, no harmful e.g. white lies
白开水plain boiled water白菜 Chinese cabbage 白字wrongly written or mispronounced character白搭no use白费事all in vain
white coffee 牛奶咖啡white man善良的人，有教养的人white-livered怯懦的white elephant昂贵又无用之物 Black
Chinese Culture
① wicked, sinister e.g. 黑心肠 ② secret, tricky e.g. 黑幕，黑名单 ③ illegal, evil e.g. 黑手，黑货，黑店 English-speaking Culture
① tragic, disastrous e.g. the fortune looks black ② evil, sinister e.g. black art ③ angry, depressed e.g. a black look
black in the face脸色铁青to look black at someone怒目而视black sheep害群之马black day凶日black future暗淡的前途evil mind黑心backstage manipulator黑幕 Purple
Chinese Culture
① nobility, dignity e.g. 紫气东来，紫禁城 English-speaking Culture ① nobility, dignity
to raise to the purple升为红衣主教 to be born in the purple生于帝王之家 to marry into the purple与皇室或贵族联姻blue-collar workers蓝领阶层，指普通体力劳动者grey-collar workers灰领阶层，指服务行业的职员white-collar workers白领阶层，指接受过专门技术教育的脑力劳动者pink-collar workers粉领阶层，指职业妇女群体 golden-collar personnel金领阶层，指既有专业技能又懂管理和营销的人才 Peacock
In Chinese Culture: 吉祥的象征; 孔雀开屏: 大吉大利的事 In West: Derogatory; Proud, show off; As proud as a peacock (像孔雀那样骄傲) Owl
In Chinese Culture: 在夜间活动，鸣声凄厉，人们把它的叫声与私人相联系。猫头鹰叫孝，预示着家里可能有人会死。不祥之鸟 In West: a bird with wisdom; Use a metaphor, as an owl means it is smart 狗急跳墙 狗仗人势 狼心狗肺 狗腿子 狐朋狗友
You are lucky dog. Every dog has its day. Love me, love my dog. He worked like a dog. You can’t teach an old dog new trick.
松(pine)、柏(cypress) 、鹤(crane) 、桃(peach)、松鹤延年，寿桃：(longevity)
梅(plum blossom) 、兰(orchid) 、竹(bamboo) 、菊(chrysanthemum)：integrity, nobility, honesty uprightness
松(pine) 竹(bamboo) 梅(plum blossom)（岁寒三友）: resisting coldness.
Read Case 13 in P142
What can we learn from this case?
Do you know any other examples of misunderstanding caused by translation?
This case vividly illustrates that failure in intercultural translation my lead to serious consequence, or even disasters to human beings. Definitely, translation is not such a simple process as rending a word, a sentence or text literally, but rather a far more complex one than most people assume. ? For example, once a Chinese cosmetic manufacturer wanted to promote their products into the international market.