Language and Culture

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 “redneck” 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 alert�alarming in emergency

a red battle�a cruel battle in which a lot of lives have been lost

be caught red-handed�be caught on site

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have red hands�commit a murder

red ideas�revolutionary concepts

red ruin�fire(as a disaster)

red tape�bureaucratic writings

in the red�in debt

don’t care a red cent�don’t care at all

2.2 White

To most Chinese and Westerners, white has some meanings in common. White suggests purity, innocence and honesty.

e.g.,Mary is a white girl. (pure and innocent)

Tom is a very white boy. He never tells lies. (honest)

But in this sense, what does the term a white lie mean? Can a lie be pure and innocent? Actually, a white lie is a harmless one, intended not to hurt someone. For example, your mother bought a dress for you that she was very satisfied with, and wanted to know if you liked it. Maybe in your mind, it was out of the fashion or the color was not to your taste. But you said, “Oh, I really like it” in order not to let her down. It was a lie, but a good-intentioned lie.

The connotation of white in Chinese also includes something unhappy. At funerals, Chinese pay respect to the dead and express their sorrow by wearing white and writing elegiac couplets in white paper. In the West, however, white is the traditional color for the brides at weddings, and to wear white at funerals would be offensive. So care should be taken in translating the phrase红白喜事. To avoid misunderstanding, we can put it simply as weddings and funerals. Talking about red and white, there is an interesting coincidence in Chinese and English. In Chinese, those who are popular and find favor with their bosses are called红人(red guy literally). But Irish people call them the white-headed boy. In this sense, red equals white in the two cultures.

We have a famous drama called《白毛女》. If we translate it literally as 《A White-haired Girl》, those Westerners will be confused and it will be very hard to see the profound meaning behind it�In old China, folks in general were made ghosts, while things have changed a lot in new China.

In addition, here is a collection of expressions containing the word white.

the white area�an anti-revolutionary area

a white day�a lucky day

white light district�ever-bright area

a white elephant�something burdensome and valueless; huge burden

show the white feather�show fear

a white slave�someone who is forced to be a slave

days marked with a white stone�happy days

a white war�a war without bloodshed; an economic competition

bleed white�extort every cent from someone

2.3 Black

In both Chinese and

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