Lina Chu
一年一度的奧斯卡金像獎頒獎典禮剛於上星期一舉行。當晚星光熠熠,衣香鬢影,令人想起一句英諺:
dress up to the nines(盛裝打扮)或 dress to the nines.
Dress up to the nines意謂人們為了參加一個很隆重的聚會,特地穿上漂亮的裙子或禮服,刻意打扮一番。
The celebrities dressed up to the nines for the occasion.
名人都盛裝打扮參加盛會。
Dress做動詞 是指打扮成某種形象
Dress作為動詞時,意思是穿衣,但不是一般說的穿上衣服(wear),而是指打扮成某一種形象或特定裝束。
The sales agent dresses like a senior management when he goes to work.
那個營業員打扮像一個高級管理人員般上班。
Dress up是指刻意打扮一番
People usually dress in black when they go to a funeral.
人們出席喪禮時通常會穿黑色衣服。
Dress up的意思是刻意打扮一番,盛裝赴會。
All the parents dressed up for their children's graduation ceremony.
家長都盛裝打扮,出席子女的畢業典禮。
Dress well指日常穿著漂亮名貴
不要混淆dress up(盛裝打扮)與dress well(衣著名貴)。Dress up是為了出席隆重場合而刻意打扮一番。Dress well則是日常穿著漂亮名貴的衣服,是習慣,並不特別為某些日子而打扮。
The manager wanted his artistes to dress well.
經理人要求他的藝人穿得漂亮。
相對於dress up,刻意打扮,dress down自然是穿著隨便,或刻意打扮隨便。
dress down指穿著隨便
The employees are allowed to dress down when they go to work on Friday.
員工可以在星期五穿便服上班。
They dressed down to make the party less formal.
他們刻意打扮隨便,令派對較為輕鬆。
‘dressed’ 可作形容詞用,例如說人家穿戴漂亮,可以說 ‘He is a well-dressed man.’; 打扮隨便,可以說 ‘He is always casually-dressed.’。
所以亦有‘dressed (up) to the nines’作形容詞:
The celebrities were dressed (up) to the nines for this annual occasion.
名人都盛裝打扮參加一年一度的盛會。 ■linachu@hkbu.edu.hk
|