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  born in the purple 


:: 第 74 期 ::

中文: 出生於名門望族

解釋: 具有權威性的《韋伯斯特大詞典》對purple一詞做了這樣的注釋︰of a color reserved for the use of a royal or imperial ruler,漢語的意思即為︰為皇家而專用的顏色。根據這一解釋,我們便可以知道born in the purple這一短語表示的是這樣一種含義︰born of a kingly or princely family,意為"出身於帝王家族,出身高貴"。

例︰Living an ordinary life like an ordinary people, she was not known that she was born in the purple, which brought her a few years of peaceful life. (過著同平民一樣的普通生活,沒有人知道她是皇室的成員,而這使她過了幾年恬靜的生活。)

born with a silver spoon in one's mouth,這條短語只表示出身於富有人家的意思,不含有出身皇室貴族之義。同時,該短語可被用作下面這樣的句子︰He's a silver spoon man.(他是一個闊佬)。而 born in the purple 則是一種固定的形式,不可以這樣用。

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