The Application of Symbolic Meaning of English Color Words in British and American Literature

There are rich words to express colors in English, which not only express colorful nature, but also reflect different cultural connotations. People think that different colors will have a great influence on people's emotions, and they like to express different thoughts and feelings with different colors. Therefore, western English-speaking countries attach great importance to the emotional reflection and communicative function of color environment, thus forming many vivid idioms related to color. Regarding the escape and symbolic meaning of color words, Mr. Wang Zuoliang made an incisive analysis: "A word has not only direct, superficial and dictionary meaning, but also connotative, emotional and associative meaning."

The word "white" not only has the meaning of "concise Oxford Dictionary": "It has the color produced by the reflection, transmission or emission of all kinds of light, which exists in the whole visible spectrum in proportion and has no obvious absorption, so it is completely luminous without any unique tone." In addition to meaning, white has all possible semantics, for example, "white race" means "powder gray"; In liquor, its semantic meaning is "usually pale yellow or golden yellow"; In White Heat, the meaning of "white" is "pink white"; In white coffee, "white" means "light brown"; In "white coal", there is also the meaning of "hydropower-ER"; In White Night, it means "sleepy".

In English, "white" symbolizes purity, beauty, solemnity and elegance, so the White House is used to represent the American government. The traditional wedding dress of western women is white, which represents the purity of love and the chastity of marriage. In addition, "white" has its unique extended meaning, which can express symbolic meanings such as "purity, humility, happiness, simplicity, loyalty and cowardice", such as "a white day", "white rage" and "a white lie". White coffee, white people (kind and cultured people), white people (cowardice), white elephants (expensive and useless things) and displaying white feathers (cowardice and cowardice).