Chapter 16 Poet of the Red Cliff

Expressions

1. Was Chunchen, too, perhaps a dubious character?

dubious: [ˈdu:biəs] 1. probably not true, not honest 不可靠的；可疑的

The assumption that growth in one country benefits the whole world is highly dubious.

2. doubtful 半信半疑的

I can see you are dubious; take some time to think about it.

Some universities are dubious about accepting students over the age of 30.

3. the dubious honor/ distinction/ pleasure (of doing sth): the opposite of an honor, used about sth unpleasant that happens

The Stephensons had the dubious honor of being the 100th family to lose their home in the fire.

2. Out of the emancipated life he was leading now came a transformation of his spirit, reflected in his writings.

emancipate: [ɪˈmænsɪpeɪt] 解放；解脱 formal, to give sb the political or legal rights that they did not have before

Slaves were emancipated in 1834.

emancipation: (n.)

3. He began to write a great number of inconsequential little entries in his journal that have no moral purpose and no message.

inconsequential: insignificant

inconsequential but amusing chatter

consequential有两层意思 1. happening as a direct result of a particular event or situation; eg. redundancy and the consequential loss of earnings

2. significant, eg. a consequential decision

consequence: 1. 结果

Our findings have far-reaching consequences for researchers.

She was over the age limit and, in consequence, her application was rejected. 

2. 重要性 of little/ no/ any etc consequence

Your opinion is of little consequence to me.

4. By and by the full moon comes up from the east and loiters between the Dipper and the Cowherd.

by and by: (ad.)., old use, = soon

She will be better by and by.

by and large : (ad.) used when making a general statement 大体上；总得来说

By and large, the new arrangements have worked well.

by the by : (prep.) = by the way, spoken, used when mentioning sth that may be interesting but is not particularly important

By the by, Ian said he might call round tonight.

5. Su Tungpo's method of establishing an atmosphere, as seen in this sketch, was to suggest another world, a dream world of Taoist immortals (of which the stork was a conventional symbol), and so confuse the reader that he did not know what plane of existence Su was describing.

plane 这里指的是level, a level or standard of thought, conversation etc

The two newspapers are on completely different intellectual planes.

The Gay Genius bu Lin Yutang