SINCE early December, netizens (网民) have been proposing that we call the Chinese dragon the "loong", so as to improve China's image.

They argue that, since ancient times, the Chinese dragon has been seen as a symbol of China and was the emblem (徽章) of royal family. But in the West, dragons are large monsters that breathe fire and eat people. "Dragon", they say, is not a suitable name for the Chinese creature that stands for good luck.

So, what does the word "dragon" represent in the West? What makes it evil? The following will help give you a clue.

The Bible

The history of the dragon as an evil monster in the West starts with the Bible. A search for the word "dragon" in the Bible produces 34 matches. The word is most directly translated as "sea or land monster" in the Old Testament (《旧约全书》).

There is also a Biblical description of Satan where he's described as a red dragon, with seven heads and 10 horns (角), which is ready to eat a new-born child.

Common speech

Expressions using "dragon" are often negative.

A dragon lady refers to a powerful, domineering (作威作福的) or dangerous woman.

They call her the dragon lady because she is always yelling at children. (他们把她叫做母夜叉，因为她总是对着孩子大吼大叫。)

People use "chase the dragon" to refer to smoking.

Joan's marriage broke up after she began chasing the dragon. (沉迷于"吞云吐雾"之后，琼的婚姻破裂了。)

Another humorous but still negative usage appeared in recent years. A mouthwash ad in the US used the term "dragon breath". It refers to a man in the morning who hadn't brushed his teeth and who could knock a person over with his fierce breath.

上一篇：What's the matter?  
下一篇：QQ空间代码-去横幅 皮肤 导航 播放器...