表示身体部位的英语单词短语才被用作比喻，如 put one's feet up 和 from hand to mouth 等等。与其类似，表示颜色的单词短语也常常用作其他比喻，如 white lie 和 baby blues 等等。put one's feet up 放松、坐着休息 You go home and put your feet up.你回家好好休息一下。After working all week, you deserve to put your feet up.工作了一整周，你应该放松放松。from hand to mouth 勉强维持生计 It's been pretty hand to mouth these days. If I don't find work soon, I don't know how we'll get by.这几天勉强维持生计。如果我不尽快找到工作，我不知道我们怎么过。With another child on the way, it looks like we'll be living from hand to mouth for the foreseeable future.随着另一个孩子的到来，在可预见的未来，我们似乎将过着勉强糊口的生活。white lie 善意的谎言 She asked if I liked her dress, and of course I told a white lie.她问我是否喜欢她的衣服，我当然撒了个善意的谎。He told a white lie as his excuse for missing the party.他撒了一个善意的谎作为他错过聚会的借口。baby blues 产后抑郁 When I had the baby blues after having my first child, I would find myself crying without knowing why.当我有了我的第一个孩子后得了产后抑郁症时，我会发现自己无缘无故地哭。As a new mother, you may have to deal with baby blues.作为一个新的母亲，您可能必须面对产后抑郁。跟它们类似，red tape 也被用来比喻令人不满的繁文缛节，源自用红色或粉红色的带子捆扎公文的习俗，例如：The little money that was available was tied up in bureaucratic red tape.能用的那点儿小钱被繁文缛节拖得遥遥无期。Can you not just cut through the red tape and get the regulations passed so we can build this hospital?你能不能省去繁文缛节，让规章制度通过，这样我们就可以建这家医院了？The red tape we had to get through to push the department changes forward was unbelievable.为了推动部门改革，我们必须通过的繁文缛节令人难以置信。Plans for a childcare centre in Blenheim have been scrapped, with the developer blaming council red tape.在布伦海姆建立儿童保育中心的计划已经被取消，开发商将责任归咎于委员会的繁文缛节。
Red tape 的同义词有 paperwork，bureaucracy 和 rules and regulations 等等，例如：paperwork 文书工作 We're trying to cut down on the amount of paperwork involved.我们正在努力降低有关此事的文书工作量。bureaucracy 官僚主义，官僚作风People usually complain about having to deal with too much bureaucracy.人们经常抱怨不得不应付太多的繁文缛节。rules and regulations 规则制度Marine insurance is governed by a strict series of rules and regulations.关于海险有一系列严格的规章制度对其作了规定。社会和科技在进步，不提倡繁文缛节，减少不必要的时间和资源浪费，提高生活的便利性和人们的幸福感。词或词组辨析：1. bureaucratic [ˌbjʊərəˈkrætɪk] 意为”官僚的，官僚主义的“2. tie sth up 意为“占用，搁死（资金）”，常用被动3. cut down (on sth) 意为”削减，缩小（尺寸、数量或数目） “等
