金是純潔、美麗和力量的象征。在各行各業(yè)，黃金法則（Golden Rules）和黃金比例（Golden Ratio）被廣泛運(yùn)用，另外，從文學(xué)作品中也衍生出不少關(guān)于gold的詞組。在本期的《小詞大義》中，就讓我們一起來學(xué)習(xí)吧！

Throughout history， gold has been a sign of purity， beauty and power. Calling something golden means it has great quality and value.

For example， the golden rule is possibly the worlds most widespread moral rule. It says people should treat others the way they themselves would like to be treated. Every major religion has its own version of this idea.

The golden ratio is found in art， architecture and nature. It describes a rectangle with a length about one and one-half times its width. Objects using this ratio in their design seem to please the eye more than others.

Philosophers have their own golden idea. The golden mean says moderation in all things is the best way to live ones life. It is an idea linked to the Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle. Similar thoughts exist in Buddhism and Confucianism.

Ancient Greek myths told of a time long ago when people lived in peace and happiness. Poets called it the Golden Age. A golden age now describes a historical period of great artistic， scientific or economic progress. It can even recall a time of success and popularity for an industry. For example， the 1930s and 40s were called the Golden Age of Radio.

You may have heard the proverb silence is golden. This means silence is of great value. It is sometimes better to say nothing than to speak.

You might say your child was good as gold when he behaved well at school. British writer Charles Dickens used this expression in 1843. He was describing the child Tiny Tim in the book “A Christmas Carol.”

In 1937， American playwright Clifford Odets wrote a play called “The Golden Boy.” This expression describes a young man who has many good qualities and a bright future.

You might tell someone you are golden when that person does something very well.

Gold digger is another description. But this does not say something nice about a person. A gold digger is someone who seeks to marry a rich person because he or she is only interested in that persons money.

Maybe you like old songs from the 1950s or 60s that are still well known and popular today. These are called golden oldies.

In the 1980s and 90s， an American television comedy series told about four older women living in Miami， Florida. The golden girls often dealt with social issues in a funny way.

Today， most older people look forward to reaching their golden years. This is when hard-working people can retire to a life of ease and fulfillment.

golden rule可翻譯成“黃金法則、金科玉律”，這可能是世界上最廣泛使用的道德法則之一。在基督教義里，黃金法則指的是待人如己。別的宗教也有類似的法則。

golden ratio是“黃金比例”的意思，也就是我們通常所說的“黃金分割”。這是指事物各部分之間一定的數(shù)字比例關(guān)系，即將整體一分為二，較大部分與較小部分之比等于整體與較大部分之比，其比值為：1：0.618或1.618：1。0.618被公認(rèn)為最具審美意義的比例數(shù)字，是最能引起人的美感的比例。我們所熟知的畫作如《蒙娜麗莎》、《最后的晚餐》運(yùn)用了黃金比例，這個數(shù)值不僅被運(yùn)用于繪畫、雕塑、音樂、建筑等藝術(shù)領(lǐng)域，而且在管理、工程設(shè)計方面也有不可忽視的作用。

golden idea是“金點(diǎn)子”的意思。

golden mean的意思是“中庸之道”。在古希臘哲學(xué)家亞里士多德的理論中，“中庸之道”不僅是其哲學(xué)的方法論，也是其全部思想的基石，被理解為“適度、合適、恰當(dāng)”等概念。在佛教和儒家思想中，也存在類似的理論。

古希臘神話講述了一段很久以前，人們和平、幸福生活的美好時代。詩人把它稱為Golden Age，譯為“黃金時代”。如今，我們用黃金時代來描述一段藝術(shù)、科技或經(jīng)濟(jì)取得巨大成就的歷史時期，甚至是一個行業(yè)取得成功和流行的時期。例如，二十世紀(jì)三四十年代，被稱為“廣播行業(yè)的黃金時代”。

“silence is golden”是我們常見的一句諺語，這是“沉默是金”的意思，表達(dá)的是一種行為處事的方式，少說話，默默思考，沉穩(wěn)才能獲得成功。

我們可以用“good as gold”來形容一個孩子很乖。英國作家查爾斯·狄更斯1843年在《圣誕頌歌》（A Christmas Carol）一書中使用這個詞語形容書中的一個名為蒂尼·齊姆的孩子。

1937年，美國劇作家克利福德·奧德茨寫下戲劇《金童》（The Golden Boy）。金童一詞用來形容具有良好素質(zhì)和光明未來的青年。

you are golden用來形容一個人很出色地完成了一件事，可以翻譯成“你很?！钡囊馑肌?/p>

gold digger是指釣金龜婿一族或拜金族，他們謀求嫁娶個有錢人，唯一興趣只是那個人的錢。

golden oldies指的是令人懷念的經(jīng)典歌曲或電影，其單數(shù)形式為golden oldie。

《黃金女郎》（The Golden Girls）是一部1988年制作的美國喜劇電視劇，講述了住在福羅里達(dá)州邁阿密的四個老年婦女用一些有趣的方法面對社會問題的故事。

golden years指的是退休后的生活，通常指的是65歲之后。