Wedding wows
标题是一语双关，结婚誓言婚誓，但这里用的是wows，表现出一点意外的情绪。这篇文章也是关于中国婚礼的变化。
How the one-child policy changed Chinese nuptials.
结婚必须带s，上周我们整理的《傲骨贤妻追剧笔记》也有关于结婚的变体：婚前发生在婚前，我们经常看到婚前协议的缩写，pre-nup。
OVERSIZE cupids in pink, furry outfits hand out heart-shaped balloons with “I Do” written on them (in English) at a wedding-themed trade fair in Beijing. Vendors offer romantic photo-shoots of couples under water or at a racetrack, personalised wedding cigarettes, and biscuits with names such as “Date Fate”. An emphasis on love is a new addition to Chinese weddings―and shines a pink-filtered spotlight onsocial change.
在第一句话中，outfit是指在特殊场合穿的一整套衣服。做及物动词时，注意介词搭配：装备sb。/某事。在/与某事一起。为…配一整套装备/衣服.
主题，主题是.比如夏威夷主题派对，主题酒店。
photo-shoot和photo的区别在于，它是一种更专业的摄影，而且通常是为著名的麻豆拍摄的。
最后一句可以得到一个非常有用的写作短语：让聚光灯照在某物上，把…放在聚光灯下，这可以扩展到关注…，注意…。例如，活动家们说这有助于让聚光灯照在非法钻石贸易的暴力考虑上。社会活动家认为，这一事件有助于人们关注非法钻石交易的暴力犯罪后果。
For centuries, marriage in China was about ensuring heirs for the groom's family.Ceremonies centred on the groom's kin: couples kowtowed to the man's parents but the woman's relatives were absent. Unusually, both the groom's and the bride's family exchanged money or goods. The more money changed hands, the moreopulent the wedding.
第一句话可以用来写爱情和婚姻或中国传统家庭观念和其他相关主题：几个世纪以来，中国的婚姻是为了保护家人的头发。数百年来，婚姻在中国意味着确保新郎家的香火延续。
继承人，注意没有H音。嗣，嗣，嗣，就是中国人所说的香。
Kin family，亲属，加上后缀-ship，亲属关系，可以表示喜爱或亲密的感情。
“磕头”这个词应该是从中文音译过来的，自然与奴颜婢膝的外表联系在一起，所以可以引申为顺从的奉承。比如你不喜欢办公室里的马屁精，你可以默默diss:看他们表现得像上级有多蠢。看，磕头这个词比较多
多用于贬义。最后一句关注这个词opulent
After it came to power in 1949, the Communist Party imposed frugality. Dowriesconsisted of necessities like bed linen or a bicycle; guests brought their own food coupons. But since the 1980s the extravagance of nuptials has matched the country's rise.Celebrations moved out of homes into hotels. Brides swappedtraditional red dresses for white, flouncy meringue-like ones (some now wear both, in sequence).
Come to power，也可以用rise to power，当权执政。
中文里常说提倡勤俭节约，第一句就提供了表达impose frugality，动词也可以用practice.
接下来的几个名词比较中国特色，dowry嫁妆，bed linen床单枕套，food coupon就是粑粑麻麻小时候国家发行的粮票啦。
But since the 1980s the extravagance of nuptials has matched the country's rise.这句话写得很简洁，主要是match一词用得不错。从字面来看，婚礼的铺张赶上了国家的兴盛。那也就是体现一个前因后果，国家富裕了之后，婚礼也开始铺张浪费大操大办起来。
注意到没有，这句话还有frugality的反义词extravagance。
最后一句话注意swap sth for sth，把……换成……，下次用这个词组替换replace。
女生爱穿的荷叶边衣服，荷叶边怎么说？Flounce，荷叶边的裙子穿上身之后，走起路来裙摆就一抖一抖的，所以也有那么一点盛气凌人的感觉。flounce做动词就有了这么一个意思，怒气冲冲的走路，flounce out of the room气呼呼地走出了房间，可以联想着记忆。
meringue蛋白酥，meringue-like 像蛋白酥的一样的，这个构词法跟前面提到的-themed是一样的。
A large industry has emerged to serve the 13m couples who marry each year. Wedding planners are increasingly common, particularly in cities. A decade ago Cosmo Bride, an American-owned lifestyle magazine, launched a Chinese-language edition in China. An average wedding cost $12,000 in 2011 (the latest year for which such data exist)―the equivalent of more than two years' income for the average urban household. An increase in the average marriage age by 2.5 years since 1990 has given parents (who still usually pay for weddings, despite the earning power of their children) more time to save up.
equivalent等同物，等价物，the equivalent 就是12,000 dollars的同位语，Be the equivalent of 堪比，相当于，等同于，无异于。
普通城市家庭，the average urban household，household与family的区别如下：
作名词时，family常见的意义有“家庭”、“家属”、“子女”、“家族”。要特别注意的是，如果有人说I have a family. 不是说“我结婚了”，亦不是“我成家了”，而是“我有孩子了”。比如：She has the sole responsibility for a large family. 她要独自承担抚养一大群子女的责任。
而family 作形容词时，意思为“老少咸宜的”（designed to be suitable for children as well as adults），比如：a family newspaper全家人/成年人和未成年人都能看的报纸。
Household意思为 a house and its occupants regarded as a unit。尽管很多时候household也翻译成“家庭”、“一家人”，但是要注意这里它和family的区别在于：
household包含的是住在一起的人，可以是亲属，也可以不是亲属，比如佣人、管家或者其他成员，有点类似我们国家说的“户口”、“户”的含义，比如我国人口普查报告中有一个概念“家庭户”，官方提供的译文是 family household。而在这一层面上，family只是指有血缘关系的家庭。
最后一句，save up 和save同义，储蓄，save up for sth.为了……而存钱。
The change in wedding frippery also reflects a fundamental shift in society. For the first time in the history of Chinese family life, the child―rather than ancestors or parents―is regarded as the centre of the family, says Yan Yunxiang of the University of California, Los Angeles. Most newly-weds now are single children, born since the one-child policy was introduced more than 30 years ago. Parents have more to spend if they only have to fork out for one wedding (they usually share costs with the spouse-to-be's family).
第一句frippery
For the first time in the history/in one’s life...放在句首，强调the first time，比如For the first time in years the U.S airline industry is in terrific shape.
newly-weds，s要跟着，新婚夫妇，〔一对〕新人
最后一句fork out (for sth)，fork out sth (for/on sth) 大量花钱，大把掏钱，而且通常是不情愿的。可以和上一段的save up合在一起记忆。比如：forked out a small fortune on education在教育上花了不少钱。
同样表示花了不少钱的表达还有:
Shell out: 付 (一大笔钱)，比如：You won't have to shell out a fortune for it. 你将不必为它花一大笔钱。
Pour into: 大量投入〔金钱〕于〔某事物〕，比如They’ve poured thousands of pounds into developing the business. 他们已经投入几千英镑开发这项业务。
Splurge: 乱花钱，挥霍，splurge (sth) on sth，比如Within a couple of months, I’d splurged about 2,500 on clothes.就在几个月时间里，我买衣服花掉了 2,500 英镑。
Splash out on sth.:大肆挥霍(金钱)
William Jankowiak of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, who has documentedrelationships in China for 30 years, says love plays a larger part in young people's lives―both in choice of partner and in their relationships with parents. Love is far more often spoken about. The result is evident in weddings, which now focus on the couple. Both sets of parents are represented, but their position is peripheral.Weddings often feature a day of wedding photos, shot before the event, with the couple in a range of outfits against romantic backgrounds, but with no family members.
第一句的document是及物动词，记录，记载，比如The effects of smoking have been well documented.有关吸烟的影响记录翔实。
Both sets of parents are represented, but their position is peripheral.双方父母，both sets of parents。双方父母都会出席，但只是peripheral次要的；附带，比如peripheral and boring information.无关紧要的无聊信息。父母只是婚礼上的陪衬。
feature 以…为特色，是…的特征，翻译的时候可以说，具有……的特点，……的特点是……，或者简单地翻译成通常……，比如文中这句话：Weddings often feature a day of wedding photos, shot before the event婚礼现场当天通常饰以在此前拍摄的婚纱照。
Weddings often feature a day of wedding photos, shot before the event, with the couple in a range of outfits against romantic backgrounds, but with no family members. 婚礼现场当天通常饰以在此前拍摄的婚纱照，在浪漫的背景下，夫妻穿上一系列服装拍摄婚纱照，但没有家庭成员参与其中。
这句话也可以直接记下来，用于描述中国式的婚礼，口语写作两相宜
against the background, against a background of sth以…为背景。
