Darken Someone's Door——別再登門造訪

【本報消息】** having worn out of one's welcome // someone should go away and not return

~~串門；進某人家門；跨進某人的門檻 // （通常用於否定句）：別再登門造訪；以後不許再進我的家門；以瘟神的身份去到別人家中；不受歡迎下突然造訪某人的家；不速之客

~~ an uninvited/unwelcome/unwanted guest/visitor; a persona non grata（不受歡迎的人）；be in someone's bad books; be a gate crasher（未經邀請就去參加聚會的人）

!! The verb “darken” here refers to casting a shadow. It refers to someone’s threshold (a word that occasionally was substituted for “door”) of a doorway being darkened by a visitor’s shadow. As an imperative it is always used in the negative.

這裡的動詞“變暗”是指投射陰影，它指的是某人門口的門檻（一個偶爾代替“門”的詞）被訪客的影子遮蓋變暗。作為祈使語氣，它總是用在否定句中。

!! Tennyson said in Dora (1842): “You shall pack. And never more darken my doors again.” It is used nowadays in rather literary or formal contexts by older rather than younger people.

丁尼生在《朵拉》（一八四二年）中寫：“你應該收拾行李，永遠再也不要使我的門變暗了。”如今，老年人比年輕人更喜歡在文學或正式場合中使用。

>> Though I partially identify with their religion, I hope these missionaries will not darken my door again.

雖然我部分認同他們的宗教，但希望這些傳教士別再登門造訪。

>> This Hong Kong friend who comes to Macau to work on weekends always make excuses to stay overnight at our house. My wife finally asks me not to let him darken our doors again in the future!

這位逢周末來澳工作的香港朋友，總藉詞在我們的家過夜，我的太太終要我以後不許他再進我們的家門！

學勤進修教育中心英語專科導師

李啟文 教授