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Contiluo Posted 16 years ago
Essay & Composition Writing

Red light

When we are driving at an intersection, if the traffic light turns red, all cars and pedestrians have to stop and wait. Thus, the red light is used as a warning signal which makes people pay attention to the dangerous situation. Likewise, if a city has a high crime rate and its social order is getting worse, how do we use "red light" to express this idea in a natural way?


However, an American teacher explains to me the red light tells us to stop. It's not a danger or caution signal. In America, people would give a "red light" only to those things that are in their power to stop. Therefore, we can give the red light to Mr. Johnson's business proposal. We can't "red light" street crime.


Is there any expression that tallies with this idea of a danger signal?
  

Top answer

" On the standard red-green-amber traffic light at intersections, the amber indicates that the red is soon coming, and some people desribe it as a caution light. In this sense, it indicates that the flow of traffic is about to change. A single flashing amber light indicates caution, usually associated with some sort of hazzard.

  • " On the standard red-green-amber traffic light at intersections, the amber indicates that the red is soon coming, and some people desribe it as a caution light.
  • In this sense, it indicates that the flow of traffic is about to change.
  • A single flashing amber light indicates caution, usually associated with some sort of hazzard.
  • If your objective is to focus attention on street crime, you might wish to turn a spotlight on it.
  • I'm not really clear on your objective.
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3 Answers
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Of course a flashing red light in the US means, "stop, and then proceed with caution."
On the standard red-green-amber traffic light at intersections, the amber indicates that the red is soon coming, and some people desribe it as a caution light. In this sense, it indicates that the flow of traffic is about to change.
A single flashing amber light indicates caution, usually associ
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In Chinese semantics, we usually use "red light" in figuratively speaking to indicate caution associated with some sort of hazard. For example, someone's health is in bad condition, a company's business is difficult to operate, a society's safety is becoming worse, etc. We are only warning people to beware of the danger of their situation, so that people can find out ways in advance to remove t
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Hi,
I understood that all the lights were figurative, but that the implications would be tied to the real functions of the real lights.

I wasn't sure if you simply wanted to warn the public to beware - to stay away; or if you wanted to encourage a movement to remedy the situation.

Since you have clarified that, my feeling is that the "spotlight" is the best image -

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