英语杂谈：49 Ties,ties,ties

For fans of fashionable neckwear for men, what's old is new again. Now Mo Rocca who follows these matters has his own ideas about that.

Way back in the 1990s, freedom was ringing everywhere. Women were making huge inroads in the workplace. As for men, business casual would liberate¹ them from the stranglehold of the tie. Millions of American males heard the cry. Mr. Businessman, tear off that tie!

But reports of the tie's demise² have been greatly exaggerated. Yes, today ties are back.

What do you think this tie says?
It says first says it is a matter second says it's stylish³.
It makes me feel a little bit one of our people.
It makes me feel empowered and makes me feel good like I am actually a businessman. OK. I am not.

Sales are way up among 20-somethings. Andrew Escobar manages the John Varvatos store in New York City.
I really just found with us you could throw a tie almost on anything and it kind of just ups the look a little bit. Makes a look a little bit more refined. And yet you can still leave your jeans on and your Chuck Taylors on. And it still has a rock'n'roll-edge.

It is not surprising that the tie has survived. After all, ties and men have been bound for more than a millennium⁴. Among the earliest models these knotted scarfs worn by Chinese soldiers of the 3rd century BC.

What I'm putting around my neck right now is a proud descendant of a line going back 300 years. Back then, men wore cravats⁶ wide ruffled⁷ and unapologetically impractical⁸. Over time the cravat⁵ became today's necktie. By the middle of the 20th century, though, the tie had lost much of its personality. It had become obligatory⁹. Part of a uniform dictated¹⁰ from on-high.

Then the arrival of business casual sounded the death knell¹¹ for the tie. Or did it? There is not as much social pressure to wear a tie. Wearing now, it becomes more of a, you know, an interesting piece that stands out more. In fact, men have embraced the responsibility of choosing what to wear to work, and more and more they are choosing the tie.

In one word, how does that tie make you feel?
Powerful!

Clean, smooth! Clean, smooth! You look okay. That's fine about it, they are so good.

I guess proper. Probably it's the first way to go to work. Ok. So it gives you respectability. Sure.

Because you wouldn't wear a suit with that color and pattern. Right? (Absolutely I wouldn't). Actually what do you look like? Kinda cool, I think? (ur, well, without a suit...in the suit, yeah,yeah) Maybe a little modest. You would never get a job.

There is a tie for every occasion, season or mood. This one makes me feel dependable; this one makes me feel like a seventh grade English teacher; this one makes me feel minty fresh.

Men's fashion a lot of guys complain they don't have a lot of choices. But the tie is the one area where you can really letter a wrap, right?
Sure, yeah. You definitely have a lot of freedom. Of course, freedom isn't just an American value. (undefined language) He is from Albania and he has a beautiful tie.

And so today's man is no longer required to wear a uniform. Instead he is fit to be tied.

 

1 liberate   

v.解放，使获得自由，释出，放出；vt.解放，使获自由

参考例句：

• They did their best to liberate slaves.他们尽最大能力去解放奴隶。
• This will liberate him from economic worry.这将消除他经济上的忧虑。

2 demise   

n.死亡；v.让渡，遗赠，转让

参考例句：

• He praised the union's aims but predicted its early demise.他赞扬协会的目标，但预期这一协会很快会消亡。
• The war brought about the industry's sudden demise.战争道致这个行业就这么突然垮了。

3 stylish   

adj.流行的，时髦的；漂亮的，气派的

参考例句：

• He's a stylish dresser.他是个穿着很有格调的人。
• What stylish women are wearing in Paris will be worn by women all over the world.巴黎女性时装往往会引导世界时装潮流。

4 millennium   

n.一千年，千禧年；太平盛世

参考例句：

• The whole world was counting down to the new millennium.全世界都在倒计时迎接新千年的到来。
• We waited as the clock ticked away the last few seconds of the old millennium.我们静候着时钟滴答走过千年的最后几秒钟。

5 cravat   

n.领巾，领结；v.使穿有领结的服装，使结领结

参考例句：

• You're never fully dressed without a cravat.不打领结，就不算正装。
• Mr. Kenge adjusting his cravat,then looked at us.肯吉先生整了整领带，然后又望着我们。

6 cravats   

n.（系在衬衫衣领里面的）男式围巾( cravat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

7 ruffled   

adj. 有褶饰边的, 起皱的 动词ruffle的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• She ruffled his hair affectionately. 她情意绵绵地拨弄着他的头发。
• All this talk of a strike has clearly ruffled the management's feathers. 所有这些关于罢工的闲言碎语显然让管理层很不高兴。

8 impractical   

adj.不现实的，不实用的，不切实际的

参考例句：

• He was hopelessly impractical when it came to planning new projects.一到规划新项目，他就完全没有了实际操作的能力。
• An entirely rigid system is impractical.一套完全死板的体制是不实际的。

9 obligatory   

adj.强制性的，义务的，必须的

参考例句：

• It is obligatory for us to obey the laws.我们必须守法。
• It is obligatory on every citizen to safeguard our great motherland.保卫我们伟大的祖国是每一个公民应尽的义务。

10 dictated   

v.大声讲或读( dictate的过去式和过去分词 )；口授；支配；摆布

参考例句：

• He dictated a letter to his secretary. 他向秘书口授信稿。
• No person of a strong character likes to be dictated to. 没有一个个性强的人愿受人使唤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 knell   

n.丧钟声；v.敲丧钟

参考例句：

• That is the death knell of the British Empire.这是不列颠帝国的丧钟。
• At first he thought it was a death knell.起初，他以为是死亡的丧钟敲响了。