Everyday Use - Alice Walker

homely樸實無華的; 不做作的; 【美】(人或容貌)不好看的

she thinks orchids are tacky【美】【口】俗不可耐的flowers.

Johnny Carson has much to do to keep up with my quick and witty tongue.

sidle側身而行; 羞怯地走; 悄悄地走[Q][(+up/to)]: A man sidled up to me and asked if I wanted a ticket for the match. 一男子偷偷走到我跟前, 問我要不要比賽票子。

feet in shuffle拖著腳走

Dee wanted nice things. A yellow organdy蟬翼紗,玻璃紗(一種極薄的棉布)

dress to wear to her grad.uation from high school; black pumps無帶輕便舞鞋;無帶淺口有跟女鞋

(who has mossy (covered with moss 苔蘚覆蓋的;長滿苔蘚的) teeth in an earnest face)

shingle (a small flat piece of wood that is used to cover a wall or roof of a building 牆面板;木瓦;屋頂板) roofs

like the portholes (船或飛機等的)舷窗in a ship

rawhide未經加工的皮革

Furtive偷偷摸摸的;鬼鬼祟祟的;遮遮掩掩的boys in pink shirts hanging about on washday after school.

turned all her faultfinding• .挑剔,吹毛求疵• .愛挑剔的power on him

recompose使鎮定herself.

stocky壯的;敦實的

erspiration falling off her chin.

with Maggie cowering抖縮;蜷縮;畏縮behind me

as limp柔軟的;不直挺的as a fish

he soon gives up on Maggie.

before 'Dicie' cropped up隨之而來in our family

Every once in a while he and Wangero sent eye signals over my head.

]I wanted to ask him was he a barber

collards【植】羽衣甘藍(高麗菜的一種

chitlins (=chitterlings: (豬等的)小腸)

Everything delighted her

churn攪乳器, 奶油製造機

whittle削, 切; 削成it out of a tree

alcove table (Alcove : a small recessed section of a room)

went to the trunk (旅行用)大皮箱; 汽車車尾的行李箱at the foot of my bed

dishpan洗碟用盆子

They had been pieced拼湊; 拼合[(+together)] by Grandma Dee and then Big Dee

"Mama," Wangro said sweet as a bird. "Can I have these old quilts?"

She gasped (因驚訝等)倒抽一口氣[(+at/with/in)] like a bee had stung her.

"But they're priceless!" she was saying now, furiously; for she has a temper.

in five years they'd be in rags破布, 碎布; 抹布; 造紙的破布料

"Well," I said, stumped. 【口】向...挑戰; 使...為難; 難住"

quilts被(子); 被褥.

hear the sound her feet made as they scraped (貼近而過; 勉強通過[Q][(+along/through)] He heard the scrape of footsteps up the stairs. 他聽到有人上樓的嚓嚓的腳步聲。) over each other.

checkerberry【植】旗盤果; 鹿蹄草(的果實) snuff

gave her face a kind of dopey【口】(因吸毒而)昏迷的, hangdog鬼鬼祟祟的; 卑躬屈膝的look

Resents 憤慨
Transfixed (用作表語)呆若木雞的; 束手無策的

Meticulously 極注意地, 極細心地, 一絲不苟地

emulating同...競爭; 盡力趕上
Dee is possibly emulating the Cultural Nationalists, artists and writers

militant激進的

sheepish懦弱的; 羞怯的
Whereas Mama is sheepish about the thought of looking a white man in the eye, Dee is more assertive.

valedictorian【美】(畢業典禮時)致告別辭的學生代表

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