GREEN


Meaning of GREEN in English

transcription, транскрипция: [ ɡri:n ]

adjective, noun and verb (Environment) (Politics) adjective: Supporting or concerned with the conservation of the environment (see environment°), especially as a political issue; environmentalist, ecological. Hence also (of a product, a process, etc.) not harmful to the environment; environment-friendly. noun: A person who supports the Green Party or an environmentalist political cause. transitive verb: To make (people, a society, etc.) aware of ecological issues or able to act on ecological principles; to change the policies of (a party, a government, etc.) so as to minimize harm to the environment. Etymology: In this sense, the adjective is really a translation of German grân; the whole association of the colour green with the environmental lobby goes back to the West German ecological movements of the early seventies, notably the Grâne Aktion Zukunft (Green Campaign for the Future) and the grâne Listen (green lists--lists of ecological candidates standing for election). There were, of course, antecedents even within English, in which green has a centuries-old association with pastoralism and nature: the most obvious, perhaps, is the green belt. The noun and verb have arisen through conversion of green in its ecological sense to new grammatical uses. History and Usage: The West German green movement grew out of widespread public opposition to the use of nuclear power in the late sixties and early seventies and soon became an important force in West German politics. At about the same time, an international organization campaigning for peace and environmental responsibility was formed; originally operating from Canada, this organization soon became known as Greenpeace. These were the two main influences on the adoption of green as the keyword for all environmental issues in English and the subsequent explosion of uses of green and its derivatives. The transition did not take place until about the middle of the eighties in British English, though. (Green was used both as an adjective and a noun to describe West German political developments, but in general the movement was known here as the ecology movement, and that was also the official title of the party now known as the Green Party.) Since that time, the adoption of a green stance by nearly all political parties and the re-education of the general public to be environmentally aware (the greening of country and politics) has led some people to speak of a green revolution not just in the UK but throughout the industrialized world (the term had in fact been used in the US before Britons started to use green in its ecological sense at all widely). As green became one of the most popular adjectives in the media in the late eighties, its use was extended to policies designed to stop the destruction of the environment (green labelling, the same thing as eco- or environmental labelling, green tax, etc.), and then to products and activities considered from the viewpoint of their impact on the environment (compare ecological and environmental). Green as a noun was first applied to the West German campaigners, who became known as 'the Greens', but once the adjective became established in the mid eighties, the noun was extended to members of other environmentalist parties and organizations as well, and eventually to anyone who favoured conservation. Colloquially, such a person became a greenie or greenster; different hues of greenness (or greenism, or even greenery) also began to be recognized--someone who was in favour of very extreme environmentalist measures became a dark green or deep green, for example. As political parties began to realize the need to adopt green policies in the face of what promised to be the green decade of the nineties, it was natural that the word should also come to be used as a verb; greening as a 'verbal' noun had already existed for more than a decade in this sense (for example, in the book title The Greening of America, 1970). A Centre for Policy Studies report on Conservative Party involvement in green issues, written in 1985, was called Greening the Tories, turning this round into a transitive verb, and since then the verb has become quite common. Mr Cramond said that the Highlands welcomed people from outside with knowledge and expertise who were willing to make things work, but there was no room for green settlers who hoped to live on 'free-range carrots'. Aberdeen Press & Journal 17 June 1986, p. 9 While socialists tend to emphasise the liberation of women, greens wish equally to liberate men. Green Line Oct. 1988, p. 17 Despite winning 14 per cent of the European vote in Britain, British greens will have no seats at the European Parliament. Nature 22 June 1989, p. 565 Labour...accused the Government of spending taxpayers' money...by agreeing to an unprecedented ø1bn 'green dowry' for environmental schemes in the water industry. Independent 3 Aug. 1989, p. 1 It may be that 'green' products biodegrade more quickly and thoroughly, since they tend to use surfactants based on vegetable oils rather than petro-chemicals. Which? Sept. 1989, p. 431 Vegetarians and the more self-denying Greenies may find themselves in an awkward moral dilemma. Guardian 23 Feb. 1990, p. 29 Although 'deep greens' only account for a small percentage of the population, they are becoming more influential. The Times 28 Mar. 1990, p. 21 British Gas has been quick to seek to capitalise on worries about the effect of energy consumption on the environment. It has advertised the 'greenness' of its main product--natural gas--in comparison with other hydrocarbons. Financial Times 20 Apr. 1990, section 5, p. 1

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