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Reader question:
"In this headline (from an article in the New Scientist magazine) - Red letter day for endangered species - what does 'red letter' mean?"
My comments:
A great question.
In the Chinese calendar, Saturdays, Sundays and the Lunar New Year holidays, among others, are marked out in red letters instead of the black.
The practice is said to have dated back to medieval Europe. When the first calendars were made, significant dates (such as Christmas) were printed in red ink in distinction to the usual black.
Hence, a red letter day means any day of distinction or significance.
In the New Scientist (a British publication) article (seen online dating July 22, 2006), leading biologists from around the world were calling for "the creation of a new international body to hard-wire the science of extinction into government policy-making". In other words, the new international body will work with governments and co-ordinate the protection of the world's flora and fauna. If these biologists succeed (I hope they do), then the day this international body is established will be marked as a red letter day for the world's endangered species.
More examples.
I'm sure all Beijing students and their anxious parents had marked out in the calendar June 23, 2006, the day when results of college entrance examinations were published online. That day, certainly a red-letter day for Beijing's college aspiring students, liters of tears (of joy, relief or disappointment) must have streamed down the faces of tens of thousands.
In another example, last night (Wednesday, August 16, 2006), was to me a red letter day for Chinese soccer as the national team eked out a 1-0 victory over Singapore in an Asian Cup qualifying match thanks to a last-gasp penalty.
In normal times, a meager 1-0 victory over the tiny city state of Singapore would be considered a given. But these are not the brightest times for Chinese soccer. In fact, the same day (August 16, 2006) could be marked as a red-letter day for Chinese soccer in the ignominious sense as well. Earlier in the day, the world soccer governing body of Fifa had released its monthly world rankings for August. In it, China was ranked at an abominable 103rd place in the pantheon of footballing nations, trailing such giants as Albania (62), Burkina Faso (71), Oman (85), Equatorial Guinea (92), Cape Verde Islands (101) and Botswana (102).
However, let's look at the bright side and relish this red-letter day in the good sense. Reduced to 10 men (Zhao Xuri was sent off for a deliberate elbow to the head of an opponent), at least the Chinese men never gave up looking for a goal.
In the end, their efforts were answered as the referee pointed to the penalty spot in the last of five minutes of injury time when Shao Jiayi was adjudged to have been brought down in the penalty area.
Literally seconds away from a memorable draw with China, Singaporeans will understandably feel hard done by. But in the end, it was China 1, Singapore 0.
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