Polaris
What do 'hung over' and 'wear black' here mean? 1. What does 'hung over' (hang over) here mean? Is it an overcloud ? ALMOST exactly a year ago, on May 2nd 2014, two groups of protesters clashed in central Odessa. A heady post-revolutionary haze hung over Ukraine. 2. What does 'wear black' mean ? Elena Radzikhovskaya, a local history professor, went to search for her son Andrei, who had joined the protests. She called him but, she says, “A strange voice answered and told me, ‘Your son is dead’.” A year later, Ms Radzikhovskaya still wears black. Thanks http://www.economist.com/news/europe/21650569-aftershocks-year-old-tragedy-make-odessa-test-new-ukraine-black-sea-woes
May 23, 2015 4:54 PM
Answers · 4
2
In the same way that clouds can "hang over" something, feelings and moods can "hang over" things - usually meaning that they can be felt affecting everything. It just means that the post-revolutionary mood was still felt there. For "wears black", people wear black when they grieve, so by saying she still "wears black" they mean she still grieves.
May 23, 2015
2
"Hung over" or "to hang over" means that the noun, in this case "the post-revolutionary haze," has permeated daily life, and is tangible, almost like a fog or a strong smell. Another example would be if there was a death in a family, and that one week later, it was said that the sadness still 'hung over' the household, meaning that the sadness was lingering and palpable. To 'wear black' in this case means wearing black mourning clothing, which exists in many cultures. In many western cultures, black is worn to funerals exclusively, and members of the family wear black for a certain amount of time after the death.
May 23, 2015
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