影片对白  Harry, they're not soldiers, they're farmers. They'd be better off letting the British just march through.

电影故事  The Patriot 爱国者：创作花絮

考考你  现学现卖

4. Better off

"最好……，比……富裕"的意思，例如：
They were better off flying than driving there. 他们最好坐飞机而不是驾车去那儿。
They were better off than most of their neighbors. 他们比大部分的邻居日子过得富裕。

当表示"比……富裕"时，better off 的意思就相当于 well off。

文化面面观

Red coat：英国士兵的红制服

Red coat is a term often used to refer to a soldier of the historical British Army because of the color of the uniforms formerly worn by the majority of regiments. The uniform of most British soldiers during the late 17th century, 18th century and 19th century, (other than artillery, rifles and some cavalry), included a madder red coat or coatee. From 1872 onwards, the more vivid shade of scarlet was adopted for all ranks, having previously been worn only by officers, sergeants and cavalry troopers.

In the United States, "Redcoat" is particularly associated with those British soldiers who fought against the colonists during the American Revolution. It does not appear to have been a contemporary expression - accounts of the time usually refer to "regulars" or "the King's men". Abusive nicknames included "bloody backs" (in a reference to both the colour of their coats and the use of flogging as a means of punishment for military offences) and "lobsters" or "lobsterbacks" (most notably in Boston around the time of the Boston Massacre).

It was not until the 1880s that the term "redcoat" as a vernacular expression for the British soldier appears in literary sources such as Kipling's poem, "Tommy" - indicating some degree of popular usage in Britain itself. The term is still used in Ireland to refer to the British Army, and sometimes to all British people.

Red coat: History in British Army

On 19 February 1645, the English parliament passed the New Model Army Ordinance. The new army was formed of 22,000 men, divided into twelve foot regiments of 1,200 men each, eleven horse regiments of 600 men each, one dragoon regiment of 1,000 men, and the artillery with 50 guns.

The infantry regiments wore coats of Venetian red with white facings. The original intention was to use blue uniforms, but red was cheaper.

The adoption and continuing use of red by most English soldiers after the restoration of the Monarchy (1660) appears to have been a historical accident, aided by the relative cheapness of red dyes noted above. There is no basis for the historical myth that red coats were favored because they did not show blood stains, as the blood quickly stains the jacket black.

Eventually, facings of the red coat were varied, depending upon which regiment the uniform belonged to. Examples were scarlet for the 33rd Regiment of Foot, yellow for the 44th regiment of foot and buff for the 3rd Regiment of foot.

British soldiers fought in scarlet tunics for the last time at the Battle of Gennis on 30 December 1885.

Even after the adoption of khaki field dress in 1902, most British infantry and some cavalry regiments continued to wear scarlet tunics on parade and for off-duty occasions ("walking out dress"), until the outbreak of the First World War in 1914.

Scarlet tunics ceased to be general issue upon British mobilization in August 1914. The Brigade of Guards resumed wearing their scarlet full dress in 1920 but for the remainder of the Army red coats were only authorised for wear by regimental bands and officers in mess dress or on certain limited social or ceremonial occasions (notably attendance at Court functions or weddings). The reason for not generally reintroducing the distinctive full dress was primarily financial, as the scarlet cloth requires expensive cochineal dye.

In the modern British army, scarlet is still worn by the Foot Guards regiments for ceremonial, by the Life Guards and by some regimental bands or drummers. Officers and NCOs of those regiments which previously wore red retain scarlet as the color of their "mess" or formal evening jackets. Some regiments turn out small detachments, such as color guards, in scarlet full dress at their own expense e.g. the Yorkshire regiment.

Scarlet is also retained for some full dress, military band or mess uniforms in the modern armies of a number of the countries that made up the former British Empire. These include the Australian, Jamaican, New Zealand, Fijian, Canadian, Kenyan, Ghanaian, Indian, Singaporean and Pakistani armies. (wikipedia)