brown study
由 JiangDavid 在 发布
Meaning
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melancholy mood accompanied by deep thought
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preoccupied
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a moody daydream
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not paying attention or concentrating on the matter in hand
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intense, or deep absorption in own thoughts
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a state of abstraction, absent-mindedness, or deep thought
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black mood
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gloomy meditations
Example Sentences
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I realised that Sandra wasn’t concentrating on what the boss was saying and had disappeared into a brown study. 我意识到桑德拉没有专心听老板讲话，而是陷入了深思。
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Jack was lost in a brown study and had been like that all day. 杰克整天都沉浸在自己的思绪中。
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Chloe was so engrossed in a brown study that she didn’t hear the doorbell. 克洛伊太专注在自己的心绪中，以至于没听到门铃。
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He was so deep in a brown study on his way home that he missed his turning. 他回家的路上太过沉迷于自己的思考，以至于错过了转弯。
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Tanya often finds herself in a brown study, that is, in a state of deep (and usually gloomy) meditation. 塔尼娅经常发现自己陷入沉思，也就是说，她经常处于一种深沉（且通常忧郁的）冥想状态。
Origin
Brown study is an old English expression that’s related to emotions and colours. It seems that Brown was once the colour of feeling down or sad as we associate with the colour blue today.
The earliest printed record of the phrase can be traced back to 1532 in a book called Dice-Play:
“Lack of company will soon lead a man into a brown study.”
It appears in many literary works from the 16th century onwards. Famous writer Charles Dickens uses the phrase in his eighth novel David Copperfield published in November 1850, it says:
“I fell into a brown study as I walked on, and a voice inside my head made me start.”
Also, in Eight Cousins by an American novelist Louisa May Alcott, published in 1875:
“Sometimes he frowned, sometimes he smiled, and more than once he stood still in a brown study.”
It must have been in regular usage back then if the readers of these books understood that Brown was associated with sadness and melancholy.
