Don’t go over the top

Reader question:

Please explain this sentence – The trick to wearing jewelry is to not go over the top.

My comments:

Jewelry makes you look better. But it's important not to wear too much of it at the same time.

Necklace, for instance, looks beautiful on the neck - or at least on some people’s necks. But wearing two of them together? Probably not.

Like I said, jewelry makes some people look better, that’s why some people wear them. But too much of it may make you look, well, like the wife of rich coalminer from Shanxi Province. Sorry to be poking fun at rich coalminers from Shanxi Province, but I think they, of all people, can afford it.

Anyways, the thing to learn here is 「not to go over the top」, i.e. don’t be excessive.

In other words, just the right amount of showy stuff works. Too much of it may backfire.

Speaking of jewelries, I may add a personal observation while we’re at it and that is many naturally good looking women often don’t wear heavy jewelry or fancy clothes.

Why?

The reason is they are aware of their natural beauty and wouldn’t mind to show it. Therefore, they dress plainly so that all the attention will be on their person. Fancy clothing and jewelry on the other hand may become a distraction. It is one thing for example to hear people compliment: 「Your eyes are beautiful.」 It is quite another to hear them say: 「Your eyes beautiful. Your artificial eye lashes, I mean.」

Hence and therefore, the thing to remember is if you want to wear jewelry, by all means wear it but don’t overdo it.

Too much jewelry may be counterproductive.

I say maybe even though I’m pretty sure that too much is counterproductive. But I say maybe nonetheless just to be on the safe side for I know for a fact that I’m no authority on jewelry wearing. Not at all. I myself don’t have even a watch on my wrist – I have the mobile phone as timepiece.

You know what I mean, just going over the top here in order to make sure you don’t take my advice too seriously.

Now that you』ve been warned, however, I think it’s safe to say that too much in jewelry, as it is in everything else in life, is counterproductive.

Enough is enough. No more, no less. Just the right amount. More than enough is excessive and is no good.

More haste, less speed. Same thing.

Alright, let’s see two examples of what happens when people go over the top, one in expenditure, the other in criticism:

1. A FATHER-of-five died after starting a fire at his home following a row with his girlfriend.

Steven Ashworth, aged 38, became trapped in an upstairs bedroom at his home in West Way, Hall I’th』Wood, after starting a blaze at the bottom of the stairs.

He was rescued by a fire crew after neighbours raised the alarm in the early hours of Monday, March 6.

But he suffered a heart attack at the scene and was pronounced dead at the Royal Bolton Hospital.

An inquest at Bolton Coroners』 Court heard yesterday how Mr Ashworth, who had five children from two previous relationships, had been on a trip to Worksop with girlfriend Wendy Hartigan to collect a bike to do up.

When they got back home, Mr Ashworth fell asleep and the mother-of-two left.

But when Mr Ashworth woke, he called Ms Hartigan, of Green Way, Hall i'th' Wood, on the phone.

She told the hearing: 「We』d had a bit of an argument over the scooters. I thought he was going over the top and buying too much stuff because he had things all over the house.

「We kept putting the phone down on each other. The last thing he said to me was: 『We』ll see if you miss me now then.』

「The next thing I remember, the police were banging on my door saying there had been a fire and he had been hurt. I had to go to the hospital to identify him. We were supposed to be getting married. I loved him.」

Fire investigators had found a lighter at the bottom of the stairs and the pattern of the fire suggested it had spread rapidly and had been started by a naked flame.

The court heard how Mr Ashworth often stored turpentine and other flammable materials he used in his work at the bottom of the stairs.

Bolton borough fire commander Vinny Simpson said the most likely cause of the fire was 「deliberate ignition」.

- Tragedy of man who died after house fire, TheBoltonNews.co.uk, January 26, 2007.

2. Didier Drogba was involved in a heated exchange with a Chelsea fan after the 1-1 draw at Stoke City on Saturday.

The Ivory Coast striker saved his side from a calamitous defeat at the Britannia Stadium with a equalizer in the 33rd minute after Stoke took the lead in the eighth minute.

But that wasn’t enough to appease the Blues fans, who were frustrated with the 33-year-old’s hesitance in launching the ball into the penalty box as Chelsea searched for a late winner.

And according to the Daily Mirror, Drogba confronted a fan after the match to ask what was his problem and had to be dragged away by Paulo Ferreira.

A Chelsea source was quoted as saying: 「Didier wasn’t happy at the accusation and wanted to make his point.

「It just shows how much he cares for the club. He knows the fans have the right to their say but he felt it was going over the top, especially with the effort everybody had put in to try to win the game.」

Meanwhile, the draw meant Chelsea's slim hopes of defending the Barclays Premier League title were all but extinguished as they now trail leaders Manchester United by 11 points.

- Drogba involved in fan confrontation, 360footballnews.com, April 4, 2011.

本文僅代表作者本人觀點，與本網立場無關。歡迎大家討論學術問題，尊重他人，禁止人身攻擊和發布一切違反國家現行法律法規的內容。

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About the author:

Zhang Xin is Trainer at chinadaily.com.cn. He has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: [e-mail], or raise a question for potential use in a future column.

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（作者張欣 中國日報網英語點津 編輯：Julie）