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想不到你们竟是这样的单词:一词多义大赏

2021-12-09 17:40

来源:新东方网

作者:朱博

  英文里经常出现一词多义的现象,甚至有时看起来是毫无关系甚至是截然相反的意思,比如trunk这个名词,它有五个常见意思:1. 树干,the trunk of a tree;2. 后备箱,the trunk of my car;3. 象鼻子,elephant’s trunk;4. 男士泳裤,a pair of swimming trunks;5. 有盖子的大箱子。想想看这真是八竿子打不到的关系啊!

  下面我们就来看一看十个“有好几副嘴脸”的单词们吧:

  1. down

  三岁的英文启蒙娃娃们肯定都知道down是什么意思,老师会常常喊着让他们sit down的… 但是它还有个让你想不到的意思哦!不信的话去网上查一下down jacket,看看会出现什么图片吧!没错,down jacket就是羽绒服。down作为名词,它的意思是the very fine soft feathers of a bird,即羽绒。

  2. go

  Go作为动词大家都知道它的意思,不过作为名词时,英式英语里还会用它来表示try,an attempt at doing something. 例如:It took three goes to get it right. I doubt if he’ll listen to advice from me, but I’ll give it a go (= I’ll try but I don’t think I will succeed).

  3. minute

  这个单词不同词性下不光意思不同,读音也不一样,大家一定要注意。作为名词时,它的发音是/ˈmɪnɪt/, 而作为形容词,它则读作/maɪˈnjuːt/,意思是extremely small, tiny. 例如:minute amounts of chemicals in the water.

  4. moonlight

  顾名思义,它就表示the light of the moon,比如“月下漫步”叫做to go for a walk in the moonlight,但是这个浪漫的单词变成动词,则表示to have a second job that you do secretly, usually without paying tax on the extra money that you earn. 不过这个也很好理解了,晚上偷偷做兼职,不用缴所得税,例如:He spent years moonlighting as a cab driver.

  5. tie

  先不管它的动词词义了,在做名词时,它的常见两个意思是“领带”和游戏、比赛“平局”。例如:The match ended in a tie.

  6. fine

  看到它我们的DNA都在呐喊“I’m fine. Thank you. And you?”对不对!其实在生活中,它的常见意思是“罚款”,名词动词都有,例如:Offenders will be liable to a heavy fine (= one that costs a lot of money). 或者She was fined for speeding.

  7. hit

  这个单词除了有物理层面的“击打”之外,还可以指心理上的打击(to have a bad effect on somebody or something),例如:His death didn’t really hit me at first.

  另外,在口语里,它还可以指突然意识到(to come suddenly into your mind),例如:I couldn’t remember where I’d seen him before, and then it suddenly hit me.

  8. buy

  Buy除了指买东西,也可以指收买、贿赂某人,此时同义词就是bribe,例如:He can’t be bought (= he’s too honest to accept money in this way). 除了有“买”这层含义外,它还有个同义词是believe, to believe that something is true, especially something that is not very likely. 例如:You could say you were ill but I don’t think they’d buy it (= accept the explanation).

  9. use

  作为“使用”,大家都不会用错,不过经常有个表达会被翻译错,例如:I think we could all use a drink after that! 这里面的could use不能翻译成“可以使用”,它的意思是to say that you would like to have something very much. 表示“需要和想要”,比如你很难过,需要人安慰的时候就可以说:I could really use a friend.

  10. shoot

  大家第一个想到的意思肯定是“射击”,但是它作为语气词时,第一个用法是让对方说出其想说的内容,例如:You want to tell me something? OK, shoot! 另外一个用法是抱怨或者厌烦的语气(用礼貌的方式在说shit, to show that you are annoyed when you do something stupid or when something goes wrong),例如Shoot! I’ve forgotten my book!

  大家还能想到日常口语里哪些一词多意的单词呢?

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