What does that mean? 你真的瞭解這個慣用語嗎?
很多字詞並非表面所見的意思，字詞的組合會產生不同的解釋。這樣的慣用法，我們稱之為「比喻」。一個成功的比喻，作者本身必須相當瞭解字詞的源起。以下的句子為讀者介紹一個比喻及其來源。
Imagery buries itself in language and takes on new meaning. The transplanted and transformed sets of words are called “figures of speech.” For a figure of speech to be effective, however, a writer must first understand the original meaning of the phrase. The following sentence contains a common figure of speech. Its original meaning is explained.
“Under the electron microscope, the nerve fibers and blood veins were shown to be elegantly threaded throughout the body.”
「在電子顯微鏡下，全身的神經纖維與血管優雅地交織在一起。」
“Thread” has a lengthy history in garment-making. The use of a long, continuous fiber to stitch and adorn goes back thousands of years. A thread is meticulously inserted in a garment and then woven and out of it according to a pattern; when drawn tight, the unbroken thread affixes one piece of a garment to another. In decorative uses, the thread is woven into the fabric for display rather than for function. In every case, the path of the thread is uniform and the tolerances close so that the threaded product is enhanced, either in usefulness or in beauty.
“Thread”（絲線）用於製造服裝歷史悠久，以纖長連續的纖維縫製、裝飾衣物，歷史可追溯自數千年前。將絲線仔細穿入衣料，以固定的模式穿梭編織、拉緊，連續的絲線就結合服裝的不同部分。絲線編織在布料上、用來裝飾時，是為了讓服裝美觀，而非為了實用目的。無論實用或裝飾，絲線都必須遵循一定的模式編織，而且每針的差距不能太大，這樣織成的服裝才會實用而美觀。
In the sentence about a laboratory observation, “threaded” refers not at all to a continuous strand of twisted cotton or some other fiber. Rather, the allusion is to human cells that have been formed into nerve axions and blood vein walls. The nerves and veins are said to be threaded throughout the body, which is to say they run continuously from toe to head; they are purely functional, transmitting messages and delivering life-assuring blood. The writer (unnecessarily) adds the adverb “elegantly” to ascribe to the cellular structures a sense of human majesty.
本句討論實驗室中的觀察，“thread” 並非指捻在一起的棉紗或其他纖維，而是比喻人體的細胞形成神經束與血管網絡；神經與血管在全身交織，從頭到腳連續不斷，並且有其功能，即傳導訊號與輸送維繫生命的血液。作者還（多此一舉地）加上副詞 “elegantly”（優雅地），讓細胞結構多了一股奧妙人體的感覺。
Imagery buries itself in language and takes on new meaning. The transplanted and transformed sets of words are called “figures of speech.” For a figure of speech to be effective, however, a writer must first understand the original meaning of the phrase. The following sentence contains a common figure of speech. Its original meaning is explained.
“Under the electron microscope, the nerve fibers and blood veins were shown to be elegantly threaded throughout the body.”
「在電子顯微鏡下，全身的神經纖維與血管優雅地交織在一起。」
“Thread” has a lengthy history in garment-making. The use of a long, continuous fiber to stitch and adorn goes back thousands of years. A thread is meticulously inserted in a garment and then woven and out of it according to a pattern; when drawn tight, the unbroken thread affixes one piece of a garment to another. In decorative uses, the thread is woven into the fabric for display rather than for function. In every case, the path of the thread is uniform and the tolerances close so that the threaded product is enhanced, either in usefulness or in beauty.
“Thread”（絲線）用於製造服裝歷史悠久，以纖長連續的纖維縫製、裝飾衣物，歷史可追溯自數千年前。將絲線仔細穿入衣料，以固定的模式穿梭編織、拉緊，連續的絲線就結合服裝的不同部分。絲線編織在布料上、用來裝飾時，是為了讓服裝美觀，而非為了實用目的。無論實用或裝飾，絲線都必須遵循一定的模式編織，而且每針的差距不能太大，這樣織成的服裝才會實用而美觀。
In the sentence about a laboratory observation, “threaded” refers not at all to a continuous strand of twisted cotton or some other fiber. Rather, the allusion is to human cells that have been formed into nerve axions and blood vein walls. The nerves and veins are said to be threaded throughout the body, which is to say they run continuously from toe to head; they are purely functional, transmitting messages and delivering life-assuring blood. The writer (unnecessarily) adds the adverb “elegantly” to ascribe to the cellular structures a sense of human majesty.
本句討論實驗室中的觀察，“thread” 並非指捻在一起的棉紗或其他纖維，而是比喻人體的細胞形成神經束與血管網絡；神經與血管在全身交織，從頭到腳連續不斷，並且有其功能，即傳導訊號與輸送維繫生命的血液。作者還（多此一舉地）加上副詞 “elegantly”（優雅地），讓細胞結構多了一股奧妙人體的感覺。
Posted at 2012-01-12 10:28:17
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