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What does that mean? 你真的瞭解這個慣用語嗎?
【英文學習】
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.
“The bicyclist crossed through the chaotic traffic, weaving among the hurtling cars and trucks like a seamstress in search of a seam.”
「騎腳踏車的人穿越混亂的交通，穿梭在疾駛的汽車與卡車間，就像裁縫尋找接縫。」
The chaos of a busy street or a main artery during rush hours is a dangerous place for a person on two-wheel pedaler. The dangers are exacerbated when the biker is impatient. The peril comes at two critical times—when the bicyclist first enters a flow of traffic, forcing a motorist to yield and give up a lane, and when the biker is embedded in moving traffic and wishes to change lanes. The darting two-wheeled “vehicle” is no match for the heavy machines surrounding it. Ironically, the heavier the traffic, the safer for the biker because heavy traffic is slower.
在繁忙的街道或主要幹道上，尖峰時刻忙亂的交通，對腳踏雙輪的腳踏車騎士來說是很危險的，若騎腳踏車的是個急性子，就會更加危險。在兩個關鍵時刻最是危險，一是腳踏車剛騎進馬路，汽車不得不讓道時；一是腳踏車在車流中，想要變換車道時。雙輪的腳踏車騎得再快，也敵不過四周擁擠的車輛。諷刺的是，交通愈繁忙，車速就愈慢，腳踏車反而愈安全。
In comparing a bicyclist in traffic with a seamstress, the writer plays off the description of the biker “weaving” among cars. The image is of the bicycle changing lanes, establishing a pattern of movement across the traffic lanes, a thread of movement that the person pedaling has envisioned will connect point A and point B. In the same way, a seamstress envisions a path for her needle to join two pieces of cloth, a joining called a seam. The writer plays on the word “seam,” which also can mean a gap, something a biker loves to find in heavy traffic.
本句將騎腳踏車的人比擬為裁縫，刻意將腳踏車騎士的行為描述為在車陣中 “weaving”（穿梭），呈現出騎士變換車道，穿越車陣的固定行動模式，循著騎士眼中連結A點與B點的動線前進。同樣地，裁縫眼中也有一條途徑，針線依循途徑就能縫合兩片布料，縫合處就稱為接縫。作者刻意用 “seam”（接縫） 玩文字遊戲，這個字也有縫隙的意思，騎腳踏車的人在繁忙交通中，想找的就是縫隙。
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.
“The bicyclist crossed through the chaotic traffic, weaving among the hurtling cars and trucks like a seamstress in search of a seam.”
「騎腳踏車的人穿越混亂的交通，穿梭在疾駛的汽車與卡車間，就像裁縫尋找接縫。」
The chaos of a busy street or a main artery during rush hours is a dangerous place for a person on two-wheel pedaler. The dangers are exacerbated when the biker is impatient. The peril comes at two critical times—when the bicyclist first enters a flow of traffic, forcing a motorist to yield and give up a lane, and when the biker is embedded in moving traffic and wishes to change lanes. The darting two-wheeled “vehicle” is no match for the heavy machines surrounding it. Ironically, the heavier the traffic, the safer for the biker because heavy traffic is slower.
在繁忙的街道或主要幹道上，尖峰時刻忙亂的交通，對腳踏雙輪的腳踏車騎士來說是很危險的，若騎腳踏車的是個急性子，就會更加危險。在兩個關鍵時刻最是危險，一是腳踏車剛騎進馬路，汽車不得不讓道時；一是腳踏車在車流中，想要變換車道時。雙輪的腳踏車騎得再快，也敵不過四周擁擠的車輛。諷刺的是，交通愈繁忙，車速就愈慢，腳踏車反而愈安全。
In comparing a bicyclist in traffic with a seamstress, the writer plays off the description of the biker “weaving” among cars. The image is of the bicycle changing lanes, establishing a pattern of movement across the traffic lanes, a thread of movement that the person pedaling has envisioned will connect point A and point B. In the same way, a seamstress envisions a path for her needle to join two pieces of cloth, a joining called a seam. The writer plays on the word “seam,” which also can mean a gap, something a biker loves to find in heavy traffic.
本句將騎腳踏車的人比擬為裁縫，刻意將腳踏車騎士的行為描述為在車陣中 “weaving”（穿梭），呈現出騎士變換車道，穿越車陣的固定行動模式，循著騎士眼中連結A點與B點的動線前進。同樣地，裁縫眼中也有一條途徑，針線依循途徑就能縫合兩片布料，縫合處就稱為接縫。作者刻意用 “seam”（接縫） 玩文字遊戲，這個字也有縫隙的意思，騎腳踏車的人在繁忙交通中，想找的就是縫隙。