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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 word or set of words is called a “figure of speech.” For a figure of speech to be effective, however, a writer must first understand the original meaning of the word or phrase. The following sentence contains a common figure of speech. Its original meaning is explained.
“The black-and-white soccer ball ricocheted off the tree and hopscotched across the lawn like the half-dozen laughing children trailing it.”
「黑白相間的足球從樹上彈開，像是後面有半打孩子笑著追趕似的跳過草坪。」
Hopscotch is a game played by children in which a small object—a wood chip, a hat, a coin—is tossed into one of several linked spaces marked out on the ground or pavement, with the child hopping space by space through the maze to eventually retrieve the object. The hopping is on one foot or two, depending on the layout. The game is appealing to children because it is energetic, requires agility, is competitive, and can be enjoyed by one player or many. The game has been around for several hundred years at least and variations of it are played worldwide.
「跳房子」是一種兒童遊戲，把像是木片、帽子或硬幣的小物件拋在地上或人行道上畫出的相連格子上，然後一格一格地跳過格子圖，撿回物品。依照格子的設計，可以單腳或是雙腳跳。這個遊戲很吸引孩童，因為遊戲活潑，需要敏捷的動作，並且極具競爭性，能讓單一或是許多玩家參與。跳房子這個遊戲已經風行了至少有數百年之久，在世界各地也流傳各種不同的玩法。
When the writer writes that the ball “hopscotched” across the lawn, he joined several themes. First, its bouncing movement mirrored the bouncing of children playing hopscotch. Second, the word is almost solely used in a light-hearted way, which is the province of children. Third, the writer was able to tie together the ball and the children by indicating both of them were hopscotching, the ball from physics, the children from merriment. A weaker sentence would have said the ball bounded, or retreated, or something else less universally child-oriented.
提到足球「hopscotched」（跳過）草坪時，作者聯結了幾個主題。首先，足球彈跳的動作反映了孩童跳房子的意象。再者，這個詞也表現出輕鬆愉快的感覺，就如同孩童玩樂時展現出來的快樂喜悅。第三，作者將球和孩子的意象結合，暗示他們都像是在跳房子一樣，只不過球的彈跳是物理現象，而孩子跳房子則是歡樂嬉戲。普通的句子只會說球彈起、球彈回來，或是用一些大致上和孩子無關的詞語來形容。
Imagery buries itself in language and takes on new meaning. The transplanted and transformed word or set of words is called a “figure of speech.” For a figure of speech to be effective, however, a writer must first understand the original meaning of the word or phrase. The following sentence contains a common figure of speech. Its original meaning is explained.
“The black-and-white soccer ball ricocheted off the tree and hopscotched across the lawn like the half-dozen laughing children trailing it.”
「黑白相間的足球從樹上彈開，像是後面有半打孩子笑著追趕似的跳過草坪。」
Hopscotch is a game played by children in which a small object—a wood chip, a hat, a coin—is tossed into one of several linked spaces marked out on the ground or pavement, with the child hopping space by space through the maze to eventually retrieve the object. The hopping is on one foot or two, depending on the layout. The game is appealing to children because it is energetic, requires agility, is competitive, and can be enjoyed by one player or many. The game has been around for several hundred years at least and variations of it are played worldwide.
「跳房子」是一種兒童遊戲，把像是木片、帽子或硬幣的小物件拋在地上或人行道上畫出的相連格子上，然後一格一格地跳過格子圖，撿回物品。依照格子的設計，可以單腳或是雙腳跳。這個遊戲很吸引孩童，因為遊戲活潑，需要敏捷的動作，並且極具競爭性，能讓單一或是許多玩家參與。跳房子這個遊戲已經風行了至少有數百年之久，在世界各地也流傳各種不同的玩法。
When the writer writes that the ball “hopscotched” across the lawn, he joined several themes. First, its bouncing movement mirrored the bouncing of children playing hopscotch. Second, the word is almost solely used in a light-hearted way, which is the province of children. Third, the writer was able to tie together the ball and the children by indicating both of them were hopscotching, the ball from physics, the children from merriment. A weaker sentence would have said the ball bounded, or retreated, or something else less universally child-oriented.
提到足球「hopscotched」（跳過）草坪時，作者聯結了幾個主題。首先，足球彈跳的動作反映了孩童跳房子的意象。再者，這個詞也表現出輕鬆愉快的感覺，就如同孩童玩樂時展現出來的快樂喜悅。第三，作者將球和孩子的意象結合，暗示他們都像是在跳房子一樣，只不過球的彈跳是物理現象，而孩子跳房子則是歡樂嬉戲。普通的句子只會說球彈起、球彈回來，或是用一些大致上和孩子無關的詞語來形容。
