2009年8月20日 星期四

昨天讀報,見 sweat 一字,忽然心癢癢的走去翻字典;一查,sweat 作動詞用,引申語義原來不少!


1. 努力工作,例:He is still sweating over the assignment. (他仍為家課傷腦筋。)


2. 擔心,例:The manager made me sweat during the interview. (面試時,經理讓我忐忑不安。)


3. (/) – 這個有趣!是因為燜食物令溫度上升,從而讓人流汗?


其實每次說到 sweat 字,栗子妹都會想起以下這句:


Don't sweat the small stuff. (別為小事抓狂)


6 則留言:

  1. I don't know where you heard the line "don't sweat the small stuff", but I could've sworn my high school physics teacher first coined that expression 40 years ago.
     
    Here's a good one for you: As a verb, what's the difference between "sweat" and "perspire" ?
    [版主回覆11/22/2009 22:07:00]Teacher: I read the line 'don't sweat the small stuff' from a book (Sorry I can't remember the name of the book!). Maybe it was written by our high school physics teacher?
    And after three months, I still can't think of the answer to your question (aren't they synonyms?)
    So, may I have your answer, please? I really want to know ...

    回覆刪除
  2. 最近我突然想看英文書,唔知係咪轉性

    回覆刪除
  3. 我的英文不好,看來老師也有些責任,要是個個都想栗子妹般,能把英語舉一反三,加點情感,豈不美哉。
    經此一見,"sweat"已在腦海長存。一直覺得,栗子妹有入錯行之嫌,要是能育人韻物,那就好啦,或者去補習社,說不定也是天王級數。當然栗子妹勤勞愛業,也一直是我心中典範。
    總是想把最美好的祝愿送給你,但又怕你滿泄,珍重,老友。
     

    回覆刪除
  4. NO, they NOT synonyms.  I don't care if Oxford, Longman, and Webster all say so.  In the real world, only men sweat, ladies perspire.
    [版主回覆11/22/2009 22:27:00]I did read about this in an article (written by 董橋 or 劉紹銘). I thought it was just sarcasm! And that's usage!
    Thank you so much, Teacher!

    回覆刪除
  5. Well, it may have started as sarcasm, but the real difference is that perspiration implies slower sweating.  So if one does very heavy physical activities, one tends to sweat.  If one is just a bit warm, then one perspires. 

    回覆刪除
  6. I only heard of an old-fashioned saying that“Horses sweat, men perspire, women glow”.
    [版主回覆12/16/2010 06:23:00]這句沒聽過,只讀過劉紹銘先生的一篇文章,說女人不會 sweat 的

    回覆刪除