刻意拉開的距離
把海上的那道空隙搬到人身上：船離岸，變成人離人、人離事。差別只在拉開距離的是「位置」還是「態度」。
adjective · C1
Not friendly, and keeping yourself apart from other people instead of talking to them or joining in with them.
冷淡疏離的
核心畫面
The oldest picture in aloof is a ship held with its head to the wind so that it stays clear of a dangerous shore. Out of that comes the image the word still carries: standing far enough away to be safely separate, but near enough to be seen. Everything else is that same gap, moved off the water — first between you and other people, then between you and something going on.
aloof 最早的畫面，可以想成一艘船把船頭頂著風，好離危險的岸邊遠一點。來源資料把它追到中古英文 loof（迎風的…更多收起
aloof 最早的畫面，可以想成一艘船把船頭頂著風，好離危險的岸邊遠一點。來源資料把它追到中古英文 loof（迎風的那一側）。從那裡長出這個字到今天還帶著的樣子：離得夠遠，所以是分開的、是安全的；但又還在看得見的範圍裡。後面每一個意思都是同一道空隙。只是從海上搬到人跟人之間，再搬到人跟一件事之間。From the word’s history
From Middle English loof ('weather gage, windward direction'), probably from Middle Dutch loef ('the weather side of a ship'), originally a nautical order to keep the ship's head to the wind and so stay clear of a lee shore; hence the figurative 'at a distance, apart'.
來源資料說 aloof 來自中古英文 loof（迎風的那一側），可能來自中古荷蘭文 loef（船的迎風面）。原本是船上的口令：把船頭頂著風，好離下風的岸邊遠一點。「保持一段距離」的比喻意思就是從這裡來的。
Wiktionary entry for 'aloof' (packet evidence, kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:444960586)
One branch