核心畫面

Picture something long that does not have to stay straight: press it and it curves, let go and it is fine. Every use of this word sits somewhere on that one picture — the thing that gives way in your hands, the body that folds, the road that is already curving, the bus with a hinge in its middle.

bendy 的畫面可以想成一樣細長的東西,本來就不必是直的。你一壓它就彎,放手它也沒壞。這個字的每個用法都停在這個畫更多收起bendy 的畫面可以想成一樣細長的東西,本來就不必是直的。你一壓它就彎,放手它也沒壞。這個字的每個用法都停在這個畫面的某一格。手裡一壓就彎的東西是一格。可以折可以轉的身體是一格。本來就一路在轉的路是一格。中間有個接頭、轉得過彎的公車也是一格。

From the word’s history

The word is bend plus the ending -y, which turns an action into a quality — so it means something like given to bending.

字源資料說 bendy 是 bend(彎)加上 -y。-y 的作用是把一個動作變成一種性質。可以想成:把「彎」這個動作黏在東西身上,變成「它就是很容易彎」。sleepy、chewy 都是同一條路做出來的字。

Wiktionary entry supplied in this packet (source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:1184206236), etymology_text: "From bend + -y."

Two branches

一壓就彎,而且不會斷

這一組裡有人(或有力量)在彎它,東西讓步,然後完好如初。

adjective · B1

Easy to bend: you can push or twist it into a curve without breaking it, and it does not fight back much.

可彎曲的、軟的

本來就一直在轉

同樣是彎,但沒有人在彎它——它天生就是彎的,而且一路彎下去。

adjective · B1

Having many curves or turns along it — used about roads, paths, rivers and other long things that do not run straight.

彎彎曲曲的