核心畫面

A cut running slantwise across cloth, not along its straight threads — a line that leans off the direction things would normally go.

一塊布:布有經有緯,直的橫的都是它「正常」的紋路。可是裁縫師偏偏不順著紋路下刀,而是斜斜地劃過去——這條斜線就是 b更多收起一塊布:布有經有緯,直的橫的都是它「正常」的紋路。可是裁縫師偏偏不順著紋路下刀,而是斜斜地劃過去——這條斜線就是 bias。它不是布本身的方向,是有人讓它偏離了原本該走的線。這個「不走正線、往某一邊斜掉」的畫面,可以拿來理解 bias 後來所有的意思:想法斜掉了、能力往某一邊斜、結果被人推斜。

From the word’s history

From Middle French biais "sideways, askance, against the grain" (c. 1250), in English c. 1520 as "oblique line"; a bowls term c. 1560 for a ball weighted to curve to one side, from which the figurative "prejudice" sense grew c. 1570.

bias 來自中古法語 biais,最早(約 1250 年)當副詞用,意思是「側著、斜著、逆著紋路」;約 1520 年進入英語時就是「斜線」的意思。約 1560 年它成為草地滾球(bowls)的術語——那種球被特意做得一邊重,滾出去會自然彎向一側;正是從這個「球自己會偏」的畫面,約 1570 年長出了「偏見、偏向」的比喻用法。所以從斜裁的布,到會拐彎的球,再到會拐彎的判斷,是同一條線走下來的。

Online Etymology Dictionary (etymonline), entry "bias"

Three branches

斜的線(原本的畫面)

這一支就是 bias 最原始、看得見的用法:布上的斜向。

on the bias · noun · C2

In a diagonal direction, across the usual lines of a cloth or surface, not along them.

斜向/斜裁

判斷斜掉了

布的斜線是看得見的偏離;這裡偏離的是判斷——想法沒有走在中間,而是先往一邊倒。

bias, prejudice · noun · C2

An opinion that a person, group, or idea is good or bad, which then shapes how you treat them or talk about them.

偏見

天生往一邊倒

還是「不走正中間、偏向某一側」,但這裡的偏向是天性,不是誰動的手腳,所以聽起來是中性甚至正面的。

bias, natural inclination · noun · C2

A natural skill or interest that pulls you towards one type of thing rather than others.

傾向/天賦偏向

原始詞典資料15 筆記錄

以下是外部詞典記錄的用法,原文照列,我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的;有些用法可能上面已經講過了。

Biasname詞源 1

  • 1

    historicalOne of the Seven Sages of Greece from Priene, living in the 6th century BCE.

Biasname詞源 2

  • 1

    A surname.

biasnoun/ˈbaɪ.əs/

  • 1

    Inclination towards something.

    • Morality […] give[s] a bias to all their [men's] actions.
    • nature has pointed out a mixed kind of life as most suitable to the human race, and secretly admonished them to allow none of these biasses to draw too much
  • 2

    businessmanufacturingtextilesThe diagonal line between warp and weft in a woven fabric.

  • 3

    businessmanufacturingtextilesA wedge-shaped piece of cloth taken out of a garment (such as the waist of a dress) to diminish its circumference.

  • 4

    businesselectrical-engineeringelectricityA voltage or current applied to an electronic device, such as a transistor electrode, to move its operating point to a desired part of its transfer function.

  • 5

    mathematicssciencesstatisticsThe difference between the expectation of the sample estimator and the true population value, which reduces the representativeness of the estimator by systematically distorting it.

  • 6

    hobbieslifestylesportsIn the games of crown green bowls and lawn bowls: a weight added to one side of a bowl so that as it rolls, it will follow a curved rather than a straight path; the oblique line followed by such a bowl; the lopsided shape or structure of such a bowl. In lawn bowls, the curved course is caused only by the shape of the bowl. The use of weights is prohibited.

    • there is a concealed bias within the spheroid
  • 7

    A person's favourite member of a K-pop band.

    • The last thing you want is for your camera to die when you finally get that selca with your bias.
    • Sweet, sensitive, and impossibly sassy, V is many fans' bias, and an integral member of the group.

biasverb/ˈbaɪ.əs/

  • 1

    To place bias upon; to influence.

    • Our prejudices bias our views.
    • No doubt they overlook the L.M.R.'s allegedly faulty financial estimates for the Euston-Liverpool/Manchester scheme, which have biassed the Treasury, and perhaps the open-minded Dr. Beeching, against electrification without renewed examination of projects.
  • 2

    businesselectrical-engineeringelectricityTo give a bias to.

    • 2002, H. Dijkstra, J. Libby, Overview of silicon detectors, Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A 494, 86–93, p. 87. On the ohmic side n⁺ is implanted to provide the ohmic contact to bias the detector.

biasadj/ˈbaɪ.əs/

  • 1

    Inclined to one side; swelled on one side.

    • Thou, trumpet, there’s my purſe; / Now cracke thy lungs, and ſplit thy braſen pipe: / Blow, villaine, till thy ſphered Bias cheeke / Out-ſwell the collicke of puft Aquilon: / Come, ſtretch thy cheſt, and let thy eyes ſpout bloud: / Thou bloweſt for Hector.
  • 2

    Cut slanting or diagonally, as cloth.

  • 3

    Synonym of biased (“exhibiting bias; prejudiced”).

    • Tom's vitality and energy were perfect for the role and I think Milos made the perfect choice! Am I bias? Certainly ... but for good reason!
    • I wont deny I'm bias to Godzilla, and I guess that got mixed in my post, though I tried not to. But I really did mean to point out that we're getting mixed reviews on the film, and not to give up hope because of what Norman had to say.

biasadv/ˈbaɪ.əs/

  • 1

    In a slanting manner; crosswise; obliquely; diagonally.

    • to cut cloth bias

資料來源:英文維基詞典 English WiktionaryCC BY-SA 4.0)。 原文照列,未經改寫。