說出來的祝福
這一家最靠近字源，也最接近核心畫面本身：有人代表更大的力量開口，替你求好。
noun · B2
Help and protection from God, or the words that a priest or another person says in order to ask for it.
祝福；祝禱
核心畫面
Picture someone with standing raising a hand over you and speaking good words: a priest at the end of a service, a parent at a doorway. Three things sit inside that one picture, and English uses all three. There is the speaking itself — the words said over a person, a house, a meal. There is the yes it carries — someone whose opinion counts has looked at your plan and spoken well of it. And there is the good that lands — the help, the luck, the thing that actually turns up in your life. One way to see the word: the further it travels from the church, the less it is about who is speaking and the more it is about what arrived.
可以想成這個畫面：一個有分量的人把手抬起來，對著你說好話。可能是禮拜結束時的神父，也可能是門口送你出門的長輩。這一個…更多收起
可以想成這個畫面：一個有分量的人把手抬起來，對著你說好話。可能是禮拜結束時的神父，也可能是門口送你出門的長輩。這一個畫面裡其實有三塊，而英文三塊都在用。第一塊是「說」——為人、為房子、為一頓飯說出來的那段話。第二塊是「准」——有分量的人看過你的打算，開口說好，事情就名正言順。第三塊是「到手的好」——真正落到生活裡的幫助和運氣。一種想法是：這個字離教堂越遠，重點就越不在誰開口，而在你手上多了什麼。From the word’s history
Wiktionary traces blessing to Middle English blessinge and Old English blētsung, formed from the verb bless plus -ing. The oldest thing in the word is therefore the act itself: the speaking of good over someone. The everyday a real blessing sits at the far end of that line — the result rather than the act.
Wiktionary 記錄 blessing 來自中古英語 blessinge，再往前是古英語 blētsung，構成方式是 bless 加 -ing。所以這個字最老的一塊是動作本身：為某人說出好的話。今天最常用的「好事一件」站在這條線的另一端，講的是結果，不是動作。這是概念上的一條線索，不是說每個用法都是歷史上一路長出來的。
Wiktionary entry for 'blessing' supplied in this packet (source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:324420152): 'From Middle English blessinge, blessynge, from Old English blētsung, blēdsung (a blessing), equivalent to bless + -ing.'
Three branches
有分量的人點頭
一樣是有分量的人開口說好，只是說話的對象從神換成了你的計畫。祝福的動作留著，宗教的部分退掉。
noun · B2
Someone's agreement or encouragement for a plan, a marriage, an idea, and so on, given by a person or group whose opinion carries weight, such as a parent, a boss, or an official body.
同意；認可
落到生活裡的好事
重點從「誰開口」整個移到「你得到什麼」。祝福最後總要變成手上真的有的東西，這個字就跟著搬過去了，而且今天最常出現在這一家。
noun · B1
Something you have, or something that happens, that makes your life better, helps you in some way, or makes you glad.
好事；幸運的事
原始詞典資料11 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。
Blessingname
- 1
A surname.
- 2
A unisex given name of mainly African usage.
blessingnoun/ˈblɛs.ɪŋ/
- 1
Some kind of divine or supernatural aid, or reward.
- Henceforth, wherever thou may’st roam, My blessing, like a line of light, Is on the waters day and night, And like a beacon guards thee home.
- 2
A pronouncement invoking divine aid.
- Then everybody once more knelt, and soon the blessing was pronounced. The choir and the clergy trooped out slowly, […], down the nave to the western door. […] At a seemingly immense distance the surpliced group stopped to say the last prayer.
- 3
Good fortune.
- He was given blessings hoping he would pass his final exam.
- 4
lifestylepaganismreligionA modern pagan ceremony.
- 5
The act of declaring or bestowing favor; approval.
- We will not proceed without the executive director's blessing.
- Jocasta had my blessing when she seduced you, you stuck-up piffler.
- 6
Something someone is glad of.
- After two weeks of sun, last night's rainfall was a blessing.
- 7
A prayer before a meal; grace.
- 8
A group of unicorns.
- And since we’re laying out our wishes, we’d also like a blessing of unicorns and one million dollars.
- Then a blessing of unicorns charged into the studio, and I was carried away to be re-educated.
這個拼法也被記錄為下列字的變化形：
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。