核心畫面

One way to picture it: blood rushing up into the face without permission — a wave of red spreading across the cheeks the moment you feel exposed. It happens in an instant, and you can't stop it.

一股血突然衝上臉,臉頰在幾秒內泛紅——而且完全不受你控制。那個瞬間通常發生在「被看見」的時候:別人突然轉頭看你、有人更多收起一股血突然衝上臉,臉頰在幾秒內泛紅——而且完全不受你控制。那個瞬間通常發生在「被看見」的時候:別人突然轉頭看你、有人當眾稱讚你、或你講錯了話。blush 之所以特別,就在於它是身體先反應、心裡才跟上,紅是藏不住的,所以它天然帶有「被人看穿」的味道。整個字的用法都是從這個「臉一下子紅起來」的畫面長出來的:先是動作,再變成那片紅本身,最後被借去講「第一眼的印象」。

Three branches

臉紅的動作與那片紅

最貼近核心畫面的一組:血衝上臉這件事,可以當成動作講(她臉紅了),也可以當成臉上那片顏色講(一抹紅暈)。

go red in the face · verb · B2

To become red in the face, usually because you feel embarrassed or shy, or because other people have suddenly noticed you.

臉紅

心裡的難為情

從真的臉紅,延伸成「會讓人臉紅的那種心情」——身體的動作被拿來當內心感受的名字。

feel ashamed to admit or think something · verb · B2

To feel ashamed or embarrassed about something, especially when you admit it or think about it. Used in the pattern blush to admit / blush to say / blush to think something.

難為情;不好意思

只活在固定說法裡

都還看得到「臉紅」的影子,但意思已經黏死在特定片語上,拆開來單獨用就不成立了。

would make somebody blush · verb · C1

Used in the phrase something that would make somebody blush, to say that something is so shocking or so extreme that it would embarrass even a person who is not easily shocked.

誇張到令人臉紅

原始詞典資料16 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。

blushnoun詞源 1/ˈblʌʃ/

  • 1

    An act of blushing; a pink or red glow on the face caused by embarrassment, shame, shyness, love, etc.

    • Why, Warwick, canst thou speak against thy liege, Whom thou obeyed’st thirty and six years, And not bewray thy treason with a blush?
    • […] when he perceived her industriously avoiding any explanation, he was contented to remain in ignorance, the rather as he was not without suspicion that there were some circumstances which must have raised her blushes, had she related the whole truth.
  • 2

    A glow; a flush of colour, especially pink or red.

    • And now the rosy blush of morn began to mantle in the east, and soon the rising sun, emerging from amidst golden and purple clouds, shed his blithesome rays on the tin weathercocks of Communipaw.
    • Each painting consists of a white aluminum disk, sprayed at the edges with a subtle blush of blue, pink or grey.
  • 3

    A feeling or appearance of optimism.

    • 1974, “April's Fading Carnation,” Time, 9 September, 1974,https://web.archive.org/web/20130813201436/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,904100,00.html The independence ceremony could not keep the blush of April's revolution, when carnations had seemed to sprout from every buttonhole, from fading.
    • 2016, David McKay, “AngloGold to fire up dividend in 2017 as net debt cut a third,” miningmx.com, 15 August, 2016, The weakening of local currencies – in Argentina, Australia and Brazil – gave a blush to the financial numbers. (As a whole, all-in sustaining costs (AISC) improved to an average of $911/oz compared with the $924/oz recorded in the first half of 2015).
  • 4

    cosmeticslifestyleA cosmetic, frequently a powder, used to redden the cheeks and lips.

    • The same rules that apply to face powder apply to powder blush, since neither contains water. Cream blush, however, should be replaced after a year. To prolong the life of any blush, clean your blush brush regularly and store the product in a dry place.
  • 5

    A color between pink and cream.

    • Makeup colors like ivory and blush dominate spring collections and have even infiltrated Burberry's shoes.

blushverb詞源 1/ˈblʌʃ/

  • 1

    To become red or pink in the face (and sometimes experience an associated feeling of warmth), especially due to shyness, love, shame, excitement, or embarrassment.

    • The love scene made him blush to the roots of his hair / to the tips of his ears.
    • He wasn't used to this much attention, so he blushed as he saw dozens of pairs of eyes watching him.
  • 2

    To be shy, ashamed, or embarrassed (to do something).

    • While Cato lives, Caesar will blush to see Mankind enslaved, and be ashamed of Empire.
    • He never blushed to rob a slave mother of her children, no matter how young or small.
  • 3

    To become red or pink.

    • The sun of heaven, methought, was loth to set, But stayed, and made the western welkin blush,
  • 4

    To suffuse with a blush; to redden; to pinken; to make rosy.

    • [the ghost] with the heart there cools and ne’er returneth To blush and beautify the cheek again.
  • 5

    To change skin color in the face (to a particular shade).

    • When he saw it, he blushed a beet red.
    • I wasn't surprised, but it was embarrassing enough that I blushed a little pink.
  • 6

    To express or make known by blushing.

    • Looking at me with a knowing glare, she blushed her discomfort with the situation.
    • I’ll blush you thanks.
  • 7

    To have a warm and delicate colour, like some roses and other flowers.

    • The garden was full of blossoms that blushed in myriad shades to form a beautiful carpet of color.
    • Full many a Flower is born to blush unseen, And waste its Sweetness on the desart Air.
  • 8

    obsoleteTo glance with the eye, cast a glance.

另外 1 個記錄的用法
  • 9

    aeronauticsaerospaceaviationOf dope or varnish: to develop an undesirable white precipitate on the surface, due to being applied in humid conditions.

    • Blushing is caused by doping under high relative humidity conditions.
    • Why is retarder used in dope when the dope is being sprayed in humid conditions? The retarder slows the drying of the dope and keeps it from blushing.

blushnoun詞源 2/ˈblʌʃ/

  • 1

    The collective noun for a group of boys.

    • a blush of boys
    • I took the Red Cross senior lifesaving test, the one girl in a blush of boys taking the course.

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 WiktionaryCC BY-SA 4.0)。 原文照列,未經改寫。