核心畫面

A picture you can hold: something that comes from a child — a small high voice, a wobbly line of handwriting, a laugh with nothing held back. The word simply points at whatever a child would typically have. Whether that pointing is neutral or depends entirely on who is carrying the trait: on a seven-year-old it is just description; aimed at an adult, the same picture turns into a complaint.

一樣東西身上明顯帶著「這是小孩的」痕跡——細細高高的嗓音、歪歪扭扭的字跡、毫無保留的笑聲。childish 本身只是更多收起一樣東西身上明顯帶著「這是小孩的」痕跡——細細高高的嗓音、歪歪扭扭的字跡、毫無保留的笑聲。childish 本身只是指著這些小孩子典型會有的特質。至於這個指認是中性描述還是帶刺,完全看它落在誰身上:說一個七歲小孩的聲音 childish,只是在描述事實;同一個畫面套到成年人身上,就變成了抱怨。

Two branches

小孩身上本來就有的

這一支就是核心畫面本身:單純指出某個特徵屬於小孩。

childlike · adjective · B2

Belonging to a child, or of the kind that children usually have — used about things like a voice, a laugh, a feeling, or handwriting. It usually comes before a noun.

孩子般的;小孩特有的

大人卻還是那個樣子

同一個「小孩的樣子」,只是落錯了地方——套在成年人身上,描述就變成了批評。

immature, silly · adjective · B1

Behaving in a silly, unreasonable way that makes you seem much younger than you really are. You use this word to show that you think the person should act more grown-up.

幼稚的

原始詞典資料2 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。

childishadj/ˈt͡ʃaɪldɪʃ/

  • 1

    Immature in thought or behaviour.

    • Your childish temper tantrums are not going to change my decision on this matter.
    • Other instances of primitive thought are the childish belief that science in the future will be able 'objectively' to predict the date of social revolutions in the light of technological development, or the 'scientific law' that people write books, or baseless fantasies on the origin of religion, etc.
  • 2

    Suitable for or expected of a child.

    • This game is very childish.
    • She remembered, too, when, after a long childish illness, her father had carried her in his arms to the garden, […]

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