核心畫面

Picture standing in front of two or more things and being free to pick one — that act and right of picking is the heart of the word.

可以想成:你站在兩樣以上的東西前面,可以自由地挑出一個——「挑選」這個動作和「能挑」這份權利,就是這個字的核心畫面。更多收起可以想成:你站在兩樣以上的東西前面,可以自由地挑出一個——「挑選」這個動作和「能挑」這份權利,就是這個字的核心畫面。從這個「挑」往外長:可以挑的那一整批東西、被你挑中的那一個、出於自願去挑、以及——挑到最後留下來的「精挑細選、上等的」那個(這就是形容詞 choice 的由來)。所以名詞和形容詞其實同一個畫面:都圍著「被挑出來」打轉。

Four branches

挑選的動作與權利

這一族就是核心本身:「能不能挑、有沒有得挑」。從「有挑選的權利」很自然延伸到「出於自願去挑」——既然是你自己挑的,就不是被逼的。

the right to pick · noun · B1

The chance or right to pick between two or more things.

選擇

可挑的範圍

從「挑選的動作」轉到「擺在你面前讓你挑的那一整批」。要能挑,就得先有一排東西排在那兒——這一族講的就是那個可供挑選的範圍、種類有多少。

a range to choose from · noun · B1

All the different things or people put in front of you to pick from.

選擇範圍 / 種類

被挑中的那一個

挑完之後,留在手上的那一個——把鏡頭從「挑」這個動作移到「挑的結果」。再往「心裡最想要的、大家公認最好的」推一步,就成了你會選的那一個、別人偏好用的那一個。

the thing or person chosen · noun · B1

The person or thing that someone has chosen.

選中的人 / 物

精挑細選=上等的(形容詞)

形容詞的 choice 跟名詞同一個畫面:一樣東西若是「被精挑細選出來」的,當然就是裡頭最好的。所以 choice 當形容詞就帶上「上等、精選」的意思;至於 a few choice words,則是把「精挑」反過來用——字字都是刻意挑來、正中要害的話。

top quality (choice goods) · adjective · B1

Choice food or goods are of very good quality, the best you can find.

上等的 / 精選的

原始詞典資料13 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。

Choicename

  • 1

    A surname.

choicenoun詞源 1/tʃɔɪs/

  • 1

    An option; a decision; an opportunity to choose or select something.

    • Do I have a choice of what color to paint it?
    • Libertarian paternalism is the view that, because the way options are presented to citizens affects what they choose, society should present options in a way that “nudges” our intuitive selves to make choices that are more consistent with what our more deliberative selves would have chosen if they were in control.
  • 2

    The power to choose.

    • She didn't leave us much choice.
    • For he is also the political leader of the nation, or has it in his choice to be.
  • 3

    One selection or preference; that which is chosen or decided; the outcome of a decision.

    • The ice cream sundae is a popular choice for dessert.
  • 4

    Anything that can be chosen.

    • You have three choices: vanilla, strawberry or chocolate.
  • 5

    The best or most preferable part.

    • The flower and choice / Of many provinces from bound to bound.
  • 6

    obsoleteCare and judgement in selecting; discrimination, selectiveness.

    • I imagine they [the apothegms of Caesar] were collected with judgment and choice.
    • We see children perpetually running from place to place to hunt out something new; they catch with great eagerness, and with very little choice, at whatever comes before them; their attention is engaged by every thing, because every thing has, in that stage of life, the charm of novelty to recommend it.
  • 7

    obsoleteA sufficient number to choose among.

    • And, which is more, she is not so divine, / So full replete with choice of all delights

choiceadj詞源 2/tʃɔɪs/

  • 1

    Especially good or preferred.

    • It's a choice location, but you will pay more to live there.
    • This it is, that for ever keeps God’s true princes of the Empire from the world’s hustings; and leaves the highest honors that this air can give, to those men who become famous more through their infinite inferiority to the choice hidden handful of the Divine Inert, than through their undoubted superiority over the dead level of the mass.
  • 2

    obsoleteCareful in choosing; discriminating.

    • that such iron moulds as these shall have autority to knaw out the choicest periods of exquisitest books, and to commit such a treacherous fraud against the orphan remainders of worthiest men after death, the more sorrow will belong to that haples race of men, whose misfortune it is to have understanding.
    • Choice word, and measured phrase; above the reach / Of ordinary men; a stately speech;

choiceintj詞源 2/tʃɔɪs/

  • 1

    slangCool; excellent.

    • "I'm going to the movies." —"Choice!"

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。