喜樂美語

核心畫面

Think of a short, thick, blunt end of something - a sawn-off block of wood, or the wide end of a joint of meat. That lump is the oldest picture in this word, and both of its modern uses sit on top of it. The butcher kept the lump itself. The insult kept what a lump suggests about a person: heavy, slow to see what is going on, the last one in the room to notice that he has been played.

chump 可以想成一塊短短厚厚、切口鈍鈍的東西：一段鋸下來的木頭，或一塊肉比較寬的那一端。這塊笨重的東西，大概就是…更多收起chump 可以想成一塊短短厚厚、切口鈍鈍的東西：一段鋸下來的木頭，或一塊肉比較寬的那一端。這塊笨重的東西，大概就是這個字最早的畫面，而它今天的兩個用法都疊在上面。肉販那邊留下的是東西本身，就是厚的那一塊。罵人那邊留下的是這塊東西給人的感覺：鈍鈍的、反應慢半拍，全場都看懂了，只有他還沒發現自己被耍。

From the word’s history

Origin uncertain. The source suggests a blend of chunk and lump, or possibly stump, or a nasalised variant of chub. Every one of those guesses points at the same thing: a short thick blunt piece.

來源不確定。資料給的猜測是 chunk（一塊）加 lump（一團）混出來，也可能跟 stump（樹樁）或 chub 有關。這些猜測都指向同一個東西：短短的、厚厚的、鈍鈍的一塊。所以「木頭般的人」和「厚切的肉」可以放在同一張圖上看。

packet Wiktionary etymology 1 for chump (source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:801410401:18904); the source itself marks this origin as uncertain

Two branches

一塊粗鈍的厚頭

核心畫面的字面版本：東西本身。

noun · C2

In British English, a chump chop or a chump steak is a thick piece of meat with a bone in it, cut from the thick end of the joint.

（英式）厚切帶骨肉排

像木頭一樣的人

把那塊鈍鈍的東西拿來說人，就得到這個用法；這是一個比喻的連結，不是說歷史上先有罵人的意思。

noun · C1

A foolish person, especially one who is easily tricked or taken advantage of, or who has just done something that makes them look stupid.

笨蛋；傻瓜；冤大頭

原始詞典資料6 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。

chumpnoun詞源 1/t͡ʃʌmp/

  • 1

    derogatoryAn incompetent person, a blockhead; a loser.

    • That chump wouldn't know his ass from a hole in the ground.
    • What chumps! Didn’t they realize that all they had to do was interpret the constitutional term “the Legislature” to mean “the people”?
  • 2

    derogatoryA gullible person; a sucker; someone easily taken advantage of; someone lacking common sense.

    • It shouldn't be hard to put one over on that chump.
    • “Well, that's it. Let's reactivate him. Wake up!” “[Yawns] Hey, chumps and chumpettes. Did you get the bomb out? Can I go back to saying the word I love to say?” “I'm sorry, but we couldn't remove it.” “It's stuck in there with glue or something. I don't know.” “Well, this is just great. What's the point of living if I can't say ass? [Gasps] Hey! I didn't blow up! Ass! Ass! Ass! Ass! Ass! All right! I'm back in the saddle.” “We couldn't disarm the bomb, so we reset the word that triggers it.” “It's from the list of words you almost never say.” “That's using your ass. So what's the word?” “We think it's better if you don't know.” “Oh, come on. I'm not going to say it. Please? Ooh, is it "please"?” “Nope.” “Hmm. Words I never say. Oh. I know. "Thanks."” “Bender, stop trying to destroy the world.” “Wait, wait, wait, wait. Is it "sorry"? No. "Funderful"? Mmm... "Non-alcoholic"?” “Quit it.” “Bender.” “Stop it, mon.” “Enough already.” “"Compassion"? "Shrimp toast"? "Antiquing"?” [Explosion] “I'm all right.”
  • 3

    The thick end, especially of a piece of wood or of a joint of meat.

    • Shaped as if they had been unskilfully cut off the chump-end of something.
  • 4

    obsoleteslangA person's head or face.

chumpverb詞源 1/t͡ʃʌmp/

  • 1

    slangTo treat (someone) as a chump; to defraud or swindle (someone).

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。