喜樂美語

核心畫面

A picture you can hold: something whole that has been broken apart from the inside and can no longer do what it was made to do — bread gone , a file that will not open. The outside may look the same; the inside no longer holds together.

一樣本來完整、可用的東西，從裡面被弄破、壞掉了，外表可能還看得出原樣，但已經不能照原本的功能運作——像放到發霉的麵包…更多收起一樣本來完整、可用的東西，從裡面被弄破、壞掉了，外表可能還看得出原樣，但已經不能照原本的功能運作——像放到發霉的麵包，或一個點兩下再也打不開的檔案。這個「從內部壞掉」的畫面同時涵蓋物件和人：檔案壞了打不開，人「壞掉」了就不再照原本該有的方式做事。

From the word’s history

Latin corrumpō = com- ("together, thoroughly") + rumpō ("to break in pieces"): literally "to break something up completely". The modern core is still that break — whether what breaks is a file, a system, or a person's honesty.

拉丁文 corrumpō 由 com-（徹底地、完全地）加上 rumpō（打破、碎裂）組成，字面就是「把某樣東西徹底打碎」。今天所有意思都還踩在這個「碎掉」的畫面上：碎掉的可以是一個檔案、一套制度，也可以是一個人的誠實。rumpō 這個字根在英文裡還留在 rupture（破裂）、interrupt（打斷）、erupt（爆發）裡，都是「破開」。

Wiktionary, "corrupt" (Middle English corrupten < Latin corruptus, past participle of corrumpō < com- + rumpō)

Three branches

壞掉的東西：資料與純度

這一族最貼近字根的原始畫面：東西本身被破壞了，不再完整、不再純。這裡沒有道德問題，只有「壞了」。

corrupted, damaged file · adjective · C1

Not pure any more, or damaged and partly ruined, especially computer files that will not open or work.

毀損的

壞掉的人：拿好處出賣職務

把「從內部壞掉」搬到人身上：一個職位本來是為公眾服務而設的，壞掉之後，它變成替自己撈好處的工具——功能被破壞了，外殼還在。

dishonest, taking bribes · adjective · C1

Using an official position in a dishonest or illegal way to get money or something you want for yourself.

貪腐的

讓別人或東西變壞

從「壞掉的狀態」轉成「造成壞掉的力量」：主詞是那個把好東西弄壞的來源，受詞是原本還完好的人或傳統。

lead into wrongdoing · verb · C1

To lead someone into dishonest or wrong acts they would not usually choose.

帶壞

原始詞典資料9 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。

corruptadj/kəˈɹʌpt/

  • 1

    Willing to act dishonestly for personal gain; accepting bribes.

  • 2

    In a depraved state; debased; perverted; morally degenerate; weak in morals.

    • The government here is corrupt, so we'll emigrate to escape them.
    • The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
  • 3

    Abounding in errors; not genuine or correct; in an invalid state.

    • The text of the manuscript is corrupt.
    • It turned out that the program was corrupt - that's why it wouldn't open.
  • 4

    In a putrid state; spoiled; tainted; vitiated; unsound.

    • with such corrupt and pestilent bread to feed them.

corruptverb/kəˈɹʌpt/

  • 1

    To make corrupt; to change from good to bad; to draw away from the right path; to deprave; to pervert.

    • Don't you dare corrupt my son with those disgusting pictures!
    • And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
  • 2

    archaicTo become putrid, tainted, or otherwise impure; to putrefy; to rot.

    • he entrails, which are the parts aptest to corrupt
    • […] Lanfrank takes Notice of Tract. 3. Doct. 3. cap. 18. ſaying, "I have ſeen many who being full of Humours, have made an Iſſue under the Knee, before due Purgation had been premis'd; whence, by reaſon of the too great Defluxion of Humours, the Legs tumified, ſo that the cauterized Place corrupted, and a Cancer (or rather cacoethic Ulcer) was thereby made, with which great Difficulty was cur'd."
  • 3

    To introduce errors; to place into an invalid state.

    • Unplugging a flash drive without dismounting it first can corrupt the data stored on the drive.
  • 4

    To debase or make impure by alterations or additions; to falsify.

    • to corrupt language, or a holy text
    • to corrupt a book
  • 5

    To waste, spoil, or consume; to make worthless.

    • Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt.

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。