核心畫面

A picture to hold: comfort is when you settle in and stop noticing your own body or the room. Discomfort is the opposite — something small keeps tugging at your attention. Not pain that makes you cry out, just a nagging 'I can't quite settle here'.

comfort 是那種你坐下來以後,就不再注意到自己身體、也不再注意到這個空間的狀態——一切剛剛好,所以你可以放鬆。更多收起comfort 是那種你坐下來以後,就不再注意到自己身體、也不再注意到這個空間的狀態——一切剛剛好,所以你可以放鬆。discomfort 就是這個狀態被打斷了:有個東西一直輕輕地拉著你的注意力,讓你安定不下來。它不是那種讓你叫出聲的痛,而是「怪怪的、不太對勁、沒辦法完全放鬆」。這個字的重量在於「輕微但持續」,這也是它跟 pain 最大的差別。

From the word’s history

Built as dis- ('un-, the reverse of') plus comfort. The word is literally 'un-comfort' — whatever comfort is, this is that state taken away, which is exactly how the modern senses behave.

這個字就是 dis-(解除、相反)+ comfort 組成的,字面上是「comfort 被拿掉的狀態」。理解它最快的方法就是永遠先想 comfort:身體上的舒適被拿掉,就是不適;心理上的自在被拿掉,就是難堪。現代的每個用法都還照著這個組合走。

Wiktionary(discomfort ← Middle English discomforten ← Anglo-Norman descomforter;構詞為 dis- + comfort)

Two branches

安定不下來的感覺

這一族就是核心畫面本身,只是分成身體和心理兩個場地:同一種「無法安頓」的感覺,一個發生在肉體上,一個發生在人與人之間。

mild physical unease · noun · C1

A feeling of slight pain, or of not being physically comfortable.

不適

造成不適的那個東西

從核心畫面往外一步:不再指那個「安定不下來的感覺」,而是指製造這種感覺的具體來源。英文裡感覺類的名詞常有這種轉移(像 pleasure 既是快樂也是樂事)。

a cause of discomfort · noun · C1

Something that makes you feel uncomfortable or gives you a slight pain.

苦處

原始詞典資料4 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。

discomfortnoun/dɪsˈkʌmfət/

  • 1

    Mental or bodily distress.

    • […] although overcrowding on the trains running via London Bridge has occasioned considerable discomfort to regular travellers, it was noticed that the alternative route was not extensively patronised, and that the trains were seldom more than half-filled.
    • The Western operating authorities are wisely concentrating their main line diesel power at individual sheds, beginning with Laira, so that engine-crews do not have the rather demoralising experience of switching about constantly between the comfort and ease of diesel handling and the relative discomfort and hard work of the steam footplate, as on other Regions.
  • 2

    Something that disturbs one’s comfort; an annoyance.

    • Even without hovering drones, a lurking assassin, a thumping score and a denouement, the real-life story of Edward Snowden, a rogue spy on the run, could be straight out of the cinema. But, as with Hollywood, the subplots and exotic locations may distract from the real message: America’s discomfort and its foes’ glee.
    • This happened in the past several years, and it worsened conditions in sectors such as foreign debt, electricity output, rubbish collection, water delivery, and other essential services, to the discomfort of the majority of Lebanese who have spoken out intermittently against the oligarchy of sectarian leaders who rule the country.

discomfortverb/dɪsˈkʌmfət/

  • 1

    To cause annoyance or distress to.

  • 2

    obsoleteTo discourage; to deject.

    • His funeral shall not be in our camp, Lest it discomfort us.

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