喜樂美語

核心畫面

One way to picture it: you are on a slope and the ground ahead falls away — from here on, gravity is doing the moving for you, whether that is a relief or a slide you cannot stop.

你站在山坡上，前面的地勢往下掉。從這一刻起，不用再費力往上爬了——地心引力接手，東西自己會往下走。這個畫面本身是中性…更多收起你站在山坡上，前面的地勢往下掉。從這一刻起，不用再費力往上爬了——地心引力接手，東西自己會往下走。這個畫面本身是中性的，但它天然帶著兩種感覺，看你在乎的是「省力」還是「失控」：省力的一面就成了「接下來輕鬆了」，失控的一面就成了「一路走下坡」。英文把這兩種心情都放在同一個字裡。

From the word’s history

Simply down + hill — the meaning is transparent and the metaphors grow straight out of the physical picture.

這個字就是 down（往下）加 hill（山坡）拼起來的，沒有藏著什麼外來字根。正因為它字面透明，後面幾個比喻用法都是直接從「往下坡」這個看得見的畫面延伸出去的，不需要繞路理解。

Wiktionary: downhill (from down- + hill)

Two branches

副詞：往下坡走

當副詞用，講的是「移動的方向」：往低處去。一個是真的在地形上往下，一個是狀況往下。

downhill (direction) · r · C2

Towards the bottom of a hill, or towards land that is lower.

往下坡

形容詞：下坡的路段與心情

當形容詞用時，重點從「往哪走」變成「這段路本身是什麼樣子」：它是傾斜向下的；而人走在向下的路上，感覺就是輕鬆。

downhill (sloping down) · adjective · C2

On a slope that goes down to a lower point.

下坡的

原始詞典資料11 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。

Downhillname

  • 1

    A coastal village and beach (Downhill Strand) in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland.

  • 2

    A hamlet in St Eval parish, Cornwall, England (OS grid ref SW8669).

  • 3

    A northern suburb of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England (OS grid ref NZ3559).

downhilladv/ˌdaʊnˈhɪl/

  • 1

    Down a slope.

    • Because we got to the summit of the mountain, we could only go downhill from there.
    • I worked my way downhill, slip sliding in the mud along a steep embankment that followed a stream until it emptied into a creek.
  • 2

    So as to deteriorate or get worse.

    • After Don made those tasteless remarks, our relationship with him went downhill.

downhilladj/ˈdaʊnˌhɪl/

  • 1

    Located towards or at the bottom of a slope or hill.

    • Moraines are found at the downhill end of a glacier.
  • 2

    Going down a slope or a hill.

    • This year's race is on a downhill course.
    • It was nearly all downhill into Shrewsbury, with two intermediate stops, and a grand sequence of long curves around which Soult nuzzled her way with a quick side-to-side action.
  • 3

    Easy.

    • That's the hard part of the job done. From now on it's downhill all the way.

downhillnoun/ˈdaʊnˌhɪl/

  • 1

    The fastest of the disciplines of alpine skiing.

  • 2

    A rapid descent of a hill in related sports, especially in alpine skiing.

downhillverb

  • 1

    To take part in downhill skiing.

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。