核心畫面

Think of something that has gone soft because nothing firm is holding it tight any more. Press it and it gives way. Move it and it keeps wobbling for a moment after. Nothing is broken and nothing is missing — the shape is all still there. What has gone is the tension underneath that used to keep it pulled in.

可以想成一樣東西鬆掉了,底下再也沒有東西把它繃緊。用手一壓,它就陷下去。一晃動,它會多晃兩下才停。東西並沒有壞,也沒更多收起可以想成一樣東西鬆掉了,底下再也沒有東西把它繃緊。用手一壓,它就陷下去。一晃動,它會多晃兩下才停。東西並沒有壞,也沒有少一塊,形狀都還在。少掉的是底下那股把它拉緊的力氣。flabby 的每一種用法,都是在指這股力氣不見了。

From the word’s history

Wiktionary records flabby as a variant of flappy, from flap 'to hang loose', alongside dialectal flapsy and Danish flab 'the hanging lip of an animal'. The old picture of something hanging loose and flapping sits directly under the modern meaning.

Wiktionary 記載 flabby 是 flappy 的變體,來自 flap(鬆鬆地垂著、啪答晃動),並列出方言 flapsy 和丹麥文 flab(動物垂下來的嘴唇)。那個「垂著、一晃就動」的老畫面,正好就躺在今天的用法底下。

Wiktionary etymology supplied in evidence packet (kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:642101358:18370)

Three branches

身體:肉鬆垮、沒有肌肉撐著

這是這個字最原始、最看得見的用法:底下少了肌肉,肉就垂著晃。核心畫面在這裡是可以用手摸到的。

adjective · B2

Soft and loose instead of firm. It describes flesh on a person's body that moves or hangs when they move, because there is little strong muscle under it.

鬆垮的

抽象:論點、文字、表演鬆散無力

把同一個畫面移到摸不到的東西上:一篇文章、一個論點、一場表演,本來也需要有東西把它繃緊,繃不起來就垂在那裡。

adjective · C1

Weak, loose and without force. It describes things that should be tight and strong — an argument, a piece of writing, a performance, a plan — but that have no firmness holding them together.

鬆散無力的

品酒:酸度不足、口感鬆掉

酒裡把味道拉緊的是酸度。酸度一少,整杯就軟下來、糊成一團,跟肉鬆掉是同一個道理,只是換成用嘴巴感覺。

adjective · C2

Used about wine that has too little acid in it, so it tastes soft and a little sweet, with no fresh sharp edge and nothing that stands out.

(酒)酸度不足、口感鬆散