看起來被留下的人和地方
這一組直接用核心畫面：被丟下的樣子。差別只在被丟下的是一個人，還是一個地方。兩種都是旁人看到的外觀，所以句子裡常出現 look、feel、seem。
adjective · C1
Looking or sounding lonely and unhappy, in a way that makes other people feel sorry for you.
孤單落寞的
核心畫面
One way to hold this word: the look of something that has been left behind and is not expecting anyone to come back for it. Not simply alone — waiting, and no longer counting on the waiting to work. A person under a light after the last bus, a lane the night market moved out of, a letter posted with no real expectation of a reply: the same shape each time, and it is a shape you see from the outside, which is why the word makes a reader feel something rather than just inform them.
可以想成「被留下來、而且不太指望有人會回來」的那個樣子。不只是一個人在那裡，而是還在等，卻已經不太抱希望了。末班車走…更多收起
可以想成「被留下來、而且不太指望有人會回來」的那個樣子。不只是一個人在那裡，而是還在等，卻已經不太抱希望了。末班車走了以後還站在燈下的人、夜市搬走後的舊巷子、一封寄出去但其實不期待回音的信——每一個都是同一個形狀。而且這個形狀是從外面看到的，所以讀的人會被觸動，而不只是收到一個訊息。From the word’s history
Middle English forlorn, forloren, from Old English forloren, the past participle of forleosan, to lose. The word began as the plain 'lost, left behind', which is still the shape underneath all three modern uses.
Wiktionary 記的是中古英文 forlorn／forloren，來自古英文 forloren——動詞 forlēosan（失去）的過去分詞。這個字一開始就是「被丟下的、失去了的」。今天三個用法底下，仍然可以看到這個形狀。
Wiktionary, via packet evidence source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:136134564 — 「From Middle English forlorn, forloren, from Old English forloren (past participle of forlēosan (to lose))… equivalent to for- + lorn.」
Two branches
一開口就已經算輸的希望
這裡被丟下的不是人也不是地方，而是「希望」本身：事情還在做，可是那份期待在說話的當下就已經被當成落空的了。
adjective · C1
Used before a noun: a forlorn hope, attempt, or struggle has almost no chance of succeeding, although someone is still trying.
渺茫的