那些傳來傳去的話
核心畫面本身:內容關於別人的私事,而且一路被轉述。
unkind talk about others · noun · B2
Talk or news about other people's private lives that is passed from person to person, and that may be unkind or not true.
閒話;八卦
Two people lean in close and lower their voices, because what they are about to say is about someone who is not in the room. The talk moves on to a third person, then a fourth, and by then nobody is sure any more which part really happened. That travelling, talk about other people's private lives is the picture in gossip — and the word covers the talk itself, the act of doing it, and the person who does it a lot.
Gossip comes from Old English godsibb, literally 'God' + sibb 'relative' (the sibb in sibling) — it first meant a sponsor or godparent, someone tied to your family at a baptism. By around 1300 it had widened to 'a familiar acquaintance, friend, neighbour', especially the women invited to be present at a birth. From the 1560s it named anyone given to familiar or idle talk, and by 1811 the talk itself, 'trifling talk, groundless rumour'. So the word travelled from a close relationship, to the people you are close enough to talk freely with, to what those people say.
gossip 來自古英文 godsibb,字面是 God(神)加 sibb(親人,就是 sibling 裡的那個 sibb),原本指教父教母——受洗時和你家綁在一起的那個人。到了約 1300 年,意思擴大成「熟人、朋友、鄰居」,特別指受邀在產婦生產時陪在旁邊的那些婦女。1560 年代起用來指愛閒聊的人,到 1811 年才連「那些閒話」本身也叫 gossip。這條路很值得記:它從一種親近的關係,走到「親近到可以無話不談的那些人」,最後才落到「那些人講的話」。也就是說,八卦之所以流動得那麼快,是因為它一開始就長在關係裡。
Online Etymology Dictionary (etymonline.com), entry 'gossip (n.)'
Three branches
那些傳來傳去的話
核心畫面本身:內容關於別人的私事,而且一路被轉述。
unkind talk about others · noun · B2
Talk or news about other people's private lives that is passed from person to person, and that may be unkind or not true.
閒話;八卦
正在講的那個動作
同一個字直接當動詞用:不是那些話,而是把那些話講出去的動作。
to talk about others · verb · B2
To talk about other people's private lives, often unkindly or not truthfully.
說八卦;說閒話
很愛講的那個人
從動作回頭指人:常做這件事,久了就被人用這個字稱呼。這也是這個字最古老的落點——它本來就是先指人,才指話。
person who gossips · noun · B2
Someone who likes talking about other people's private lives — used when you do not approve of that.
長舌的人
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。
Gossipname
A surname.
gossipnoun/ˈɡɒsɪp/
Someone who likes to talk about other people's private or personal business.
Idle talk about someone’s private or personal matters, especially about someone not present.
Idle conversation in general.
A genre in contemporary media, usually focused on the personal affairs of celebrities.
computingengineeringmathematicsCommunication done using a gossip protocol.
historicalA sponsor; a godfather or godmother; the godparent of one's child or godchild, or the parent of one's godchild.
obsoleteA familiar acquaintance.
obsoleteTitle used with the name of one's child's godparent or of a friend.
gossipverb/ˈɡɒsɪp/
To talk about someone else's private or personal business, especially in a manner that spreads the information.
To talk idly.
obsoleteTo stand godfather to; to provide godparents for.
obsoleteTo enjoy oneself during festivities, to make merry.
computingengineeringmathematicsTo communicate using a gossip protocol.
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。