核心畫面

You are being made to wait, and something inside you refuses to sit still — the waiting itself has become hard to bear.

時間還沒到,而你體內有個東西坐不住了。等待這件事本身變成一種壓力——手指開始敲桌子、腳開始抖、一直看時鐘。impat更多收起時間還沒到,而你體內有個東西坐不住了。等待這件事本身變成一種壓力——手指開始敲桌子、腳開始抖、一直看時鐘。impatience 講的就是這股「撐不住等」的能量;至於這股能量往外變成脾氣,還是往前變成期待,就分成兩個方向了。

From the word’s history

From Latin impatientia = in- 'not' + patientia 'the ability to endure, to suffer through', from pati 'to suffer, undergo' — so it is literally 'the inability to sit through it'.

來自拉丁文 impatientia:in-(不)+ patientia(忍耐的能力),而 patientia 來自 pati(承受、經歷)。同一個 pati 也生出了 patient(病人/有耐心的)和 passive。所以這個字底層講的是「承受不住」——核心畫面裡那個坐不住的感覺,就是拉丁文原本的意思。

Wiktionary (impatience, Latin impatientia, patientia, pati)

Two branches

等到煩了

坐不住的能量往外撞:擋在你前面的人事物讓你不舒服,情緒帶著刺。

annoyed at waiting · noun · C2

The feeling of being annoyed when you have to wait, or when other people are slow or not as good as you want.

不耐煩

等不及了

同一股坐不住的能量往前拉:不是討厭眼前的人,而是太想要那個還沒到的東西。

eagerness for something · noun · C2

A strong wish for something to happen soon, especially something that is going to happen anyway.

急切

原始詞典資料1 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。

impatiencenoun/ɪmˈpeɪʃəns/

  • 1

    The quality of being impatient; lacking patience; restlessness and intolerance of delays; anxiety and eagerness, especially to begin something.

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