人不被牽動:冷漠
天平不傾斜的畫面放在人心上:別人的處境擺在眼前,卻沒有在他心裡造成任何差別,所以他不動。
uninterested, uncaring · adjective · C2
Not interested in someone or something, and often not caring about their feelings or problems.
冷漠
One way to hold it: a scale that does not tip. The word is built from 'in-' (not) + 'different' — literally 'making no difference between things'. Picture someone looking at two options and feeling no pull toward either one. From that flat, position come both modern meanings: a person who is not pulled toward caring, and a thing that is not good enough to pull anyone's attention.
From Latin 'indifferens' = 'not differing, making no difference' (in- 'not' + differens, present participle of differre 'to differ, carry apart'). The sense of 'showing no preference between two things' is the literal reading, and both modern uses stay close to it.
來自拉丁文 indifferens,字面是「不構成差別的」:in-(不)加上 differre(有差異、分開)。所以最原始的意思是「這兩邊對我來說沒有差別」——不偏向、不選邊。從這個字面義往外走一步,就是人心裡毫無偏好、毫無牽動(冷漠);再往東西身上走一步,就是它既不突出也不糟糕,落在誰都不會多看一眼的中間地帶(平庸)。
Etymonline / Oxford English Dictionary entry for 'indifferent' (< Latin indifferens 'not differing, of no consequence')
Two branches
人不被牽動:冷漠
天平不傾斜的畫面放在人心上:別人的處境擺在眼前,卻沒有在他心裡造成任何差別,所以他不動。
uninterested, uncaring · adjective · C2
Not interested in someone or something, and often not caring about their feelings or problems.
冷漠
東西沒有亮點:平庸
同一個不傾斜的天平換到物品或表現上:它既不好到讓人稱讚、也不壞到讓人抱怨,所以停在中間,誰也不會被它拉過去。
mediocre · adjective · C2
Not very good, but not terrible either; only of ordinary quality.
平庸
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。
indifferentadj/ɪnˈdɪf.ɹənt/
Ambivalent; unconcerned; uninterested, apathetic.
Indicating or reflecting a lack of concern or care.
Mediocre (usually used negatively in modern usage).
Having no preference.
datedUnbiased, impartial, judging fairly.
Not making a difference; without significance or importance.
engineeringmechanical-engineeringmechanicsBeing in the state of neutral equilibrium.
obsoleteNot different; matching.
indifferentnoun/ɪnˈdɪf.ɹənt/
A person who is indifferent or apathetic.
indifferentadv/ɪnˈdɪf.ɹənt/
obsoleteTo some extent, in some degree (intermediate between very and not at all); moderately, tolerably, fairly.
obsoleteWithout distinction or preference for some over others.
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。