核心畫面

One way to picture it: something is coming toward you and there is no side road, no door, no way to step out of its path. You can see it approaching, you can dislike it, but you cannot make it turn away.

有件事正朝你走過來,而路的兩邊沒有岔口、沒有門、沒有可以閃身的縫隙。你看得見它在靠近,你可能很不想要它,但你沒辦法讓更多收起有件事正朝你走過來,而路的兩邊沒有岔口、沒有門、沒有可以閃身的縫隙。你看得見它在靠近,你可能很不想要它,但你沒辦法讓它轉向。這個字的拉丁語源 vītāre 就是「閃避」,加上表示「不能」的 in-,整個字等於「躲不掉的」——重點不在於這件事好不好,而在於「避開」這個動作已經不存在了。

From the word’s history

From Latin inēvītābilis: in- (not) + ēvītāre (to avoid), from ē- (out) + vītāre (to shun, to dodge). The word literally says 'cannot be dodged' — the modern core is exactly that missing escape route.

來自拉丁文 inēvītābilis:in-(不)+ ēvītābilis(可避開的),而 ēvītāre 由 ē-(出去)+ vītāre(閃躲、避開)組成。字面直譯就是「閃不掉的」。現代用法沒有走遠——今天講 inevitable,講的仍然是那條不存在的退路。

payload origin note (Middle French inevitable ← Latin inēvītābilis ← in- + ēvītāre ← ē- + vītāre)

One branch

躲不掉的事

兩個意思其實是同一個畫面的兩種說法:一個當形容詞描述那件事的性質,一個直接把那件事當成一個東西來指稱。

certain to happen · adjective · C1

Certain to happen, so you cannot stop it or keep away from it.

不可避免

原始詞典資料4 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。

Inevitablename

  • 1

    The fifty-sixth sura (chapter) of the Qur'an.

inevitableadj/ɪˈnɛvɪtəbəl/

  • 1

    Impossible to avoid or prevent.

    • We were going so fast that the collision was inevitable.
    • It was inevitable that such a system should lead to the wide use of nicknames to distinguish identically named members of a family[…]
  • 2

    Predictable or always happening.

    • My outburst met with the inevitable punishment.
    • This horse and rider, with their free, rhythmical gallop, were the only moving things to be seen on the face of the flat country. They seemed, in the last sad light of evening, not to be there accidentally, but as an inevitable detail of the landscape.

inevitablenoun/ɪˈnɛvɪtəbəl/

  • 1

    Something that is predictable, necessary, or cannot be avoided.

    • I pass also the jealousies, the quarrels, the disgusts, that make the catholic questions and corn-bills of married life—and only dwell on one particular: some irresistible hat, some adorable cap, some exquisite robe, has rather elongated your milliner's list of inevitables...
    • In the migratory patterns of the city's art scenes, there are two inevitables: First, that neighbourhoods where art makes its home become instantly more attractive; and second, because of it, art won't be at home for long.

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