喜樂美語

核心畫面

Picture one player walking out with a bat while everyone else waits. From that moment until they are out, the ground belongs to them: this is their turn, and nobody can take it early. That bounded turn is what innings names. Everything else the word does is that same picture, moved off the field — a turn in charge, a turn of luck, a turn at living.

可以想成一個球員拿著球棒走進場，其他人都在旁邊等。從他站上去到他出局為止，這段場子是他的：輪到他了，沒有人能提早把它…更多收起可以想成一個球員拿著球棒走進場，其他人都在旁邊等。從他站上去到他出局為止，這段場子是他的：輪到他了，沒有人能提早把它拿走。innings 講的就是這個「有頭有尾、屬於你的一輪」。這個字其他的用法，都是同一個畫面走出球場——輪到你掌權、輪到你走運、輪到你活這一趟。

From the word’s history

The source gives an old verb inn, meaning to house corn — to bring the harvest in. Your innings is the turn in which you bring yours in.

來源資料說 innings 來自一個老動詞 inn，意思是「把穀物收進屋裡」。可以想成：輪到你的那一段，就是你把自己的收成收回家的時候。

packet etymology_text (Wiktionary, innings etymology 1): From the old verb inn (to house corn).

From the picture

走出球場的一輪：人生與權力

打擊的那一輪有頭有尾，時間到就換人。把這個「一輪」拿來量人的一段時間，就成了下面這兩個用法。這是理解上的連結，不是語源上的推論。

noun · C1

The stretch of time when it is someone's turn — when they are the one in charge, the one in power, or the one having the luck. The source marks this use as British.

（輪到某人的）一段時間；當家、走運的那一陣

Also in this word

noun · B2

In cricket, the turn when one team or one player is batting, and also the runs they make during that turn. It ends in -s but it is one thing: an innings, two innings.

（板球）一局；一局的得分

原始詞典資料5 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。

inningsnoun詞源 1/ˈɪn.ɪŋz/

  • 1

    ball-gamescricketgamesOne side's (from when the first player begins to bat, until the last player is out) or individual player's turn to bat or the runs scored during those durations.

  • 2

    A comparable period of play in croquet or roque.

  • 3

    The time during which any party is in possession of power, or enjoying good luck, etc.; a turn of any kind.

  • 4

    A person's lifespan.

    • Forty-odd. That's a better innings than Mozart's thirty-five. Only a moderate knock perhaps in an era brimming with space age technology, and transplants, and artificial hips etcet, but still higher than Mozart's.
    • My mother-in-law died at 89 years of age, while sad and as you might expect, we used the phrase “she had a good innings”.

這個拼法也被記錄為下列字的變化形：

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。