磨到身體的東西
核心畫面最直接的一半：真的碰到身體，那個地方就紅、就痛。名詞講那個東西，形容詞講那個性質。
noun · B2
A substance that makes a part of your body red, sore or painful when it touches it — your skin, your eyes, your nose or your throat.
刺激物
核心畫面
One way to hold this word: something is rubbing the same spot, again and again, and it never stops long enough for the spot to settle. Each single touch is nothing. The is what does the damage. Hold that picture and both halves of the word follow — a chemical rubbing at your skin until it turns red, and a dripping tap rubbing at your week until you cannot hear anything else. Notice the size limit built into the picture: rubbing makes a place sore, it does not knock anything down.
可以想成：有東西一直在磨同一個點，磨了又磨，中間從來沒停夠久讓那個點安定下來。單獨碰一下其實沒什麼。真正造成影響的是…更多收起
可以想成：有東西一直在磨同一個點，磨了又磨，中間從來沒停夠久讓那個點安定下來。單獨碰一下其實沒什麼。真正造成影響的是「一直來」。抓住這個畫面，這個字的兩半就都通了——化學品磨著皮膚，磨到發紅；水龍頭一直滴，磨著你的一整個星期，到最後你只聽得到那個聲音。這個畫面裡還藏著分量：磨會讓一個地方發痛，但不會把東西推倒。From the word’s history
The packet's source gives the word as French irritant, equal to irritate plus -ant: the thing that does the irritating.
packet 的詞源說這個字來自法文，等於 irritate 加上 -ant。-ant 可以想成「會做那件事的東西」。所以它一開始指的就是「會 irritate 的那個東西」，後來這個「東西」從物質擴到了事情。
packet Wiktionary etymology_text (kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:1141922063:5826)
Two branches
磨到日子的事
把「一直磨」從皮膚移到生活上。條件沒變：要重複，而且要小。單次的倒楣事不算，真正的大麻煩也不算。
noun · C1
Something that keeps annoying you or getting in your way over a long period, without ever being serious enough to count as a real problem.
惱人的小事