核心畫面

At root, 'lady' is just a polite, respectful way to say 'a woman' — softer and more than the plain word. Picture pointing at a woman across the room and choosing the gentler word out of respect. From that one gesture grow all the layers: good manners, social rank and titles, set greetings, and a few joking or even rude twists.

可以想成:lady 骨子裡就是「女人」這個詞的客氣、有禮的說法——比直接說 woman 更柔軟、更尊重。想像你指著房更多收起可以想成:lady 骨子裡就是「女人」這個詞的客氣、有禮的說法——比直接說 woman 更柔軟、更尊重。想像你指著房間另一頭的一位女子,出於禮貌挑了這個比較斯文的字。從這一個有禮的小動作,長出後面所有層次:有教養、社會地位與頭銜、固定的招呼語,還有幾個帶玩笑甚至不客氣的轉折。

原始詞典資料26 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。

Ladynoun/ˈleɪ.di/

  • 1

    An aristocratic title for a woman.

    • Honor guests were Ladies Smith and Walker of Port Huron, Michigan. Lady Walker has been a Maccabee for 40 years.
  • 2

    An aristocratic title for a woman.

    • Would Lady Macbeth care for dessert?
    • How do you do, Lady Windermere?
  • 3

    An aristocratic title for a woman.

    • Sir John Smith and Lady Smith accompanied the ambassador.
    • Lady Russell was most anxiously zealous on the subject, and gave it much serious consideration. […] Herself, the widow of only a knight, she gave the dignity of a baronet all its due;
  • 4

    An aristocratic title for a woman.

    • He would feel that the mere idea of hearing a butler announce ‘Chief-Detective-Inspector and Lady Mary Parker’ would have something shocking about it.
  • 5

    An aristocratic title for a woman.

    • ”[…] Excuse me, mum, wot might your married name be?” ”Lady Peter Wimsey,” said Harriet, feeling not at all sure that it was her name.
  • 6

    WiccalifestylereligionA high priestess.

Ladyname/ˈleɪ.di/

  • 1

    The title for the (primary) female deity in female-centered religions.

    • My Lady, will you not take pity on me?
  • 2

    The title for the (primary) female deity in female-centered religions.

    • ...different stages of life as represented by our Lady as Maiden, Mother, and Crone, as well as our Lord as Master, Father, and Sage.
    • The Lord and the Lady Actually, when I say that Wicca is a Goddess tradition, I'm really only telling half of the story.

ladynoun/ˈleɪ.di/

  • 1

    historicalThe mistress of a household.

  • 2

    A woman of breeding or higher class, a woman of authority.

    • "I would like the dining room to be fully set by tonight; would you do so?" "Yes, my lady."
    • ‘[…] I remember a lady coming to inspect St. Mary's Home where I was brought up and seeing us all in our lovely Elizabethan uniforms we were so proud of, and bursting into tears all over us because “it was wicked to dress us like charity children”.[…]’.
  • 3

    The feminine of lord, a lordess.

    • Of all theſe bounds euen from this Line, to this, / With ſhadowie Forreſts, and with Champains rich’d / With plenteous Riuers, and wide-ſkirted Meades / We make thee Lady.
    • ’T was the proudest hall in the North Countree, And never its gates might opened be, Save to lord or lady of high decree[…]
  • 4

    A title for someone married to a lord or gentleman.

  • 5

    A title that can be used instead of the formal terms of marchioness, countess, viscountess, or baroness.

  • 6

    A woman: an adult female human.

    • Please direct this lady to the soft furnishings department.
    • In Leningrad I met a lady. She was sitting at the hard-currency bar of the Hotel Moscow, sipping gin.
  • 7

    A polite reference or form of address to women.

    • Ladies and gentlemen, it is a pleasure to be here today. Follow me, ladies!
    • The Celebrity, by arts unknown, induced Mrs. Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on a certain afternoon when Mr. Cooke was trying a trotter on the track. The three returned wondering and charmed with Mrs. Cooke; they were sure she had had no hand in the furnishing of that atrocious house.
  • 8

    slangUsed to address a female.

    • Hey, lady, move your car!
    • Hey, ladies, how are you doing?
另外 8 個記錄的用法
  • 9

    informalA wife or girlfriend; a sweetheart.

    • It is my Lady, O it is my Loue, O that ſhe knew ſhe were, She ſpeakes, yet ſhe ſayes nothing, what of that?
    • But nothing could now exceed my confusion upon seeing the gentleman and his lady enter
  • 10

    A woman to whom the particular homage of a knight was paid; a woman to whom one is devoted or bound.

    • The ſoldier here his waſted ſtore ſupplies, And takes new valor from the Ladies’ eyes.
  • 11

    slangA queen (the playing card).

  • 12

    A woman.

    • A lady doctor.
    • The recent disclosures caused one headmistress of a city college to arrange for sex instructions to be given by a lady doctor to various forms.
  • 13

    archaicgastric mill, the triturating apparatus in the stomach of a lobster, consisting of calcareous plates; so called from a fancied resemblance to a seated female figure.

  • 14

    slangA five-pound note. (Rhyming slang, Lady Godiva for fiver.)

  • 15

    slangA woman’s breast.

  • 16

    rareslangboard-gameschessgamesA queen.

ladyverb/ˈleɪ.di/

  • 1

    To address as “lady”.

    • “[…]When I am dead ye’ll mind I said it, my leddy.” “Ah, Elspeth, but do not lady me; say Christine, just wee Christine.[…]”
    • “I thought you would never come, Lady Mary,” and he kissed her again. “Why will you persist in ladying me? Have I not told you—stop, now, will you?” and she pushed his mouth away. “Have I not told you as many times as you have seen me to call me Mary only?”

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