會陷下去的濕軟地面
這一組就是核心畫面本身，只是分別從「那攤泥」、「那塊地」和「陷進去的動作」三個角度去看同一件事。
noun · C1
Deep, soft, wet mud — the kind that feet, wheels and hooves sink into and get stuck in.
爛泥
核心畫面
Picture ground that looks solid and then gives way. You step on it, you go down, and the ground closes around your foot and holds it. Pulling harder only sinks you further. Every meaning of mire keeps those two parts: something soft that you sink into, and the way it will not let go.
可以想成一塊看起來還好、踩下去卻整個陷下去的地。腳一踏進去，泥就合起來把腳咬住。用力拔，反而陷得更深。mire 的每…更多收起
可以想成一塊看起來還好、踩下去卻整個陷下去的地。腳一踏進去，泥就合起來把腳咬住。用力拔，反而陷得更深。mire 的每一個用法都保留這兩件事：一是你會往下陷，二是它不放你走。所以它既可以是腳下真正的爛泥，也可以是一個怎麼動都脫不了身的處境。From the word’s history
The word came into English from Old Norse mýrr, a wet, boggy place, and it belongs to the same family as moss. So the oldest picture is not a dirty puddle but a whole stretch of soft wet ground — which is exactly the picture the modern uses still lean on.
這個字從古北歐語 mýrr 進到英文，本來指的是濕軟的沼地，跟 moss（苔蘚）屬於同一家族。所以最早的畫面不是一個小泥坑，而是一整片濕軟的地。今天的用法，不管是爛泥還是困境，靠的都還是這個畫面。
Wiktionary entry for mire (etymology 1), supplied in this packet (source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:620679393:21164): 「From Middle English mire, a borrowing from Old Norse mýrr… Related to Proto-Germanic *meusą, whence Old English mēos… (English moss).」
Three branches
越掙扎越陷的處境
把腳下的泥換成處境。困住你的不再是地面，而是債務、爭吵或壞成績，但「動一下就更糟」這件事完全一樣。
noun · C1
If a person, a team or a country is in the mire, they are in a bad situation that keeps pulling them further down and that they cannot seem to escape from.
泥沼般的困境
把名聲拖過泥地
這裡用的是泥的另一個性質：會黏上去。東西拖過爛泥，泥就留在上面洗不掉。
noun · C1
To say bad things about someone in public, so that other people start to think badly of them.
公開抹黑某人