核心畫面

One way to hold this word: stand in front of a mirror and lift your right hand. The person in the glass lifts a hand too, and everything about them matches you — same height, same shirt, same movement at the same moment. Only one thing has changed: the hand they lifted is on the other side. That is the whole idea, and both meanings of the word live inside it. A mirror image is a perfect match with the sides swapped. Depending on what you are looking at, you may notice the matching part, or you may notice the swap.

這個詞的畫面可以想成你站在鏡子前抬起右手。鏡子裡的人也抬起手,而且處處跟你一樣——一樣高、一樣的衣服、一樣的時間點動更多收起這個詞的畫面可以想成你站在鏡子前抬起右手。鏡子裡的人也抬起手,而且處處跟你一樣——一樣高、一樣的衣服、一樣的時間點動作。只有一件事不同:他抬的那隻手在另外一邊。整個詞就是這件事,兩個意思都住在裡面。鏡像是「處處吻合,但左右互換」。看的東西不同,你注意到的那一半也會不同:有時候看見的是「怎麼那麼像」,有時候看見的是「剛好反過來」。

Two branches

鏡子裡的那個影像

畫面本身,還沒有離開玻璃。

noun · B2

A picture of something in which the right side appears on the left and the left side appears on the right, the way a thing looks when you see it in a mirror.

鏡像

兩件事對得上

把鏡子的玻璃拿掉,只留下「處處吻合、左右互換」這個形狀,套到兩個情況上。

noun · B2

Something that matches another thing point for point — either because it is almost exactly the same as it, or because it is the exact opposite of it, with the two sides swapped over.

翻版;完全相反的對照