喜樂美語

核心畫面

Early morning by a river: a thin white cloud is sitting on the ground, and you can only see a short way. The trees fifty metres off are still there, but they have lost their edges — soft grey shapes instead of branches. Nothing is hidden exactly; everything has just gone soft and pale. That is misty: a layer of fine water in the air between you and whatever you are looking at.

清晨的河邊，一層薄薄的白雲貼在地面上，你只看得到前面一小段路。五十公尺外的樹還在那裡，可是輪廓沒了——不再是一根根樹…更多收起清晨的河邊，一層薄薄的白雲貼在地面上，你只看得到前面一小段路。五十公尺外的樹還在那裡，可是輪廓沒了——不再是一根根樹枝，而是一團團柔柔的灰影。東西並沒有被藏起來，只是全都變軟、變淡了。 所以這個字的重點不在「白色的霧」本身，而在你和你要看的東西之間多了一層水氣，因此看出去的一切都失去了清楚的邊。抓住這一點，後面眼淚的用法和記憶的用法就都順了：不管那層水氣是在空氣裡、在眼睛裡、還是在時間裡，效果都一樣——看得見，但看不清楚。

Three branches

空氣裡真的有霧

這一族就是核心畫面本身，講的是實際的天氣。

full of mist · adjective · B1

Misty weather has a lot of mist in it — thin, low cloud close to the ground that makes it hard to see far. Also used about a morning, a place, or air that is full of mist.

有霧的；霧濛濛的

水氣移到眼睛裡

從核心的「空氣裡的水氣」平移到「眼睛裡的水氣」。原理一模一樣：中間隔了一層水，所以看出去的東西就糊了。差別只在那層水在身體外面還是裡面。

eyes filling with tears · adjective · C1

If your eyes are misty, they are wet with tears that have not fallen, because you feel moved — especially when you are remembering a time in the past.

淚眼朦朧的；眼眶泛淚的

什麼都沒有，只是看不清楚

這是核心畫面最抽象的一步：不再管有沒有真的水，只借用「隔著霧看東西」的那個視覺效果，拿來形容畫面、光線，甚至記憶。

soft and unclear · adjective · B2

Not clear or bright. Used about something you see, about light, or about a memory, when the shapes and colours are soft and pale, as if you were looking through mist.

模糊的；朦朧的

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。

Mistyname

  • 1

    A female given name from English, reasonably popular in the 1970s and the 1980s.

  • 2

    A diminutive of the female given name Melissa.

mistyadj/ˈmɪsti/

  • 1

    Covered in mist; foggy.

    • It's very misty this morning; I can't see a thing!
  • 2

    Dim; vague; obscure.

    • a misty memory of his childhood
    • My remembrances of the place and its people are misty — all about it seem more like something I once saw in a dream, but whose characters time has effaced.
  • 3

    With tears in the eyes; dewy-eyed.

    • Her eyes grew misty the night her long-time friend passed away.

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。