核心畫面

Mud stirred into clear water. Everything is still there, but nothing separates any more — you cannot see the bottom, and the colour has gone brown and dull.

一杯清水裡攪進了泥巴。東西一樣都沒少,可是界線全沒了——看不到底,顏色也濁成一片灰褐。muddy 最有力的地方在於它更多收起一杯清水裡攪進了泥巴。東西一樣都沒少,可是界線全沒了——看不到底,顏色也濁成一片灰褐。muddy 最有力的地方在於它不是「髒」也不是「少」,而是「混在一起、分不開」:泥巴沒有拿走水裡的任何東西,它只是讓你再也看不清楚。這一個畫面幾乎撐起了它所有的用法,不管講的是地面、想法、顏色還是聲音。

Three branches

真的有泥巴

字面的一族:泥巴實際存在,看得見也摸得到。

covered with mud · adjective · A2

Covered with mud, or with mud mixed into it. Muddy ground is wet and soft, and muddy water looks brown so you cannot see through it.

泥濘的;混濁的

分不清楚

把「濁水看不見底」整個搬到看不見的東西上。水濁了是因為泥沙懸在裡面互相遮蔽;想法、顏色、聲音之所以 muddy,也是同一個道理——成分太多又沒有分層,於是誰也顯不出來。這一族的三個意思其實是同一個畫面用在三種感官上。

unclear, confused (thinking) · adjective · B2

Not clear and hard to understand, because too many ideas or facts are mixed together. Used about thinking, explanations, rules, and differences between things.

含糊不清的;混亂的

動手把它弄濁

從狀態轉成動作。形容詞說的是結果,動詞說的是造成結果的那個動作,畫面完全一樣,只是多了一個施力的人。

get mud on something · verb · B1

To make something dirty by getting mud on it.

把…弄髒(沾上泥巴)

原始詞典資料28 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。

muddyadj詞源 1/ˈmʌdi/

  • 1

    Covered or splashed with, or full of, mud (“wet soil”).

    • He slogged across the muddy field.
    • Take off your muddy boots before you come inside.
  • 2

    Of water or some other liquid: containing mud or (by extension) other sediment in suspension; cloudy, turbid.

    • The previously limpid water was now muddy as a result of the struggle between the alligator and the wild boar.
    • [A]s for his vvater [i.e., the horse's urine], the more pure, it is the better, and the more muddy, thicke, and pleaſant,^([sic – meaning unpleasant?]) ſo much the more vnhealthfull.
  • 3

    Of or relating to mud; also, having the characteristics of mud, especially in colour or taste.

    • [H]er garments, heauy vvith her drinke, / Pul'd the poore vvretch from her melodious buy^([sic – meaning lay]), / To muddy death.
  • 4

    Soiled with feces.

  • 5

    archaicOf an animal or plant: growing or living in mud.

    • There is a point of strand / Near Vada's tower and town; and on one side / The treacherous marsh divides it from the land, / Shadowed by pine and ilex forests wide, / And on the other creeps eternally, / Through muddy weeds, the shallow, sullen sea.
  • 6

    Dirty, filthy.

    • There's not the ſmalleſt orbe [in the sky] vvhich thou beholdſt, / But in his motion like an Angell ſings, / Still quiring to the young eide Cherubins; / Such harmony is in immortall ſoules, / But vvhilſt this muddy veſture of decay [i.e., the human body] / Doth groſſely cloſe in it, vve cannot heare it.
    • Thou sweet Arabian Panchaia, / Perfume this nastie age, smugge Lesbia / Hath stinking lunges, although a simpring grace, / A muddy inside, though a sulphul'd face.
  • 7

    Not clear.

    • To vvhat, my loue, ſhall I compare thine eyne? / Chriſtall is muddy.
    • Faces never lie, it is said. […] When a man speaks the truth in the spirit of truth, his eye is as clear as the heavens. When he has base ends, and speaks falsely, the eye is muddy and sometimes asquint.
  • 8

    Not clear.

    • Muddy colors are often the result of mixing complementary colors—those opposite each other on the color wheel.
另外 8 個記錄的用法
  • 9

    Not clear.

  • 10

    Not clear.

  • 11

    Not clear.

    • The television picture is decent, but the sound is muddy.
  • 12

    Not clear.

    • Do'ſt thinke I am ſo muddy, ſo vnſettled, / To appoint my ſelfe in this vexation?
    • Againe they vvere not out of the Hebrevv fountaine (vvee ſpeake of the Latine Tranſlations of the Old Teſtament) but out of the Greeke ſtreame, therefore the Greeke being not altogether cleare, the Latine deriued from it muſt needs be muddie.
  • 13

    literaryNot clear.

    • Our ovvn muddy atmoſphere, that vvraps us round in obſcurity, though it fails to gild our proſpects vvith ſun-ſhine, or our groves vvith fruitage, nevertheleſs anſvvers the calls of industry.
  • 14

    Originally, morally or religiously wrong; corrupt, sinful; now, morally or legally dubious; shady, sketchy.

    • [B]y the vvill of God the Heavenly Principle (though it be in it ſelf inviſible and undiſcernible) in due time becomes a Spirit of ſavoury and affectionate diſcernment betvvixt the evil and the good; betvvixt the pure vvaters that flovv from the holy Spirit, and the muddy and tumultuous ſuggeſtions of the Fleſh.
    • Business is business; and your business, let me remind you, is too muddy for such airs.
  • 15

    archaicOf a person or their facial expression: angry, sad, or sulky.

  • 16

    obsoleteSlightly drunk; tipsy.

    • [N]ot that he gets drunk, for he is a very pious man, but he is always muddy.

muddyverb詞源 1/ˈmʌdi/

  • 1

    To cover or splash (someone or something) with mud.

    • If you muddy your shoes don’t wear them inside.
    • [T]hey splashed George. He was quiet: they feared they had offended him. Then all the forces of youth burst out. He smiled, flung himself at them, splashed them, ducked them, kicked them, muddied them, and drove them out of the pool.
  • 2

    To make (water or some other liquid) cloudy or turbid by stirring up mud or other sediment.

    • This is at the bottom a dictate of common ſenſe, or the inſtinct of ſelf-defence, peculiar to ignorant weakneſs; reſembling that inſtinct, which makes a fiſh muddy the water it ſwims in to allude its enemy, inſtead of boldly facing it in the clear ſtream.
    • His life had hitherto been so quiet, so free from strife; […] It was so hard that the pleasant waters of his little stream should be disturbed and muddied by rough hands; […]
  • 3

    To confuse (a person or their thinking); to muddle.

    • The discussion only muddied their understanding of the subject.
    • VVhen ſorrovves comes,^([sic – meaning come]) they come not ſingle ſpies, / But in Battalia[n]es. Firſt, her Father ſlaine, / Next your Sonne gone, and he moſt violent Author / Of his ovvne iuſt remoue: the people muddied, / Thicke and vnvvholſome in their thoughts, […]
  • 4

    To damage (a person or their reputation); to sully, to tarnish.

  • 5

    To make (a colour) dirty, dull, or muted.

    • The addition of the second batch of paint muddied the bright colours to a dull and washed look.
  • 6

    To make (a matter, etc.) more complicated or unclear; to make a mess of (something).

    • As the humans establish tentative bonds with their evolutionary cousins, the inter-species waters start to muddy.
    • It may have been effective at conveying the confusion of the situation, but it didn't make for terribly thrilling scenes. The blurry camerawork (quite literally at times) and rapid-fire editing meant that exchanges of blows that should have been viscerally thrilling were often muddied, good for capturing the mood but not much fun to watch.
  • 7

    To make (something) impure; to contaminate.

  • 8

    obsoleteTo cause or permit (someone or something) to become stuck in mud; to mire.

    • […] I am novv ſir muddied in fortunes mood, and ſmell ſomevvhat ſtrong of her ſtrong diſpleaſure.
另外 3 個記錄的用法
  • 9

    Sometimes followed by up: to become covered or splashed with mud; to become dirty or soiled.

  • 10

    Of water or some other liquid: to become cloudy or turbid.

    • Malt before hops, the world over, or the beer muddies.
  • 11

    To become contaminated or impure.

muddynoun詞源 2/ˈmʌdi/

  • 1

    informalThe edible mud crab or mangrove crab (Scylla serrata).

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