喜樂美語

核心畫面

You can think of it as that thick yellow paste on the side of your plate — a small amount, but sharp and hot enough to sting the back of your nose. Everything else the word means is either where it comes from, what colour it is, or how strong it feels.

盤子邊那一小坨濃稠的黃醬。份量不大，但一入口那股嗆勁會直衝鼻腔——它不是辣椒那種在舌頭上燒的辣，是往鼻子上竄的沖。這…更多收起盤子邊那一小坨濃稠的黃醬。份量不大，但一入口那股嗆勁會直衝鼻腔——它不是辣椒那種在舌頭上燒的辣，是往鼻子上竄的沖。這個字的其他意思都是從這坨黃醬往外長的：往回長，是磨出它的那株植物；往旁邊長，是它那個黃中帶褐的顏色；往抽象裡長，是它那股「夠嗆、夠力」的勁道。

From the word’s history

From Old French moustarde, from moust (must) — the sweet unfermented grape juice that the ground seeds were originally mixed into. So the word names the paste, not the plant: mustard was from the start a prepared condiment.

這個字從古法語 moustarde 來，而 moustarde 的字根是 moust（拉丁文 mustum），指的是還沒發酵的葡萄汁。當年的做法就是把磨碎的芥菜籽調進這種葡萄汁裡，做成醬。所以這個字打從一開始命名的就是「那坨調好的醬」，而不是田裡的植物——這正好解釋了為什麼今天 mustard 最主要的意思是醬料，植物反而像是後來回頭補上的。

Wiktionary『mustard』詞源條（← Old French moustarde ← moust「未發酵葡萄汁」← Latin mustum）

Three branches

那坨黃醬與它的來源

最實在的一族：吃到嘴裡的那個醬，以及磨出這個醬的那株植物。

mustard sauce · noun · C1

A thick yellow sauce that tastes hot and sharp, often put on meat or inside a sandwich.

黃芥末

那個顏色

英文很習慣拿身邊常見的東西直接當顏色名，芥末醬那個黃中帶土的色調就這樣被借去當顏色詞了。

mustard colour · noun · C1

A colour between yellow and brown, the same colour as the hot yellow sauce.

芥末黃

只活在片語裡的用法

從芥末那股「夠嗆、夠味」的強度，轉去講一個人或一樣東西「夠不夠格」。

cut the mustard · noun · C1

If someone or something cuts the mustard, they are good enough to do a job or to reach the level that people want.

夠格

原始詞典資料11 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。

Mustardname

  • 1

    A surname.

mustardnoun/ˈmʌstəɹd/

  • 1

    A plant of certain species of the genus Brassica, or of related genera (especially Sinapis alba, in the family Brassicaceae, with yellow flowers, and linear seed pods).

  • 2

    Powder or paste made from seeds of the mustard plant, and used as a condiment or a spice.

    • When the waitress brought the food, I asked whether she had any Dijon mustard.
    • He loved having mustard and toast for breakfast.
  • 3

    The leaves of the mustard plant, used as a salad.

    • Mustard and cress sandwiches.
  • 4

    Dark yellow colour, the colour of mustard.

  • 5

    One of a family of vesicants containing one or more 2-chloroethyl (C₂H₄Cl) groups, commonly used in chemical warfare and cancer chemotherapy.

  • 6

    The tomalley of a crab, which resembles the condiment.

  • 7

    ball-gamesbaseballgamesEnergy, power (when throwing a baseball).

    • He's left-handed and in his adulthood didn't have a baseball glove to call his own. He borrowed one of mine and just out of the car, still wearing his lab coat having worked an overnight shift, he taught himself to throw right-handed and put plenty of mustard on it.

mustardadj/ˈmʌstəɹd/

  • 1

    Of a dark yellow colour.

    • Everything about her year-old restaurant, from the minimalist menu (about a dozen items) with refreshingly drivel-free descriptions to the decor (unadorned warm mustard walls, unclothed bistro tables), reflects her love of bringing people to the table for good, simple food that's not eclipsed by bells and whistles.
  • 2

    slangVery good, or very skilled.

    • My expectations of public services were nil, so any time within a month was fine by me. They did it in less than a week, which was mustard.

這個拼法也被記錄為下列字的變化形：

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。