核心畫面

A passage that should be open, with something sitting in it. Air, water, papers, people — whatever was meant to flow through now cannot. The word does not name what is stuck; it names the fact that something is in the way.

obstructive 可以想成一條本來應該通的通道,中間卡著東西。空氣、水、文件、人,本來要通過的現在過不去。這個更多收起obstructive 可以想成一條本來應該通的通道,中間卡著東西。空氣、水、文件、人,本來要通過的現在過不去。這個字不是在講卡住的是什麼,而是在講「有東西擋在那裡」這件事。

From the word’s history

From obstruct plus the adjective ending -ive, which came into English from Latin -ivus by way of Old French. The adjective simply means causing that blocking.

Wiktionary 記錄 obstructive 由 obstruct 加上字尾 -ive 組成,而 -ive 是從拉丁文 -īvus 經古法文進入英文的。-ive 的作用是「帶有這種性質的」。所以整個字的意思很直接:會造成堵塞的。兩個用法都沒有離開這個畫面,只是堵住的地方不一樣。

Wiktionary, packet source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:818330161:8959 — etymology_text: From obstruct + -ive (English -ive from Middle English -yf, Old French -if, Latin -ivus).

Two branches

通道被塞住

核心畫面最字面的一層:被擋住的是身體裡真正的管子。

adjective · C1

Used in medicine to describe an illness or a symptom caused by a tube or passage inside the body being blocked, so that air, blood, or food cannot pass through as it should.

阻塞性的(醫學用語)

人站在路中間

同一個畫面,但卡在通道裡的東西換成了人,而且他是自己站在那裡的。

adjective · B2

Deliberately getting in the way of what someone is trying to do, by making it slow or difficult for them instead of helping.

故意刁難的;處處阻撓的