喜樂美語

核心畫面

Picture a straight row of things where one piece sticks out past the others — you see it before you see anything else. Outstanding can be thought of as that sticking-out, used in two directions. Something can stick out because it is far better than the rest, or it can stick out because it has not been pulled in yet: a bill still poking out of the pile of settled ones, waiting to be paid.

可以想成一排東西擺得整整齊齊，只有一塊凸出來，你第一眼就會看到它。outstanding 就像是那個「凸出來」的樣子…更多收起可以想成一排東西擺得整整齊齊，只有一塊凸出來，你第一眼就會看到它。outstanding 就像是那個「凸出來」的樣子，而它可以往兩邊用：一樣東西可能因為好太多而凸出來，也可能因為還沒被收進去而凸出來——像一張帳單還卡在已結清的那一疊外面，等著人來付。

From the word’s history

Outstanding is out- 'outward, forth' plus standing, and in the 1610s it meant literally 'projecting, prominent, detached' — sticking out from the main body. From that one picture two lines grew: 'unpaid, unsettled' (1797), a debt still standing outside the settled ones, and 'conspicuous, striking' (1830), which is where today's 'excellent' comes from.

outstanding 是 out-（向外）加上 standing（站著），1610 年代的意思很具體：從主體上「凸出來、突出、分離出來」。從這張圖長出兩條線：1797 年出現「未清償、未了結」——一筆帳還站在已結清的那堆之外；1830 年出現「顯眼、引人注目」，也就是今天「出色」的來源。

Etymonline, 'outstanding' (https://www.etymonline.com/word/outstanding)

Two branches

好到／大到從一群裡凸出來

這一組是把「凸出來」用在程度上：因為特別好或特別大，所以在一群裡一眼就被看到。

excellent · adjective · B2

Extremely good, and much better than most others.

傑出的／出色的

還留在外面、沒被收進來

一樣是凸在外面，但這次不是因為出色，而是因為還沒被處理掉：事情做完的那一疊裡沒有它，它還站在外頭等。

not yet paid or done · adjective · B2

Not yet done, dealt with, or paid.

未完成的／未付的

原始詞典資料6 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。

outstandingadj/ˌaʊtˈstæn.dɪŋ/

  • 1

    Prominent or noticeable; sovereign.

  • 2

    Exceptionally good; distinguished from others by its superiority.

    • Charles S. Peirce, 1839 to 1914, was one of America's most outstanding intellects. Philosopher, mathematician, and scientist, he wrote profusely, the equivalent of almost 100,000 printed pages in all.
    • The Gunners captain demonstrated his importance to the team by taking his tally to an outstanding 28 goals in 27 Premier League games as Chelsea slumped again after their shock defeat at QPR last week.
  • 3

    Projecting outwards.

    • At a distance of about seven or eight miles to the northeastward of the landing, there is an outstanding group of mountains crowning a spur from the main chain of the Coast Range, whose highest point rises about eight thousand feet above the level of the sea;...
  • 4

    Unresolved; not settled or finished.

    • I have several outstanding tasks on my to-do list.
    • Are there any outstanding issues that need to be addressed?
  • 5

    Owed as a debt.

    • You must pay any outstanding corporate card balance immediately.
    • The distribution of the capital shall in the case of each loan be based on the capital amount outstanding at the date of the coming into force of the present Treaty.

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。