核心畫面

You can think of passable as a gate that lets you through. Something comes up to the gate, the gate opens, and it goes on — but only just, and nothing more is being said about it. A road can get through. A plate of food can get past the standard. A person can get past the glance of a stranger. In every case the word tells you the same small thing: it went through, and that is all.

passable 可以想成一道會放行的閘門。東西走到閘門前,門開了,它通過了。但也就只是通過而已,門沒有多說什麼。一更多收起passable 可以想成一道會放行的閘門。東西走到閘門前,門開了,它通過了。但也就只是通過而已,門沒有多說什麼。一條路可以通過。一盤菜可以通過標準。一個人可以通過陌生人的那一眼。三種情況裡,這個字說的都是同一句話:它過去了,就這樣。

From the word’s history

From French passable, that is pass plus the ending -able, so literally able to be passed or able to get through.

這個字從法文 passable 借來,等於 pass(通過)加上字尾 -able(可以…的)。字面就是「通得過的」,所以三個用法其實都還在原本的字面意思裡。

Wiktionary entry for passable (etymology: From French passable, equivalent to pass + -able), kaikki extract 3f6f69a190036ae4:1115555042

Three branches

路通得過

最字面的一族:閘門是一條路,通過就是真的走過去。

adjective · B2

If a road, path, bridge or river is passable, nothing is blocking it, so you can travel along it or get across it.

可通行的

品質通得過

閘門換成一條標準線:東西越過那條線,但也只是越過而已。

adjective · B2

Good enough to be accepted, but clearly not good — somewhere above bad and well below excellent.

還可以;過得去

被看成那一群人

閘門換成陌生人的眼睛:這個人通過了那一眼,於是被歸進另一群人裡。

adjective · C1

Used in writing about society to describe a person whom strangers take to be a member of a group — such as a gender or a racial group — that they would not otherwise be assumed to belong to.

(社會學)能被看作某群體一員的