核心畫面

You can picture two things standing side by side. One of them has something the other simply does not have. Point at that one thing, and you are pointing at a peculiarity. The picture has two halves that travel together: it belongs to this one alone, and because nobody else has it, it looks a little odd. Follow the first half and you get a distinctive feature; follow the second half and you get a strange habit, or the feeling of strangeness itself.

可以想成兩樣東西並排站著。其中一邊多了一樣,另一邊沒有。你指著那多出來的一點,指的就是 peculiarity。這個更多收起可以想成兩樣東西並排站著。其中一邊多了一樣,另一邊沒有。你指著那多出來的一點,指的就是 peculiarity。這個畫面裡其實有兩層,而且一起走:一是「只有它才有」,二是因為別人都沒有,所以看起來有點怪。順著第一層走,就成了「特點」。順著第二層走,就成了「怪癖」,再往前就是「怪」這種感覺本身。

From the word’s history

Wiktionary records peculiarity as peculiar + -ity, with -ity coming through Old French from Latin -itas. The core image is already in that shape: take what is one's own, and turn it into a thing you can name.

Wiktionary 記錄 peculiarity 由 peculiar 加上 -ity 組成,-ity 經古法文來自拉丁文 -itās。這個結構本身就是核心畫面:把「屬於某人自己的」那一點,變成一個可以指著講的名詞。

Wiktionary (kaikki extract supplied in packet, source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:655953901:15113)

Two branches

只有這一個才有的地方

這一族走的是核心畫面的第一層:多出來的那一點,屬於這個地方、這套制度、這個人。

noun · C1

A feature or quality that only one particular person, place, group, or situation has, and that makes it different from all the others.

特點/獨有之處

讓人覺得怪的那一面

這一族走的是核心畫面的第二層:既然只有它這樣,看在別人眼裡就是「怪」。從「獨有」到「奇怪」只差一個觀看的角度。

noun · C1

A habit, quality, or small detail about someone or something that is strange or unusual, and that other people notice.

怪癖/怪異的地方