喜樂美語

核心畫面

Picture something that was once alive turning into stone — a tree that fell into mud and, thousands of years later, comes out still tree-shaped but hard and unable to grow. That image of living things frozen into rock sits under both uses.

原本是活的、會動的東西，變成了石頭。一棵樹倒進泥裡，幾萬年後被挖出來，形狀還是樹的形狀，但已經硬得敲得出聲音——它不…更多收起原本是活的、會動的東西，變成了石頭。一棵樹倒進泥裡，幾萬年後被挖出來，形狀還是樹的形狀，但已經硬得敲得出聲音——它不再生長，也不再改變了。這個「活的東西被凍結成石」的畫面，是 petrified 兩個用法共同的底。差別只在：一個是真的變成石頭，一個是人被嚇到像變成了石頭。

From the word’s history

From Latin petra 'rock' (the same root as petroleum, literally 'rock oil'), so petrify is literally 'to turn into stone'. English then lent the word to fear, because a terrified person looks exactly like that: standing still, face frozen, unable to speak.

拉丁語系裡的 petra 就是「石頭」（同源的字如 petroleum「石油」，字面是「石頭裡的油」）。所以 petrify 字面上是「把某物變成石頭」，而 petrified 就是「已經被變成石頭的」。英文後來把這個字借給恐懼，是因為極度害怕的人看起來就是那個樣子：站著不動，臉是僵的，話講不出來。

Latin petra 'rock', via Greek πέτρα — standard etymology given in dictionary entries for petrify / petroleum

Two branches

真的變成石頭

字面義：這是核心畫面本身，沒有比喻。

turned to stone · adjective · B2

Used about wood or trees that have slowly changed into stone over many thousands of years. This meaning only appears in phrases such as petrified wood, a petrified tree, or a petrified forest.

石化的

嚇到像變成石頭

從字面的石化長出來的比喻：石頭的特徵是硬、是不動、是不再變化，而極度的恐懼在人身上造成的正是這三件事。所以英文不說「非常害怕」，直接說「被變成了石頭」。

terrified, frozen with fear · adjective · B2

So frightened that you cannot move or think clearly. It is much stronger than scared, and it is used about the feeling that stops you, not just makes you uncomfortable.

嚇呆的

原始詞典資料3 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。

petrifiedadj

  • 1

    Having undergone the process of petrification (transformation into a stony substance); turned to stone.

    • On Yule-eve alone can petrified Giants receive back their life for the space of seven hours, if one of their race embraces them, and is, at the same time, willing to sacrifice a hundred years of their own life.
    • Entering Avebury from any direction is like stepping back into the past. Before the centre of the village is reached, the road passes through an immense circle of brooding stones which stand like petrified ghosts of an age about which little is known.
  • 2

    Extremely afraid.

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。