喜樂美語

核心畫面

One picture holds almost all of this word: a small heavy weight tied to the end of a string. Let it go and it never argues. It swings for a moment and then hangs dead still, pointing straight down, because gravity pulls it and nothing else does. That single hanging line gives you two gifts at once. Held beside a wall it shows what truly upright looks like, so anything that does not match it is leaning. Dropped into water it keeps going until it touches the bottom, so the length of line tells you the depth. Straight down, all the way down, and landing on one exact point: those three ideas are where the vertical senses, the depth senses and the exactly-there senses all come from.

這個字的大部分意思，可以想成都收在同一個畫面裡：一小塊重物綁在線的尾端。放手之後它不會跟你爭。晃兩下就靜靜垂著，指向…更多收起這個字的大部分意思，可以想成都收在同一個畫面裡：一小塊重物綁在線的尾端。放手之後它不會跟你爭。晃兩下就靜靜垂著，指向正下方，因為只有重力在拉它。這條靜止的線一次給了你兩樣東西。靠在牆邊，它讓你看到什麼叫真正的垂直，對不上的東西就是歪的。垂進水裡，它會一直沉到碰到底，線的長度就是水深。直直往下、一路到底、落在唯一的那個點——垂直的意思、深度的意思、正中的意思，都可以想成從這三件事長出來。

From the word’s history

Wiktionary traces plumb through Middle English plumbe and Old French to Latin plumbum, and in that same entry the oldest recorded meanings are all about lead: a little mass of lead on a line, and sealing something with lead. Lead is heavy and small, which is exactly what a hanging weight needs to be.

Wiktionary 把 plumb 從中古英文 plumbe 經古法文上溯到拉丁文 plumbum，而同一份資料裡最早記下來的意思都跟鉛有關：綁在線上的一小塊鉛，還有用鉛把東西封起來。鉛又重又小，正好是垂線末端最需要的條件。水管那一支則可以想成走的是「鉛這個材料」的路，不是「垂線」的路。

Wiktionary via packet (kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:622200643): 'From Middle English plumbe, plumme, from Old French *plombe, from Latin plumba, plural of plumbum'; plus sense rows wikt:plumb:noun:0 (a little mass of lead) and wikt:plumb:verb:5 (to seal something with lead).

Four branches

鉛錘與真正的垂直

這一家最貼近核心畫面：先是那個垂下來的重物本身，再來是它量出來的結果（垂直不垂直），最後是拿它去把東西弄正的動作。

adjective · C1

Exactly straight up and down, or exactly level, with no lean and no slope at all.

垂直的；正的

一路沉到底：量深度、探到最深處

同一條線換個方向：不是靠著牆看直不直，而是垂進水裡看有多深。線沉到碰底才停，這個「一路到底」的動作後來被搬到感受和問題上。

verb · C2

To find out how deep water is by letting a weighted line down until it touches the bottom.

測水深

正中、完全：直直落在那一點

垂線有兩個特點被抽出來當副詞用：它只落在一個點上（正中），而且中間不彎、一路到底（完全）。兩個用法都偏口語。

r · C2

Completely. It goes in front of a word like crazy, certain or forgot, and it is mostly heard in informal American English, often with a joking tone.

完全；根本

鉛做的管子：水電這一支

這一家跟垂線沒有關係，走的是「鉛這個材料」的另一條路：早期的水管和接縫用鉛，所以修水管的人叫 plumber，管線叫 plumbing。

verb · C1

To join a sink, a washing machine or a similar thing to the water pipes, so that clean water can come in and used water can run away. It is usually said as plumb something in.

接水管；把（電器）接上管線

原始詞典資料19 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。

Plumbname

  • 1

    A surname.

plumbnoun詞源 1/plʌm/

  • 1

    A little mass of lead, or the like, attached to a line, and used by builders, etc., to indicate a vertical direction.

  • 2

    nauticaltransportA weight on the end of a long line, used by sailors to determine the depth of water.

  • 3

    The perpendicular direction or position.

    • Customers turned away from rickety chairs, stands of drawers that refused to open, or had no handles, lop-sided wardrobes whose doors were out of plumb or whose mirrors were cracked.

plumbadj詞源 1/plʌm/

  • 1

    Truly vertical, as indicated by a plumb line.

  • 2

    ball-gamescricketgamesDescribing an LBW where the batsman is hit on the pads directly in front of their wicket and should be given out.

plumbadv詞源 1/plʌm/

  • 1

    In a vertical direction; perpendicularly.

    • Plumb down he drops.
  • 2

    informalSquarely, directly; deeply, completely.

    • It hit him plumb in the middle of his face.
    • Years ago the well plumb dried out, not a drop of water in there since.

plumbverb詞源 1/plʌm/

  • 1

    To determine the depth, generally of a liquid; to sound.

  • 2

    To attach to a water supply and drain.

    • The kitchen sink is now plumbed in / up.
  • 3

    To think about or explore in depth, to get to the bottom of.

    • to plumb the depths of
    • Delving to the core of her heart, his blue-green eyes plumbed her psyche, stripping it of all defenses, all resolve.
  • 4

    To use a plumb bob as a measuring or aligning tool.

  • 5

    To accurately align vertically or horizontally.

  • 6

    datedTo seal something with lead.

  • 7

    To work as a plumber.

  • 8

    rareTo fall or sink like a plummet.

另外 2 個記錄的用法
  • 9

    obsoleteTo trace a road or track; to follow it to its end.

  • 10

    nauticaltransportTo position vertically above or below.

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。