核心畫面

Picture a household where the money runs out before the needs do — food, rent, school shoes, all measured against an amount that will not stretch. Poverty is the name for that condition, and once you can see it as 'not enough of what is needed', it is a short step to using the word for a shortage of something else entirely, like ideas.

可以想成:一個家庭,錢在需求還沒滿足之前就用完了——吃飯、房租、孩子的鞋,樣樣都要對著一筆不夠用的錢來算。pover更多收起可以想成:一個家庭,錢在需求還沒滿足之前就用完了——吃飯、房租、孩子的鞋,樣樣都要對著一筆不夠用的錢來算。poverty 就是替這個狀態取的名字。而一旦看懂它是「需要的東西不夠」,就不難理解英文為什麼也拿它來講別種東西的匱乏,例如點子。

Two branches

錢不夠過基本生活

核心那一面,以及社會政策為了討論它而造出來的兩個固定說法。

being poor · noun · B2

The state of being poor and not having enough money for basic needs like food, clothes, and a home.

貧窮

某種好東西的匱乏

把「不夠」從錢移到別的東西上:缺的不是收入,而是點子、想像力這類品質。

lack of quality · noun · B2

A lack of a particular good quality, such as ideas or imagination.

貧乏

原始詞典資料2 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。

povertynoun/ˈpɒvəti/

  • 1

    The quality or state of being poor; lack of money

    • get into poverty
    • get out of poverty
  • 2

    A deficiency of something needed or desired

    • poverty of soil
    • poverty of the blood

資料來源:英文維基詞典 English WiktionaryCC BY-SA 4.0)。 原文照列,未經改寫。