帶刺的「你的寶貝」
同樣是「把某樣東西捧著」的畫面，但說話的人不認同那份小心，於是語氣一翻，變成輕輕的挖苦。
overprotected (annoyance) · adjective · B2
Treated by someone as much more important than it deserves, said with annoyance.
寶貝得要命的（帶點不滿）
核心畫面
Picture something you hold with both hands because losing it would really cost you. Two things make that happen: it is worth a lot, and there is not much of it. Everything else the word does grows out of that grip — the tender voice you use for a baby, the little sting when you think someone is guarding something too carefully, and the way 'precious little' means there was hardly any to hold in the first place.
可以想成：一樣你會用雙手捧著的東西，因為弄丟了真的會心疼。讓人這樣捧著的原因通常有兩個：它值錢，而且不多。這個字後來…更多收起
可以想成：一樣你會用雙手捧著的東西，因為弄丟了真的會心疼。讓人這樣捧著的原因通常有兩個：它值錢，而且不多。這個字後來的各種用法，都是從這個「捧著」的姿態長出來的——對寶寶說話時的溫柔語氣、看到別人把什麼看得太緊時那一點微微的不以為然，還有 precious little 那種「本來就沒剩多少可以捧」的感覺。From the picture
疼惜時的口語稱呼
把「值得捧著」直接說給對方聽：不是在描述價值，而是在表達疼愛，所以語氣比意思重要。
term of endearment · adjective · B2
Said fondly to a person you love, most often a baby or young child.
寶貝（親暱稱呼）
雕琢過了頭
還是「太過小心」那個動作，但這次對象是文字：每個字都被捧著挑過，結果反而失去自然。
overly stylish (writing) · adjective · B2
Trying too hard to be stylish or perfect in writing or speech, so it does not sound natural.
過於雕琢的／做作的
少得可憐
倒過來用那份稀有：既然「珍貴」的另一面是「沒剩多少」，這個字就被拿來加強 little 和 few，強調的是量少而不是價值。
precious little / precious few · r · B2
Precious little or precious few means very little or very few — almost none.
少得可憐
Also in this word
valuable, treat with care · adjective · B2
Very valuable and important, so you should not waste it or use it without care.
珍貴的／寶貴的
rare and costly · adjective · B2
Rare and worth a lot of money, like gold or fine jewels.
貴重的／珍稀的
sentimentally valuable · adjective · B2
Important to you because it reminds you of people you love or times in your life.
有紀念意義的
原始詞典資料12 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。
Preciousname
- 1
A surname transferred from the nickname, originating as a male or female nickname.
- 2
A female given name from English.
- She and Mma Ramotswe were fortunate, with their reasonably straightforward names of Grace and Precious respectively; she had contemporaries who were not so fortunate and had been saddled by their parents with names that were frankly ridiculous.
preciousadj/ˈpɹɛʃ.əs/
- 1
Of high value or worth.
- The crown had many precious gemstones. This building work needs site access, and tell the city council that I don't care about a few lorry tyre ruts across their precious grass verge.
- People are a good thing, the most precious resource in a rich economy, so the progressive-minded feel. Only misanthropists disagree or the dottier Malthusians who send green-ink tweets deploring any state assistance for child-rearing.
- 2
Regarded with love or tenderness.
- The way my partner looks at me is just so precious.
- 3
derogatoryTreated with too much reverence.
- He spent hours painting the eyes of the portrait, which his fellow artists regarded as a bit precious.
- 4
communicationsjournalismliteratureExcessively complicated.
- 5
informalExtremely protective or strict (about something).
- Writers are often very precious about their work.
- Pro chefs can be very precious about their kit. Watch a bartender trying to borrow a simple, cheap fruit-knife from the kitchen and you'll see what I mean.
- 6
derogatoryinformalBlasted; damned.
- It’s all owing to your precious caution that they got hold of it. If you had let me burn it, and taken my word that it was gone, it would have been a heap of ashes behind the fire, instead of being whole and sound, inside of my great-coat.
- 7
derogatoryContrived to be cute or charming.
- In the abstract, Stuhlbarg’s twinkly-eyed sidekick suggests Joe Pesci in Lethal Weapon 2 by way of late-period Robin Williams with an alien twist, but Stuhlbarg makes a character that easily could have come across as precious into a surprisingly palatable, even charming man.
- 8
Thorough; utter.
- a precious rascal
preciousnoun/ˈpɹɛʃ.əs/
- 1
Someone (or something) who is loved; a darling.
- “It isn't fair, my precious, is it, to ask us what it's got in its nassty little pocketses?”
- She sat down with the dogs in her lap. "I won't neglect you for any one, will I, my preciouses?"
preciousadv/ˈpɹɛʃ.əs/
- 1
Very; an intensifier.
- There is precious little we can do.
- precious few pictures of him exist
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。