核心畫面

Picture a table where everything has been tipped together and nobody has sorted it: letters on top of tools, this year's things beside last year's. No sieve, no sorting, no choosing. Every use of this word comes back to that table — something that should have been separated out simply was not.

可以想成一張桌子,東西全被倒在一起,沒有人整理過:信壓在工具上,今年的東西和去年的混著放。沒有篩子,沒有分類,也沒有更多收起可以想成一張桌子,東西全被倒在一起,沒有人整理過:信壓在工具上,今年的東西和去年的混著放。沒有篩子,沒有分類,也沒有挑選。這個字的每一種用法都可以繞回這張桌子——本來該分開的,就是沒分開。分不分開,是這個字唯一在講的事。

From the word’s history

From Latin prōmiscuus 'mixed, not separated', from prō- 'forth' + misceō 'mix'.

來自拉丁文 prōmiscuus(混合的、沒有分開的),由 prō-(向前)加 misceō(混合)組成。所以「混而不分」是這個字最底層的意思,其他用法都是這個畫面用在不同地方。

Wiktionary entry for promiscuous, etymology_text supplied in packet (kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:815170598)

Four branches

混在一起、沒有分類

這一格就是字根本身,畫面裡的那張桌子。

adjective · C2

Made up of many different things of different kinds, all mixed together with no order and no sorting. The source marks this as an old use.

混雜的

不挑不選的做法

從「東西沒被分開」移到「人沒有去分」:該篩的一步被省掉了。

adjective · C1

Done or given without careful choice — to anyone or anything, rather than only where it is suitable, needed or deserved.

不加選擇的

性方面不加選擇

同一把不見了的篩子,這次放在伴侶的選擇上。

adjective · C1

Having sex with many different partners, especially without choosing carefully who those partners are.

性關係隨便的

網路術語:來者不拒

機器版的同一件事:網路卡停止挑選,來什麼收什麼。

adjective · C2

In computer networking, promiscuous mode is the setting in which a network card takes in all the traffic travelling on the network, instead of only the traffic addressed to that machine.

混雜模式(網路)