喜樂美語

核心畫面

You give your word about the future — you put a guarantee on something so the other person can count on it happening.

可以想成你把自己的「話」當作擔保,押在未來某件事上:你對對方說「這件事一定會發生、我一定會做到」,讓對方可以放心地相…更多收起可以想成你把自己的「話」當作擔保,押在未來某件事上:你對對方說「這件事一定會發生、我一定會做到」,讓對方可以放心地相信、靠這句話去安排。promise 兩個方向都從這個畫面長出來——一個是「人開口給的保證」,另一個是「事情本身露出的、像在保證未來會很好的跡象」。

Two branches

開口給的保證

這一家是 promise 最核心、最常用的畫面:一個人主動開口,把未來某件事擔保下來。動詞是「做這個保證的動作」,名詞是「那句被說出來的保證話」。

a promise (guarantee) · noun · B1

A guarantee you give someone that something will happen, or that you will do something.

承諾

事情露出的好兆頭

把『給保證』的對象從人換成事情:當一件事或一個人,本身就露出一種像在向你保證『未來會很好、會成功』的跡象,我們就說它有 promise。不是有人開口,而是事情自己在『打包票』。

promise (signs of future success) · noun · B1

Signs that someone or something will be good or successful in the future.

潛力

原始詞典資料9 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。

Promisename

  • 1

    A female given name from English.

promisenoun/ˈpɹɒmɪs/

  • 1

    An oath or affirmation; a vow.

    • When I make a promise, I always stick to it.
    • I asked him not to, and we all heard his promise that he wouldn't.
  • 2

    lawA transaction between two persons whereby the first person undertakes in the future to render some service or gift to the second person or devotes something valuable now and here to their use.

    • He purſued Andrew Houſtoun upon his promiſe, to give him the like Sallary for the next year, and in abſence obtained him to be holden as confeſt and Decerned.
  • 3

    Something promised.

    • That jewelry was a promise to me.
  • 4

    Reason to expect improvement or success; potential.

    • His grade are poor, but I see promise in him.
    • Your claim has little promise in court.
  • 5

    computingengineeringmathematicsA placeholder object representing the eventual result of an asynchronous operation.

    • You can often use observables instead of promises to deliver values asynchronously.
  • 6

    obsoleteBestowal or fulfillment of what is promised.

    • It is time they receive their promise.
    • He […] commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father.

promiseverb/ˈpɹɒmɪs/

  • 1

    To commit to (some action or outcome), or to assure (a person) of such commitment; to make an oath or vow.

    • "You think that I'll take anything." "I know you will, sweet." … "There wasn't going to be any of that. You promised there wouldn't be." "Well, there is now," she said sweetly.
    • Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers.[…]Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster. Clever financial ploys are what have made billionaires of the industry’s veterans. “Operational improvement” in a portfolio company has often meant little more than promising colossal bonuses to sitting chief executives if they meet ambitious growth targets. That model is still prevalent today.
  • 2

    To give grounds for expectation, especially of something good.

    • The clouds promise rain.
    • I liked the man for his own sake, and even had he promised to turn out a celebrity it would have had no weight with me. I look upon notoriety with the same indifference as on the buttons on a man's shirt-front, or the crest on his note-paper.

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。