那根尖，和用它去叉
最字面的一族：你手上真的有一根尖，可以看，也可以拿它去叉東西。
noun · B2
One of the two or more thin sharp points that stick out from the end of a fork, a garden fork, or something else shaped like that, such as an antler.
叉齒；尖齒
核心畫面
You can think of prong as one handle that splits into two or three thin points, and all the points go in together. Hold the whole fork in your mind, not just the tip: the single handle matters as much as the several points, because that is what makes a fork a fork and not three separate . Everything the word does comes from that shape — one thing, several points, arriving at the same moment.
prong 可以想成「一根柄，末端分成兩三根細尖，一起插下去」。腦中要留住整支叉子，不只是那個尖端。柄只有一根，這件…更多收起
prong 可以想成「一根柄，末端分成兩三根細尖，一起插下去」。腦中要留住整支叉子，不只是那個尖端。柄只有一根，這件事跟「有好幾根尖」一樣重要，因為那正是叉子跟三根獨立鐵釘的差別。這個字的所有用法都從這個形狀長出來：同一件東西，好幾個尖，同時到位。From the word’s history
From Middle English pronge, perhaps from Middle Low German prange, a stick or a pinching device, from a root meaning to press or pinch.
這個字來自中古英語 pronge，可能再往前是中古低地德語 prange（棍子、夾制用的器具），字根帶有「壓、夾」的意思。今天留下來的，主要是那根細細的尖刺的形狀。
Wiktionary entry for prong (etymology section), kaikki extract 3f6f69a190036ae4:754723760
Two branches
同時並進的一路
形狀被搬到計畫上：一個計畫是那根柄，幾個方向是那幾根尖，關鍵在「一起插下去」。
noun · C1
One of the two or three separate lines of action in a plan or an attack, all of them working at the same time towards the same goal.
（計畫的）一路、一環