1. 1進退兩難、困境

    A quandary is a difficult situation in which you cannot decide what to do. You can see more than one path, but none of them looks good, or you cannot tell which is better. English speakers usually put you in it: she is in a quandary about whether to stay or leave. It is a grown-up, slightly written word — you will find it in books and newspapers more than in chat between friends. In casual talk people are more likely to say they are stuck, they cannot decide, or they don't know what to do. It sits near dilemma. Though actually, dilemma once meant a choice between exactly two bad options; nowadays people use both words loosely for any awkward bind, and only teachers still keep them apart.

組成Origin unknown. The word appears in the 1500s. Some people think it may be a dialect twisting of an old word wandreth (trouble, difficulty), from Middle English, from Old Norse vandræði (difficulty), from vándr (hard, needing care) — but that is only a guess, made to look a bit like a Latin word ending in -ary.

原始詞典資料2 筆記錄

以下是外部詞典記錄的用法,摘錄並精簡格式,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。

Quandaryname

  • 1

    A locality in the Temora council area, central New South Wales, Australia.

quandarynoun/ˈkwɒn.də.ɹi/

  • 1

    A state of not knowing what to decide; a state of difficulty or perplexity; a state of uncertainty, hesitation or puzzlement; a dilemma, a difficult decision or choice.

    • As a Hitchin signalman once pointed out to me, when a regulating quandary arises concerning a fast-moving Class A train there is no time to consult Control and get their answer before the express is on one's doorstep.
    • To quote the oracle of Delphi, / Love thou thy neighbor as thyself, aye, / And hate him as thyself thou hatest. / There quandary is at its greatest.

摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary,已精簡格式;依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用,改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。