核心畫面

One way to hold queasy: the stomach turning over, just before anything happens. Nothing has come up yet; you only know that it could. English keeps that same turning feeling when it talks about a conscience — you are not hurt, and nothing has gone wrong for you, but something being done sits badly inside.

queasy 可以想成「胃翻了一下,但還沒真的吐出來」的那一刻。事情還沒發生,你只是知道它可能會發生。英文把這個翻動更多收起queasy 可以想成「胃翻了一下,但還沒真的吐出來」的那一刻。事情還沒發生,你只是知道它可能會發生。英文把這個翻動的感覺整個搬到良心上:身體好好的,也沒人害你,但眼前這件事就是讓你裡面不舒服。兩種用法共用同一個畫面,差別只在翻的是胃,還是心裡。

From the word’s history

Queasy comes from Middle English coysy, possibly related to Old Norse kveisa, a boil, and perhaps shaped by Old French coisier, to hurt or make uneasy. Both trails point at something inside the body being wrong.

queasy 來自中古英文 coysy。來源不確定:可能跟古諾斯語 kveisa(癤、腫痛)有關,也可能受古法文 coisier(弄傷、使人不安)影響。兩條線索都指向「身體裡有個地方不對勁」,跟今天的核心畫面正好接得上。

Wiktionary entry supplied in this packet (source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:773221649:10252), which itself hedges with 'possibly' and 'perhaps'.

Two branches

胃裡的翻動

這一支是那個畫面的字面版本:真的是胃在翻,暈船、暈車、吃太油的時候最常出現。

adjective · B2

Feeling sick in your stomach, as if you might vomit — the unsettled feeling you get on a rocking boat or a winding road. The thing that causes it is usually named with make: the smell made him queasy.

想吐的/噁心的

良心上的翻動

同一種翻動被搬到心裡:身體沒事,但眼前這件事讓你裡面過不去,所以你不想沾。

adjective · C1

Feeling uncomfortable about something because it seems morally wrong. You are not ill; something being said or done leaves you uneasy inside. It is usually followed by about, and Longman marks this use as American English.

心裡不安的