核心畫面

You can think of repeatable as asking one question: can this happen a second time? The parts say so — repeat plus -able, able to be repeated. What changes between the uses is what the second time is: doing the thing again, or saying the words again.

repeatable 可以想成在問一個問題:「這件事還能再來一次嗎?」它的組成就寫著答案——repeat 加 -ab更多收起repeatable 可以想成在問一個問題:「這件事還能再來一次嗎?」它的組成就寫著答案——repeat 加 -able,就是「可以被重複的」。兩個用法的差別只在「再一次」指的是什麼。一邊是再做一次那件事,另一邊是再說一次那句話。抓住這條線,連 not repeatable 那個看起來很跳的用法也接得回來。

From the word’s history

From repeat plus -able. The ending -able goes back through Old French to Latin -abilis, meaning able to be done.

由 repeat 加上字尾 -able 組成;-able 經過古法文,一路回到拉丁文 -ābilis,意思是「可以被…的」。可以想成:只要看到 -able,就先讀成「可以被…」,這個字的兩個用法都還在這個框架裡。

Wiktionary entry for repeatable (kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:1427720569), etymology tree: repeat + -able

Two branches

再做一次還能一樣

這一支就是核心問題的正面答案:同樣的事做第二次,做得出來,而且結果一樣。

adjective · B2

Able to be done again in the same way. In science and in work, it usually also means that doing it again gives the same result, so the first result was not luck.

可以重複的、可重現的

那句話不能再說一次

同一個問題換了對象:不再問「這件事能不能再做」,而是問「這句話能不能再說出口」,而且答案是否定的。

adjective · C1

Used in the phrase not repeatable to say that what someone said was too rude or too shocking to say again, especially in front of other people.

(用於 not repeatable)不堪重述的、講不出口的