喜樂美語

核心畫面

Picture an apple that has gone soft and brown, or a plank of wood that when you press a thumb into it. Nobody broke it from outside — it went bad slowly, from the inside, until it was no longer any good to eat or use. Almost every other use of rotten borrows some part of that picture: gone bad, unpleasant, and past being any use.

可以想成：一顆軟掉發黑的蘋果，或一塊拇指一按就碎的木頭。沒有人從外面把它打壞，是它自己慢慢從裡面壞掉，壞到不能吃、不…更多收起可以想成：一顆軟掉發黑的蘋果，或一塊拇指一按就碎的木頭。沒有人從外面把它打壞，是它自己慢慢從裡面壞掉，壞到不能吃、不能用了。rotten 其他的用法幾乎都是借這幅畫面的某一塊：東西壞了、令人不舒服、已經沒救。要注意它有好幾個意思只活在固定說法裡，不能自己拆出來用。

原始詞典資料7 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。

rottenadj/ˈɹɒtn̩/

  • 1

    Of perishable items, overridden with bacteria and other infectious agents.

    • If you leave a bin unattended for a few weeks, the rubbish inside will turn rotten.
    • Antonio: Mark you this, Bassanio, / The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose. / An evil soul producing holy witness / Is like a villain with a smiling cheek, / A goodly apple rotten at the heart. / O, what a goodly outside falsehood hath!
  • 2

    In a state of decay.

    • The floors were damaged and the walls were rotten.
    • His mouth stank and his teeth were rotten.
  • 3

    Cruel, mean or immoral.

    • That man is a rotten father.
    • This rotten policy will create more injustice in this country.
  • 4

    Bad or terrible.

    • Why is the weather always rotten in this city?
    • It was a rotten idea to take the boat out today.
  • 5

    Of stone or rock, crumbling or friable; in a loose or disintegrated state.

    • The quartz specimens were sometimes blue, hard-looking stone, or rotten quartz largely impregnated with iron, in both cases carrying bright glittering nodules of gold.
  • 6

    slangVery drunk, intoxicated.

rottenadv/ˈɹɒtn̩/

  • 1

    To an extreme degree.

    • That kid is spoilt rotten.
    • The girls fancy him something rotten.

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。