喜樂美語

核心畫面

One way to hold this word: a closed hand opens above a wide space, and what was one lump becomes many separate pieces, each landing somewhere else. Nothing is placed; everything is let go. Afterwards the space is not empty and not full — it is patchy, with things here and there and gaps between them. Everything else scatter does is that same moment applied to something new: to a crowd, to light, or to the leftover pattern once it has happened.

可以想成一隻握著的手在一片空地上方張開。本來是一團，張開之後變成一顆一顆，各自落到不同地方。沒有人去「擺」，只是放手…更多收起可以想成一隻握著的手在一片空地上方張開。本來是一團，張開之後變成一顆一顆，各自落到不同地方。沒有人去「擺」，只是放手。落完之後，那片空地不是空的、也不是滿的，而是這裡一點那裡一點，中間留著空隙。scatter 其他的意思，都是把這個瞬間換一個對象再演一次：換成一群人、換成一道光，或是換成散完之後留下的那個樣子。

From the word’s history

Wiktionary's entry says scatter is probably a variant of shatter, a word made in imitation of the sound, and possibly related to a root meaning to cut or split. If that is right, the modern picture fits: something whole is broken open and the pieces end up apart. The packet marks this as probable, not settled.

Wiktionary 的說法是：scatter 很可能是 shatter 的變體，而 shatter 本身是模仿聲音造出來的字，可能還連著一個「切開、裂開」的古老字根。如果這條線索成立，正好對上現在的畫面——本來完整的一團被打開，碎的部分各自散到別處。要注意來源自己用的是「可能」，這不是定論。

Wiktionary 'scatter' etymology text supplied in this packet (source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:506583919)

Two branches

把東西撒開、東西散落

這一家就是核心畫面本身：手張開，小東西一顆顆落在不同位置。

verb · B1

To throw or drop a lot of small things so that they land here and there over a wide area instead of in one pile. It also works the other way round: if small things scatter, they end up lying spread about like that.

撒；散落

一群人或動物四散

同樣是「一團變成很多個、各自往不同方向」，只是這次散開的東西會自己跑。

verb · B1

If a group of people or animals scatter, they suddenly move away fast in many different directions, so the group breaks up. You can also say that a noise, an animal, or a person scatters them.

四散；一哄而散

原始詞典資料10 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。

scatterverb/ˈskætə/

  • 1

    To (cause to) separate and go in different directions; to disperse.

    • The crowd scattered in terror.
    • Scatter and disperse the giddy Goths.
  • 2

    To distribute loosely as by sprinkling.

    • Her ashes were scattered at the top of a waterfall.
    • Why should my muse enlarge on Libyan swains, / Their scattered cottages, and ample plains?
  • 3

    natural-sciencesphysical-sciencesphysicsTo deflect (radiation or particles).

    • Chasca's ring is unique. It appears to be, for lack of a better term, a massive piece of alien "installation art." The rings are made of small pieces of synthetic material, and are almost invisible from space. From the ground, they catch and scatter the light of Matano in picturesque ways. It is not known who created the ring or when.
  • 4

    To occur or fall at widely spaced intervals.

  • 5

    To frustrate, disappoint, and overthrow.

    • to scatter hopes or plans
  • 6

    To be dispersed upon.

    • Desiccated stalks scattered the fields.
    • […] its beauty is obscured by the environmental waste and loose trash that scatter the countryside.
  • 7

    ball-gamesbaseballgamesOf a pitcher: to spread out a high number of hits or walks between innings so as not to give up a high number of runs

  • 8

    slangTo leave.

    • When the police showed up, I scattered.

scatternoun/ˈskætə/

  • 1

    The act of scattering or dispersing.

  • 2

    A collection of dispersed objects.

    • The Los Angeles Basin evolved as a mobility surface principally through the combination of an initial system of electric railways connecting a scatter of agricultural settlement settlements.
    • A broad scatter of kurgan graves in the steppes contained imported Tripolye C2 pots (among other imported pot types) and a few, like Serezlievka, also contained Tripolye-like schematic rod-headed figurines.

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。