喜樂美語

核心畫面

A wet or surface that will not let your foot — or your hand — get a grip: the moment you press on it, it slides away from you.

一個抓不住的表面。地上淋了雨、沾了油，你踩下去的那一刻腳底沒有咬合點，力氣一使出去，東西就從你這邊溜走了。整個字的重…更多收起一個抓不住的表面。地上淋了雨、沾了油，你踩下去的那一刻腳底沒有咬合點，力氣一使出去，東西就從你這邊溜走了。整個字的重點不在「濕」，而在「你以為抓得住，結果抓不住」——不管抓的是地面、是一個人的話，還是一個詞的意思。

From the word’s history

From Old English slipor "slippery", a form built on the same root as slip: the word has always named a surface that lets things slide off it.

一種看法是：這個字從古英語 slipor（滑的）來，和 slip（滑掉、溜走）同源，中間經過中古英語 slipper／slipperie。也就是說，「東西會從上面溜掉」這個畫面從最早就寫在字裡，後來的狡猾、含糊都是把「溜掉」搬到人和意思上。

Wiktionary entry for "slippery" (Old English slipor < Proto-Germanic *slipraz), as supplied in the payload origin note

Three branches

抓不住的表面

字面的滑：實體表面讓腳或手失去摩擦力。這一族就是核心畫面本身。

slippery surface · adjective · C1

Hard to hold or to walk on because the surface is wet, oily, or very smooth.

滑的

抓不住的人與話

把「抓不住」從地面移到人和語言上：你伸手去確認一件事，對方或那句話卻從你指縫溜掉，讓你無法固定住它。

untrustworthy person · adjective · C1

If a person is slippery, you cannot trust them, because they hide the truth or keep changing their story.

狡猾

止不住的下滑

把「滑」從靜態的表面變成一段過程：一旦腳下失去摩擦力，你不只是滑一下，而是持續往下，停不下來。

a slippery slope · adjective · C1

Used about a habit or chain of actions that is hard to stop and will grow into something very bad, especially in the phrase slippery slope.

滑坡

原始詞典資料5 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。

slipperyadj/ˈslɪpəɹi/

  • 1

    Of a surface, having low friction, often due to being covered in a non-viscous liquid, and therefore hard to grip, hard to stand on without falling, etc.

    • Oily substances render things slippery.
    • The screeching of brakes, the monotonous blare of motor horns, the clip-clip of shoes on slippery pavements, the rustling of wet mackintoshes were all part of the great metropolis.
  • 2

    Evasive; difficult to pin down.

    • a slippery person
    • a slippery promise
  • 3

    obsoleteLiable to slip; not standing firm.

    • Which when they fall, as being slippery standers, / The love that leaned on them, as slippery too, / Do one pluck down another, and together / Die in the fall.
  • 4

    Unstable; changeable; inconstant.

    • He looking down With scorn or pity on the slippery state Of kings, will tread upon the neck of fate.
  • 5

    obsoleteWanton; unchaste; loose in morals.

    • My wife is slippery? If thou wilt confess –

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。