喜樂美語
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    In modern English this is almost never a real coin — it is a way of saying 'the smallest possible bit of money'. It lives almost entirely inside negative sentences: 'I haven't got a sou', 'he left without a sou', 'she didn't give me a sou.' If you take it out of the negative it sounds strange; nobody says 'I have three sous'.

    In modern English this is almost never a real coin在現代英文裡，這幾乎從來不是指真正的硬幣 it is a way of saying 'the smallest possible bit of money'而是一種說法，表示'最小最小的一點點錢' It lives almost entirely inside negative sentences它幾乎只活在否定句裡 'I haven't got a sou','I haven't got a sou'（我一毛錢都沒有） 'he left without a sou','he left without a sou'（他走的時候身無分文） 'she didn't give me a sou.''she didn't give me a sou'（她一毛錢都沒給我） If you take it out of the negative it sounds strange如果把它從否定句裡拿出來，聽起來就很奇怪 nobody says 'I have three sous'沒有人會說'I have three sous'

    The feeling is slightly playful and old-fashioned, the same slot filled by 'a penny', 'a cent', 'a bean' or '一毛錢'.

    The feeling is slightly playful and old-fashioned這種語感有點俏皮又老派 the same slot filled by 'a penny', 'a cent', 'a bean' or Taiwanese '一毛錢'跟'a penny'、'a cent'、'a bean'，或中文的'一毛錢'佔的是同一個位置

    Behind it is a real French coin, a small copper piece worth very little, which stopped being official money long ago but stayed alive in French phrases about being broke. English borrowed both the coin and the attitude.

    Behind it is a real French coin這個字背後有一個真正的法國硬幣 a small copper piece worth very little是一種價值很低的小銅幣 which stopped being official money long ago很久以前就不再是官方貨幣了 but stayed alive in French phrases about being broke但仍然活在法文裡形容身無分文的說法中 English borrowed both the coin and the attitude英文把這枚硬幣和它背後那種語氣，一起借了過來

    So when a writer uses 'sou' rather than 'penny', it usually adds a light French or old-Europe colour — a character in a Paris story, or someone being funny about how poor they are.

    So when a writer uses 'sou' rather than 'penny'所以當一個作者用'sou'而不是'penny'的時候 it usually adds a light French or old-Europe colour通常是想加一點法國味或舊歐洲的色彩 a character in a Paris story可能是巴黎故事裡的一個角色 or someone being dryly funny about how poor they are或是有人在自嘲窮到不行、講得很冷面好笑

    例句逐字對照、搭配詞、易混淆字

    這一義的完整解析還沒打開。訂閱後可以看到例句怎麼拆、常跟哪些字一起出現， 以及容易跟它搞混的字。

    看看訂閱內容

組成Borrowed straight from French sou, the name of a small old copper coin. That French word goes back to Latin solidus, a Roman gold coin — the same Latin word that gave English 'solid' and the money sign 's.' once used for shillings.

同家族的字

  • solidfrom the same Latin solidus — the coin was named for being solid, unmixed metal
  • soldieralso from solidus, by way of the pay a soldier was given

原始詞典資料4 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。

Souname

  • 1

    A surname.

sounoun/suː/

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    historicalAn old French copper coin equal to one twentieth of a livre or twelve deniers; one sou is to the livre as one shilling is to the pound.

    • He is grey, flat-footed and withered, with long, brittle nails that set your nerves on edge while he scrapes up your two sous.
  • 2

    datedslangCent; pocket money.

  • 3

    datedA thing of the smallest value; a whit; a jot.

    • I do not care a sou for your excuses.

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。