核心畫面

One way to hold this word: something bursts out all at once, loud and rough, and then it is over. A baby fills a room with noise; ten minutes of wind and rain crosses a bay. Same shape, different material.

squall 可以想成「突然爆出來的一陣,又響又猛,很快就過去」。嬰兒的哭聲把整個房間灌滿,是這個形狀;一陣風雨掃過更多收起squall 可以想成「突然爆出來的一陣,又響又猛,很快就過去」。嬰兒的哭聲把整個房間灌滿,是這個形狀;一陣風雨掃過海灣又走掉,也是這個形狀。差別只在材料不同:一個是聲音,一個是天氣。所以這個字給人的感覺永遠是「來得急、留不久」,而不是「大」或「久」。

From the word’s history

From Old Norse skvala, 'to cry out', with the noun probably coming from the verb; the Swedish cognate skvala means 'to gush, pour down'. The sound and the weather are one line, not two.

資料上寫的是:來自古北歐語 skvala(大聲叫喊),名詞大概是從動詞來的;同源的瑞典語 skvala 則是「傾瀉、嘩啦啦地流」。所以「大聲喊」跟「嘩啦啦倒下來」在這個字裡本來就是同一條線,不是後來硬湊的比喻。

Packet Wiktionary etymology for 'squall' (source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:1004416661:8073): 'From Middle English *squalen and squelen... from Old Norse skvala ("to cry out")... Cognate with Swedish skvala ("to gush, pour down"). The noun is probably from the verb.'

Two branches

天氣:一陣打過來的風雨

把「突然爆出來、很快過去」放到天空上,就是這一支。這是今天最常見的用法。

noun · C1

A sudden burst of strong wind that arrives with no warning, usually carrying rain or snow with it, and usually over again after a short time.

颮;一陣狂風暴雨

聲音:突然爆出來的大哭大叫

同一個形狀留在聲音上,也就是字源本來的位置:一聲爆出來、佔滿空間、然後停。

verb · C1

When a baby or a small child squalls, it cries in a loud, rough, unhappy way that fills the whole room.

(嬰兒)放聲大哭