核心畫面

You can think of squarely as the corner of a square: two lines meeting at a clean right angle, with nothing leaning and nothing sliding off to the side. Hold that picture and turn it towards a person, and you get someone facing you straight on. Turn it towards an object, and you get a thing set down dead centre. Turn it towards an idea, and you get blame or support landing on one place, all of it, with no room left to argue. Every use of the word keeps the same promise: no tilt, no edge, no half-way.

「squarely」可以想成正方形的一個角:兩條線乾乾淨淨地成直角相交,沒有歪,也沒有滑到旁邊去。把這個畫面轉向一個更多收起「squarely」可以想成正方形的一個角:兩條線乾乾淨淨地成直角相交,沒有歪,也沒有滑到旁邊去。把這個畫面轉向一個人,就成了正面對著你、不閃躲。轉向一樣東西,就成了擺在正中央、四平八穩。轉向一件事情,就成了責任或支持全部落在同一個點上,沒有模糊空間。它的每一個用法都在保證同一件事:不歪、不偏、不打折。

From the word’s history

Wiktionary records squarely as square + -ly, with the first use around 1557 in the writings of Robert Recorde. The right-angle picture inside square is therefore the oldest layer of the word, and the directness and completeness senses can be read as that picture applied to people and to ideas.

Wiktionary 記錄 squarely 由 square 加上 -ly 組成,最早的用例約在 1557 年,出現在 Robert Recorde 的著作裡。square 本身的直角畫面因此是這個字最早的一層;「正面面對」和「完完全全」可以看成同一個畫面被用到人和事情上。

Wiktionary entry 'squarely' (kaikki snapshot 3f6f69a190036ae4): 'From square + -ly. First use appears c. 1557 in the writings of Robert Recorde.'

Three branches

直角與正中

這一組留在看得見的幾何裡:角度是 90 度,位置在正中間。核心畫面在這裡還是字面意思,還沒有被借去講人或講責任。

r · C1

At an angle of 90 degrees to a line or a surface; straight across it, not leaning or slanting.

成直角地

正面對上

把直角的畫面轉向人:身體和眼睛都正對過去,中間沒有角度。這一步是從空間跨到態度的橋,所以同一個字既能講撞擊的位置,也能講「不迴避」。

r · B2

Directly and firmly: you turn straight towards someone or something and stay there, or a thing lands straight on the spot with force.

正面地、直直地

完完全全

把「正中、不偏」從位置借到抽象的落點上:責任、支持、注意力全部壓在同一個點,沒有分散,也沒有轉圜餘地。

r · C1

Completely and with no doubt, used when blame, responsibility, attention or support rests fully on one person or one thing and on nothing else.

完完全全地