核心畫面

Picture something hanging in mid-air, halfway through a movement. It has not fallen and it has not arrived. Everything about it is still there, and it would carry on at once if someone let it down. That is the picture the two words make together: suspended is hanging, and animation is the old word for life and movement. So the whole thing means movement held up in the air rather than movement finished. Whether it is a frog under a stone or an office waiting on one decision, the picture does not change.

可以想成有個東西被吊在半空中,動作做到一半就停住了。它沒有掉下去,也還沒到終點。該有的都還在,只要有人把它放下來,它更多收起可以想成有個東西被吊在半空中,動作做到一半就停住了。它沒有掉下去,也還沒到終點。該有的都還在,只要有人把它放下來,它馬上就會接著動。這就是這兩個字合起來的畫面:suspended 是吊著,animation 是「生命、會動」的老意思。所以整個詞比較像「動作被吊在空中」,而不是「動作結束了」。不管講的是石頭底下的青蛙,還是等一個決定的辦公室,這張圖都一樣。

One branch

被吊在半空的生命與動作

兩個意思吊住的東西不一樣:一個吊住的是身體的運作,一個吊住的是人和事情的進度。共同點是都還能再動起來。

noun · C1

A state in which a person or animal is not conscious and the body works extremely slowly, so that they seem almost dead, but can come back to normal life later when the conditions are right.

假死狀態