去試探命運
把「擺出好處、引它靠過來」的對象從人換成命運：你做的事、說的話，像是在老天面前晃一晃，看它會不會伸手。字根裡那層「伸手去試」的意思，在這一族特別聽得出來。
tempt fate (take a needless risk) · verb · B2
to take a risk you do not need to take, in a way that may cause serious problems.
冒險；自找麻煩
核心畫面
Picture someone holding a plate of hot food just under your nose, or a shortcut opening up exactly when you are tired. Nothing pushes you — the thing is simply placed close enough and made to look good enough that you lean toward it on your own. That leaning-toward is what tempt sets off: it works on what you want, not on what you have decided.
可以想成有人把一盤剛做好的東西端到你鼻子前面，或是在你正累的時候，眼前剛好出現一條省事的近路。沒有人推你，只是那樣東…更多收起
可以想成有人把一盤剛做好的東西端到你鼻子前面，或是在你正累的時候，眼前剛好出現一條省事的近路。沒有人推你，只是那樣東西被擺得夠近、夠好看，你就自己往它傾過去。tempt 要的就是這個「傾過去」的瞬間——它作用在你的「想要」，不是在你的「決定」。From the word’s history
Tempt came into English around 1200 through Old French tempter, from Latin temptare 'to feel, try out, test; attempt to influence' (a variant of tentare 'handle, touch, try'). The older 'testing / touching to see what happens' layer never fully left: it is what you still hear in tempt fate, which is closer to poking something than to charming it.
tempt 走的是拉丁文 temptare（摸摸看、試試看、試探、設法影響）這條路，經古法文 tempter 在十三世紀初進入英文。那層比較老的「伸手去試」的味道並沒有消失：tempt fate 裡的 tempt，聽起來就不是「誘惑」命運，而是伸手去戳它、看它會不會出手。
Online Etymology Dictionary — https://www.etymonline.com/word/tempt
From the picture
Also in this word
entice · verb · B1
to try to make someone do something by making it look good or fun.
誘使；吸引
allure, tempt · verb · B1
To make someone want something, or want to do something they feel they should not.
誘惑；使心動
原始詞典資料3 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。
temptverb/tɛmpt/
- 1
To provoke someone to do wrong, especially by promising a reward; to entice.
- She tempted me to eat the apple.
- By Heav’ns, ſuch Virtues, join’d with ſuch Succeſs, Diſtract my very Soul: Our Father’s Fortune Wou’d almoſt tempt us to renounce his Precepts.
- 2
To attract; to allure.
- Its glossy skin tempted me.
- The next time you are trout fishing and none of your lures tempts the fish, smoke a spoon hook and cast it.
- 3
To provoke something; to court.
- It would be tempting fate.
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。