喜樂美語

核心畫面

You can picture thing as the most empty container word English has — a blank slot you point at when you don't have, or don't need, a more exact name. The most physical version is an object you gesture at ('pass me that thing'). But the slot stretches: fill it with an action, an idea, a feeling, a fact, a whole situation — and it still works ('the strange thing is...', 'how are things?'). Because it can hold almost anything, English then bolts it into dozens of fixed phrases that each squeeze one extra shade out of this same empty pointer.

可以把 thing 想成英文裡最空的一個容器詞——當你手邊沒有、或不需要更精確的名字時，就用它指一下那個東西。最具體…更多收起可以把 thing 想成英文裡最空的一個容器詞——當你手邊沒有、或不需要更精確的名字時，就用它指一下那個東西。最具體的版本是你伸手一指的實物（pass me that thing，把那個東西拿給我）。但這個空格會伸縮：你也可以把一個動作、一個念頭、一種感覺、一件事實、一整個情況塞進去，它照樣成立（the strange thing is…、how are things?）。正因為它幾乎什麼都裝得下，英文又把它鎖進幾十個固定片語裡，每一個都從這同一個「空指標」擠出一點點額外的味道。

原始詞典資料26 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。

Thingnoun/θɪŋ/

  • 1

    historicalA public assembly or judicial council in a Germanic country.

    • But when the earl held a Thing, then Thorkell spoke on behalf of the freemen, told the need of the men, and bade the earl spare his people.
    • The supreme political unit of the tribe was the assembly of its free male warriors. This assembly, called the "Thing", served as the court of highest instance for dealing with individuals who had broken fundamental elements of the tribal pact, an occasion to meet and to reinforce ties among members, and, often, an assembly which preceded a military campaign.
  • 2

    informalNickname or appellative for numerous "things", including fictional characters.

  • 3

    slanginformalNickname for the Volkswagen 181.

thingnoun/θɪŋ/

  • 1

    That which is considered to exist as a separate entity, object, quality or concept.

    • Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us...
    • The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast about […], or offering services that let you […], "share the things you love with the world" and so on. But the real way to build a successful online business is to be better than your rivals at undermining people's control of their own attention.
  • 2

    A word, symbol, sign, or other referent that can be used to refer to any entity.

  • 3

    An individual object or distinct entity.

  • 4

    lawWhatever can be owned.

  • 5

    lawCorporeal object.

  • 6

    Possessions or equipment; stuff; gear.

    • Hold on, let me just grab my things.
  • 7

    datedThe latest fad or fashion.

    • To go to bed late, to rise late, to breakfast late, to dine late, and to visit late, is to be “quite the thing,” or in good English, which you may understand better than the first phrase, to be in the fashion.
    • After a slow start it became the thing to do; 'everyone went to see Pbi-Pbi, no one talked of anything but Pbi-Pbi[…]'
  • 8

    informalA custom or practice.

    • Cheek kissing is a French thing; you get used to it after a while.
另外 13 個記錄的用法
  • 9

    informalA genuine concept, entity or phenomenon; something that actually exists (often contrary to expectation or belief).

    • Q: Bacon pie? Is that a thing? A: Yes, I checked into it, and it's a thing. Some people are even connoisseurs about it.
    • Now I don't know how many of those male flight attendants are male lesbians -- you know... (Laughter) Well, it's a thing. I mean, there's a -- it's a -- there's a feminist professor down in Tampa who's discovered a male lesbian
  • 10

    informalA unit or container, usually containing consumable goods.

    • Could you get me a thing of apple juice at the store?
    • I just ate a whole thing of jelly beans.
  • 11

    informalA problem, dilemma, or complicating factor.

    • The car looks cheap, but the thing is, I have doubts about its safety.
    • That's the thing: we don't know where he is.
  • 12

    slangA penis.

    • “Oh Gertie it’s true. It’s all true. They’ve got a horrid gash instead of a thrilling thing.”
  • 13

    slangA vulva or vagina.

    • ‘They reckon she lets her dogs lick her thing.’
  • 14

    A living being or creature.

    • you poor thing
    • sweet young thing
  • 15

    Used after a noun to refer dismissively to the situation surrounding the noun's referent.

    • Oh yeah, I'm supposed to promote that vision thing.
    • Don’t forget to have Gomez postpone that shooting thing. (in reference to the execution of Fernandez)
  • 16

    informalThat which is favoured; personal preference.

    • it's not really my thing
    • Tool talk [is] not my thing.
  • 17

    informalOne's typical routine, habits, or manner.

    • let me do my thing; I'm here doing my thing
    • But I'm just a guy from Missoula, Montana, doing my thing, going down the road like everybody else.
  • 18

    historicalA public assembly or judicial council in a Germanic country.

    • In accordance with Old Germanic custom men came to the thing fully armed, [...]
    • The goðar seem both to have received payment of thing-fararkaup from those who stayed home and at the same time compensated those who went to the thing, and it cannot be seen whether they had any profit from these transactions.
  • 19

    informalA romantic relationship.

    • I can screw you in front of everyone. I don't care, we have a thing going on, you know. I love you,” she said.
  • 20

    informalA romantic couple.

    • Are John and Jennifer a thing again? I thought they broke up.
  • 21

    Girl; attractive woman.

    • Look at the nyash on that thing!

thingverb/θɪŋ/

  • 1

    rareTo express as a thing; to reify.

這個拼法也被記錄為下列字的變化形：

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。