third class 三等車廂／三等艙｜字脈

核心畫面

Picture a short list of grades written from the top down: first class, second class, third class. Third class is the bottom step of that list. Whatever is being — a seat on a train, a bag of post, a university degree — the words only say where it sits: at the bottom, cheapest, lowest. That is why the same two words can name a hard wooden seat, a pile of advertising and a degree certificate without changing their meaning.

可以想成一張由上往下排的等級表：first class、second class、third class。third…更多收起

可以想成一張由上往下排的等級表：first class、second class、third class。third class 就是這張表最下面的那一階。被排的東西可以是火車座位、一批郵件，也可以是一張學位證書。這兩個字本身不評論東西好不好，只說它落在排序的最底下——最便宜、最低的一級。正因為它講的只是位置，所以同樣兩個字可以同時指硬木座位、一疊廣告傳單和一張成績最低的學位。

One branch

排序裡最低的那一階

三個意思共用同一張等級表，差別只在被排的是什麼東西：座位、郵件、還是學位。

noun · B1

The cheapest and least comfortable part of a train or a ship, below first class and second class. On British trains and ships long ago it meant hard seats and crowded space, and in some countries third-class tickets are still sold today.

三等車廂／三等艙