核心畫面

Something you were never going to keep. Picture a cup at a food stall: thin, cheap, made in a factory by the thousand, and already on its way to the bin before you have finished drinking. The point is not that it broke. The point is that throwing it out was the plan from the start, and that is why nobody minds. Every use of the word can be read as that same cup wearing a different shape — a flyer pushed into your hand, a remark tossed out at lunch, an account opened to ask one question. Each is light, each is meant to last a moment, and each is easy to let go of.

可以想成一樣東西,你從頭到尾就沒打算留著它。像小吃攤的那個杯子:薄薄的、便宜、工廠一次做幾千個,你還沒喝完它就已經在更多收起可以想成一樣東西,你從頭到尾就沒打算留著它。像小吃攤的那個杯子:薄薄的、便宜、工廠一次做幾千個,你還沒喝完它就已經在往垃圾桶的路上了。重點不是它壞了。重點是「要丟」這件事從一開始就在計畫裡,所以丟的時候沒有人心疼。throwaway 的每一個用法,都是這個杯子換了個樣子:塞到你手上的一張傳單、午餐時順口說出去的一句話、為了問一個問題才註冊的帳號。它們都很輕,都只打算存在一下下,也都很容易放手。

From the word’s history

The source says throwaway is formed straight from the phrasal verb throw away. So the picture is not a guess about the word's history — the action is sitting inside the word, and the two halves still say what they say.

資料說 throwaway 就是直接從動詞片語 throw away(丟掉)變來的。所以上面那個畫面不是猜的:那個動作本來就在字裡面,兩個部分現在讀起來還是原來的意思。

Wiktionary entries for throwaway, adjective and noun (source_refs kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:1466630480 and :1466637430): "Deverbal from throw away."

Two branches

本來就要丟的東西,以及對這種風氣的批評

這一家最靠近核心畫面:手裡真的有一樣本來就要丟的東西。從單一件物品,延伸到一整個社會的習慣。

adjective · B2

Throwaway products are made cheaply so that you use them once or a few times and then throw them away, instead of keeping them or having them repaired.

用完即丟的;拋棄式的

本來就要丟的話

被丟掉的東西從實物換成了話。說的人沒有要留著那句話,所以它很輕。

adjective · B2

Used in phrases such as a throwaway remark, a throwaway line and a throwaway comment: something said or written quickly, without much thought behind it, and not meant to be important.

隨口說的(話)