核心畫面

One way to hold this word: it is a line being drawn, with God on one side and this thing on the other. In religious writing the line is meant seriously — this person, this act, does not belong on God's side, and from there the word slides easily into plain 'wicked'. The complaining use can be thought of as the same line drawn for fun: four in the morning is put outside anything a reasonable world would allow. The heavy word does light work, and the gap between the weight and the subject is the joke.

可以想成:這個字在畫一條界線。神在一邊,被講的東西在另一邊。在宗教文字裡,這條線是認真的:這個人、這件事,不屬於神那更多收起可以想成:這個字在畫一條界線。神在一邊,被講的東西在另一邊。在宗教文字裡,這條線是認真的:這個人、這件事,不屬於神那一邊。從這裡它很容易滑到單純的「邪惡」。抱怨時間的那個用法,可以想成是同一條線拿來開玩笑:早上四點被畫到「任何講理的世界都不會允許」的外面。用很重的字去講很小的事,重量和對象之間的落差本身就是笑點。

From the word’s history

From Middle English ungodli: un- 'not' plus godli, which goes back to Old English godlīċ, god plus a suffix meaning 'having the character of'.

從中古英文 ungodli 來的,是 un-(不)加上 godli。godli 可以追到古英文的 godlīċ,也就是 god 加上表示「有…樣子」的字尾。所以這個字一開始就是「不像神的」,宗教的意思是它的起點。

Wiktionary entry for ungodly, etymology 1 (kaikki extract, source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:1077838029): "From Middle English ungodli ... from un- ... + godli ... derived from Old English godlīċ ... from god + -līċ."

From the picture

同一條線拿來誇張抱怨

把一個宗教上很重的字搬去講早上四點或一桌吃不完的菜。這是教學上的連結,用來記住這個字的力道從哪來;它不是在說歷史上哪個意思先出現。

adjective · B2

Used in front of a noun to complain that something is extreme and annoying, above all a time of day that is far too early or far too late.

(時間、數量)誇張到不合理的

Also in this word

adjective · C1

Showing no respect for God, or not living the way a religion teaches. In the same religious and literary writing it often widens to mean simply wicked.

不敬神的;(引申)邪惡的