字本身讀不出來
最貼近字面的一組：東西就在眼前，但那些記號解不開。擋住你的是記號本身的狀態。
adjective · B2
Unreadable writing is so untidy, faded or damaged that you cannot work out what the letters say.
看不清楚字的
核心畫面
Picture yourself holding something and trying to get the meaning out of it, and failing. The paper is right there in your hand; the meaning stays shut. That is the one picture under every use of unreadable, and the uses differ only in what is holding you out. Sometimes it is the shapes on the page. Sometimes the shapes are clear but the writing wears you down before the end. Sometimes what you are trying to read is a person's face. And sometimes it is not you reading at all, but a machine that cannot get at what is stored. Same closed door each time; different lock.
可以想成你手上拿著一個東西，想把裡面的意思拿出來，卻拿不出來。紙就在你手上，意思卻打不開。unreadable 的每…更多收起
可以想成你手上拿著一個東西，想把裡面的意思拿出來，卻拿不出來。紙就在你手上，意思卻打不開。unreadable 的每一個用法底下都是這個畫面，差別只在是什麼擋住你。有時候擋住你的是紙上那些形狀。有時候形狀很清楚，但你還沒讀到最後就撐不下去了。有時候你想讀的根本不是紙，而是一個人的臉。也有時候讀的人不是你，是一台機器，它拿不到裡面存的東西。每次都是同一扇打不開的門，只是鎖不一樣。From the word’s history
Wiktionary builds the word as un- + readable, and readable as read + -able. So it literally says 'cannot be read', and each modern use is just a different answer to the question: read by whom, and stopped by what?
依 Wiktionary 的說明，這個字是 un- 加 readable，而 readable 又是 read 加 -able。字面上就是「讀不了的」。今天的每一個用法，都只是在回答同一個問題的不同版本：是誰在讀，又是什麼把他擋住？
Wiktionary entry for unreadable, etymology_text in this packet (kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:692450312:18929)
Three branches
讀得下去嗎
字都看得清楚，擋住你的變成讀的過程：太悶、太繞、或太難受，讓你走不到最後一頁。
adjective · B2
An unreadable book, report or piece of writing is one you cannot get through, because it is so dull, so complicated, or so upsetting that you stop before the end.
讀不下去的
把人的臉當成一頁字
同一個畫面搬到人身上：英文把臉當成可以讀的一頁，讀不出來就是猜不透他。
adjective · B2
If someone's face or expression is unreadable, it gives you nothing to go on, so you cannot tell what they are thinking or feeling.
看不出心思的