核心畫面

`sure` is having one solid spot to stand on inside your head — you know this, so you can move. `un-` takes that spot away. Picture someone at a fork in the road holding no map: the roads are all still there, but nothing inside them says which one is right, so the foot goes up and comes back down in the same place. That hesitation is the whole word, and English lets you point it at two different things — at the world (which road?) or at yourself (can I even walk this?).

sure 可以想成心裡有一個踩得穩的落腳點——你知道這件事,所以敢往前走。un- 把那個落腳點拿掉。畫面比較像一個人更多收起sure 可以想成心裡有一個踩得穩的落腳點——你知道這件事,所以敢往前走。un- 把那個落腳點拿掉。畫面比較像一個人站在岔路口、手上沒有地圖:路都還在那裡,但心裡沒有任何東西告訴他哪一條才對,於是腳抬起來又放回原地。這份猶豫就是整個字;而英文允許你把它指向兩個不同的方向——指向外面的世界(哪條路?),或指向自己(我走得動嗎?)。

Two branches

對事情沒有把握

猶豫指向外面:是那件事還沒定下來,不是你有問題。

not certain · adjective · B2

Not certain about something, or not certain what you should do next.

不確定;沒把握

對自己沒有把握

同一個少掉的落腳點,只是這次少在自己身上:不是外面的事還沒定,而是「我行不行」這件事還沒定。標記這個轉向的通常是 of yourself。

lacking confidence · adjective · B2

Not having enough confidence in yourself — often when you are new or young.

缺乏自信

原始詞典資料2 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。

unsureadj

  • 1

    uncertain, ambivalent.

    • I'm still unsure whether to attend the wedding.
  • 2

    unstable or precarious

    • unsure footing

資料來源:英文維基詞典 English WiktionaryCC BY-SA 4.0)。 原文照列,未經改寫。