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Verve is lively energy in the way someone does something — the spark and confidence that make a performance, a piece of writing, or a painting feel alive rather than merely correct.
Verve is lively energy in the way someone does somethingVerve指的是做事方式裡那股活潑的energy(活力) the spark and confidence that make a performance, a piece of writing, or a painting feel alive rather than merely correct是讓一場表演、一篇文章或一幅畫感覺鮮活而不只是正確的那種火花和自信。
You almost always meet it in a phrase like *with verve*: she played the piece with verve; the essay was written with real verve. It belongs to reviews, arts pages, and descriptions, so it carries a warm, slightly literary tone; nobody says it while ordering lunch.
You almost always meet it in a phrase like *with verve*幾乎都會看到'with verve'這個搭配 she played the piece with verve; the essay was written with real verve像'she played the piece with verve'(她演奏得很有神采)、'the essay was written with real verve'(這篇文章寫得很有生氣)。 It belongs to reviews, arts pages, and admiring descriptions常出現在評論、藝文版面和讚賞的描述裡 so it carries a warm, slightly literary tone帶著溫暖、稍微文學的語氣 nobody says it while ordering lunch沒有人點午餐的時候會用這個字。
Two things to notice. It is uncountable — *verve*, not *a verve* or *verves*. And it describes the *style* of doing, not the amount of effort.
Two things to notice有兩件事要注意。 It is uncountable這是不可數名詞 *verve*, not *a verve* or *verves*只說verve,不說a verve或verves。 And it describes the *style* of doing而且它形容的是做事的風格 not the amount of effort不是花了多少力氣。
A student can work extremely hard with no verve at all, and a lazy person can sing one song with tremendous verve. It sits close to *flair*, **, and *gusto*, and all four suggest doing something with an enjoyable, showing-off kind of confidence.
A student can work extremely hard with no verve at all學生可以拚命用功卻完全沒有verve and a lazy person can sing one song with tremendous verve而一個懶散的人也可以把一首歌唱得神采飛揚。 It sits close to *flair*, *panache*, and *gusto*它跟flair、panache、gusto這幾個字很接近 and all four suggest doing something with an enjoyable, showing-off kind of confidence這四個字都在講帶著自信、有點愛現又享受其中地做一件事。
組成Borrowed from French *verve*, which meant animation and spirit. Behind it, probably Late Latin *verva*, a variant of Latin *verba* — words, speech — the plural of *verbum*, a word. So the idea seems to have moved from a flow of lively speech to lively spirit in general.
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。
vervenoun/vɜːv/
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Enthusiasm, rapture, spirit, or vigour, especially of imagination such as that which animates an artist, musician, or writer, in composing or performing.
- His hands were strong and elegant; his experience of life evidently varied; his speech full of pith and verve; his manners forward, but perfectly presentable.
- They played through vacation to the fashionable of eight cities. […] Chicago he approved for a certain verve that transcended its loud accent—however, it was a Yale town, and as the Yale Glee Club was expected in a week the Triangle received only divided homage.
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obsoleteA particular skill in writing.
- If he be above Virgil, and is reſolv'd to follow his own Verve (as the French call it,) the Proverb will fall heavily upon him; Who teaches himſelf, has a Fool for his Maſter.
資料來源:英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary(CC BY-SA 4.0)。 原文照列,未經改寫。