喜樂美語

核心畫面

You can think of wager as putting something on the table before the result is known. Two sides agree about something that has not happened yet, and each one sets down money, or a box of oranges, or a week of carrying someone's bag. From that moment until the result comes in, what you set down is not quite yours. Everything this word does grows out of that one moment of putting it down.

wager 可以想成「先把東西擺上桌，再等結果揭曉」。兩邊講好一個還沒發生的結果，各自把錢、一箱橘子、或一星期的勞力…更多收起wager 可以想成「先把東西擺上桌，再等結果揭曉」。兩邊講好一個還沒發生的結果，各自把錢、一箱橘子、或一星期的勞力放下去。從放下去那一刻到結果出來之前，那樣東西已經不完全是你的了。這個字的每個用法，都是從這個「先押」的動作長出來的。

From the word’s history

The evidence packet traces wager to Middle English wajour, from Old Northern French wagier 'to pledge', and further back to Frankish *wadi 'a pledge'. A pledge is exactly something handed over as security, which is the putting-down in the core image, and the same root is behind the word wage.

來源資料把 wager 追到中古英語 wajour、古北法語 wagier（抵押、發誓），再往前是法蘭克語的 wadi「抵押品」。抵押品就是「先交出去當保證的東西」，正好就是核心畫面裡那個放下去的動作；資料也指出 wage 跟它同源。

Wiktionary (kaikki) entry for wager, etymology 1, as supplied in the evidence packet: Middle English wajour < Old Northern French wagier (to pledge) < Frankish *wadi (pledge); see also wage.

Two branches

押注：把東西擺上桌

這一家就是核心畫面本身：一個講好的賭約，以及押下去的那樣東西。名詞和動詞是同一個動作的兩個角度。

noun · C1

An agreement between people that one side will pay money, or hand something over, depending on how a race, game or other uncertain event turns out. The word can also mean the money or thing that is put at risk.

賭注；打賭

拿把握當賭注

押下去的東西從錢換成自己的判斷。動作還是一樣：我這麼有把握，敢把它擺上桌。

verb · C1

Used to say that you feel sure something is true, even though you cannot prove it. It sounds as if you would be willing to bet on being right.

我敢說

原始詞典資料8 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。

Wagername

  • 1

    A surname.

wagernoun詞源 1/ˈweɪ.d͡ʒə(ɹ)/

  • 1

    A bet; a stake; a pledge.

    • 1842-43, Edgar Allan Poe, "The Mystery of Marie Roget" “This thicket was a singular, an exceedingly singular one. It was unusually dense. Within its naturally walled enclosure were three extraordinary stones, forming a seat with a back and footstool.… , whose boys were in the habit of closely examining the shrubberies about them in search of the bark of the sassafras. Would it be a rash wager – a wager of one thousand to one – that a day never passed over the heads of these boys without finding at least one of them ensconced in the umbrageous hall, and enthroned upon its natural throne? Those who would hesitate at such a wager, have either never been boys themselves, or have forgotten the boyish nature."
    • They have hired high-tech security companies to monitor wagers at a granular level and implemented sophisticated algorithmic systems to spot unusual gambling activity, ensuring that no athlete would be foolish enough to wager on a game. […] And prop bets have proved particularly ripe for manipulation. A prop bet is a wager on a specific occurrence during a game, rather than on the final result.
  • 2

    The subject of a bet.

  • 3

    lawA contract by which two parties or more agree that a certain sum of money, or other thing, shall be paid or delivered to one of them, on the happening or not happening of an uncertain event.

    • Besides these Plates, the Wagers may be as the Persons please among themselves, but the Horses must be evidenced by good Testimonies to have been bred in Ireland.
    • If any atheist can stake his soul for a wager against such an inexhaustible disproportion, let him never hereafter accuse others of credulity.
  • 4

    lawAn offer to make oath.

wagerverb詞源 1/ˈweɪ.d͡ʒə(ɹ)/

  • 1

    To bet something; to put it up as collateral.

    • I'd wager my boots on it.
    • They have hired high-tech security companies to monitor wagers at a granular level and implemented sophisticated algorithmic systems to spot unusual gambling activity, ensuring that no athlete would be foolish enough to wager on a game.
  • 2

    To suppose; to dare say.

    • I'll wager that Johnson knows something about all this.

這個拼法也被記錄為下列字的變化形：

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。