流失掉的量，和流失掉的東西
破洞的米袋本身。可以講「漏了多少」，也可以講「地上這一堆是什麼」。
noun · B2
The loss of something useful — food, water, materials, money, even people's ability — because it is used badly or allowed to spoil; also the amount that is lost in this way.
損耗；浪費掉的量
核心畫面
Think of a sack of rice with a small hole in one corner. Nobody is throwing the rice away. It simply leaks, a grain at a time, while people walk past. At the end of the week there is a little pile on the floor, and you can sweep it up and see exactly how much you lost. `Wastage` is that pile — the quiet losing, and the size of it. The ending `-age` is what adds the measuring: `waste` is the act, `wastage` is the amount that went.
可以想成一袋米，角落破了一個小洞。沒有人在丟米。它只是一粒一粒漏出來，而大家從旁邊走過去。一個星期之後，地上積了一小…更多收起
可以想成一袋米，角落破了一個小洞。沒有人在丟米。它只是一粒一粒漏出來，而大家從旁邊走過去。一個星期之後，地上積了一小堆，你可以掃起來，看清楚到底少了多少。wastage 就是那一小堆：安靜地流失，加上流失的量。字尾 -age 加進來的就是「量」這件事。waste 是那個動作，wastage 是跑掉的那一份。From the word’s history
From waste + -age. The suffix -age often turns an action into the amount or result of that action, which is why this noun so easily sits next to a number or a percentage.
由 waste 加上字尾 -age 組成。-age 常常把一個動作變成「那個動作的量或結果」。這也解釋了為什麼這個名詞特別容易跟數字、百分比一起出現。
Wiktionary entry for 'wastage' supplied in this packet, source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:836025409: 'From waste + -age.'
Two branches
人數自己慢慢變少
破洞這次開在公司的人數上。沒有人被趕走，位子只是一個一個空掉，而且沒有補人。
noun · C1
`Natural wastage` is the slow drop in the number of workers in a company that happens because people retire, resign or move on and are not replaced — so nobody has to be told to leave.
自然離職減員