喜樂美語

核心畫面

Picture fingers on a small key, turning it round and round. Inside, a spring is being pulled tighter with every turn, and the power you are putting in has nowhere to go yet. Two things can happen next: the tension is let go, or the turning simply reaches its last round and the job is done. Almost every use of wind-up sits on one of those two moments.

「wind-up」可以想成一根手指捏著小鑰匙，一圈一圈往同一個方向轉。每轉一圈，裡面的彈簧就更緊一點，你使的力氣先被…更多收起「wind-up」可以想成一根手指捏著小鑰匙，一圈一圈往同一個方向轉。每轉一圈，裡面的彈簧就更緊一點，你使的力氣先被存起來，還沒有出口。接下來只有兩種結果：一是鬆手，存住的力量一次放出來；二是轉到最後一圈，整條線捲完，事情就結束了。這個字的各種意思，大致都落在這兩個時刻上。先提醒發音：這裡的 wind 唸 /waɪnd/，跟 find 押韻。

From the word’s history

The source records both the noun and the adjective as deverbal from the phrasal verb wind up.

來源把名詞和形容詞都記為從動詞片語 wind up 直接轉過來的（deverbal from wind up）：先有「把東西轉緊、捲完」這個動作，再把整個動作拿來當名詞和形容詞用。

Wiktionary (kaikki extract) wind-up: etymology_text 'Deverbal from wind up.' (noun and adj entries)

Three branches

轉緊發條，機器才會動

這一條就是核心畫面本身，沒有轉彎：真的有一個鑰匙，真的有一個彈簧。

adjective · B1

Used about a toy, clock, radio, or other machine that you make work by turning a key or handle several times; the turning tightens a spring inside, and the spring then slowly lets go and moves the machine.

發條式的／手搖的

把張力一圈圈捲起來

這一條取的是核心畫面的前半段：轉緊的那幾圈。被捲緊的可以是彈簧，可以是投手的手臂，也可以是一個人的情緒。

noun · B2

In baseball, the movement a pitcher makes just before throwing: the arm swings back and the body lifts and turns, storing power that is then let go into the pitch.

（棒球）投球前的擺臂蓄力動作

捲到最後一圈，收工

這一條取的是核心畫面的後半段：一直捲、一直捲，捲完了，這件事也就完了。

noun · B2

The last part of a meeting, an event, or a long process, when the final things are being done to bring it to an end; it can also mean the end itself.

收尾階段／結束

原始詞典資料6 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。

wind-upnoun/ˈwaɪndˌʌp/

  • 1

    The end or conclusion of something.

    • Everyone is invited to our end-of-term wind-up party.
    • The wind-up is, that the father becomes bankrupt; the wife and daughters town-traders; the sons Greeks, Fancy-swells, Conveyancers (pickpockets), or Cracksmen (house breakers), and the New Drop is the last drop they ever take.
  • 2

    The punch line of a joke or comedy routine.

  • 3

    A humorous attempt to fool somebody; a practical joke in which the victim is encouraged to believe something untrue.

    • "Is this a wind-up, or what?" "No, no, it's true. He can really do it."
  • 4

    ball-gamesbaseballgamesThe phase of making a pitch where the pitcher moves his or her arm backwards before throwing the ball.

    • He's into his wind-up. Here comes the pitch. Strike on the inside corner!
  • 5

    broadcastingmediatelevisionA circular hand gesture, supposed to represent the winding on of film, used to signal to a performer to finish quickly.

wind-upadj/ˈwaɪndˌʌp/

  • 1

    Of a machine, requiring winding up in order to function.

    • Maybe you could get a wind-up toy to distract him.

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。