腦子的反應力（本義）
這一支就是核心畫面本身：wits 指你當下的清醒與反應力，而下面那一整串片語，全是這個「腦子零件」在不同狀態下的樣子。
quick thinking (wits) · noun · C1
Your ability to think fast and make the right choices, especially when something happens suddenly. Usually used in the plural form wits.
頭腦
這個拼法底下其實是2個不同的字，意思沒有關係， 只是長得一樣。下面分開列出來。跳到 quick thinking (wits) · wit
1
wit
n核心畫面
One way to picture it: the mind working at speed — not how much you know, but how fast and how well it turns when something lands on you.
腦子「轉起來」的那個當下。wit 量的不是你肚子裡裝了多少知識，而是事情砸下來的那一秒，你的腦子轉不轉得動、轉得快不…更多收起
腦子「轉起來」的那個當下。wit 量的不是你肚子裡裝了多少知識，而是事情砸下來的那一秒，你的腦子轉不轉得動、轉得快不快。這也是為什麼它常用複數 wits——像是腦裡有好幾個零件同時在動，全都在的時候你反應敏捷，散掉了你就當機。從這個畫面出發，往一邊走是「反應快到能講出好笑話」，往另一邊走是「反應快到能保住自己」。From the word’s history
From Old English witt (understanding, the mind), on the same Germanic root as witan 'to know' and ultimately Proto-Indo-European *weyd- 'to see'. The oldest sense is plainly 'the mind itself'; the modern 'clever and funny' sense is a late narrowing — the mind showing off how quickly it works.
來自古英語 witt（理解力、心智），跟動詞 witan（知道）同源，再往上是原始印歐語 *weyd-（看見）——「看見」變成「知道」，是很多語言共有的路。所以 wit 最老的意思就是「腦子」本身，跟好笑完全無關；今天最常見的「機智幽默」反而是後來窄化出來的：腦子轉得漂亮，被拿來表演，就成了幽默。知道這個順序，就能理解為什麼一堆 wits 的片語講的都是「神智、反應」而不是「笑話」。
Wiktionary 'wit' (noun) etymology tree: Old English witt < Proto-West Germanic *witi < Proto-Germanic *witją, root *weyd- 'to see'
Two branches
轉得漂亮：機智與幽默
腦子轉得快這件事，一旦被拿出來表演給人看、還逗笑了人，就從「反應力」變成「風趣」——同一個能力的社交版本。
clever wit, humor · noun · C1
The skill of saying things that are clever and also funny, often in a quick, sharp way.
機智
A second word, same spelling
2
wit
n核心畫面
A different word that happens to share the spelling: the old verb 'to wit' meaning 'to know', frozen inside one formal phrase that introduces the exact thing meant.
這是另一個剛好同拼法的字，跟「機智」沒有關係。畫面可以想成：一句話先講了個籠統的說法，然後停下來說「也就是說——」，…更多收起
這是另一個剛好同拼法的字，跟「機智」沒有關係。畫面可以想成：一句話先講了個籠統的說法，然後停下來說「也就是說——」，把確切的那個人或那個東西點名出來。它是古英語動詞 witan（知道）留下的化石，整個字只活在 to wit 這個片語裡，離開它就不存在了。From the word’s history
A separate entry: from Old English witan 'to know' (Middle English witen), the verb rather than the noun witt. 'To wit' is a frozen infinitive — literally 'to know, namely' — and survives only in this legal/formal fossil.
這一條走的是動詞的路：古英語 witan（知道）→ 中古英語 witen，跟名詞 witt（心智）雖然同一個更古老的字根，但在英語裡是兩個不同的詞。to wit 是一個凍住的不定式，字面就是「要知道的是」，今天只剩法律和正式文書裡還在用，其他地方已經完全被 namely 取代。
Wiktionary 'wit' (verb) etymology tree: Old English witan < Proto-West Germanic *witan, root *weyd-
原始詞典資料10 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。
witnoun詞源 1/wɪt/
- 1
Sanity.
- He's gone completely out of his wits.
- 2
The senses.
- Keep your wits about you.
- 3
Intellectual ability; faculty of thinking, reasoning.
- Where she has gone to is beyond the wit of man to say.
- 4
The ability to think quickly; mental cleverness, especially under short time constraints.
- My father had a quick wit and a steady hand.
- 5
Intelligence; common sense.
- The opportunity was right in front of you, and you didn't even have the wit to take it!
- I gif the witt, I gif the strenght, / of all thou sees, of brede & lengthe; / thou shall be wonder wise. / Myrth and Ioy to haue at will, / All thi likyng to fulfill, / and dwell in paradise.
- 6
Humour, especially when clever or quick.
- The best man's speech was hilarious, full of wit and charm.
- Wit is just as much put upon—blamed for a thousand impertinences over which it would not have held for a moment its glittering shield; it is like the radiant fairy doomed to wander over earth, concealed and transformed, and only allowed on rare occasions to shine forth in its true and sparkling form. It is well that wit is an impalpable and ethereal substance, or it must long since have evaporated in indignation at that peculiarly wretched and mistaken race, its imitators.
- 7
A person who tells funny anecdotes or jokes; someone witty.
- Your friend is quite a wit, isn't he?
- Tuc[ca]. […] Can thy Author doe it impudently enough? / Hiſt[rio]. O, I warrant you, Captaine: and ſpitefully inough too; he ha's one of the moſt ouerflowing villanous wits, in Rome. He will ſlander any man that breathes; If he diſguſt him. / Tucca. I'le know the poor, egregious, nitty Raſcall; and he haue ſuch commendable Qualities, I'le cheriſh him: […]
witverb詞源 2/wɪt/
- 1
To know, be aware of (constructed with of when used intransitively).
- You committed terrible actions — to wit, murder and theft — and should be punished accordingly.
- They are meddling in matters that men should not wit of.
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。