喜樂美語

核心畫面

One way to picture it: a ship driven onto the rocks and broken apart — the violent moment of breaking, and the ruined thing left behind afterwards, both live in this one word.

一艘船被風浪推上礁石，撞碎了。這個字裡同時裝著兩樣東西——撞碎的那一瞬間（動詞：把它弄壞到不能再用），和撞碎之後留在…更多收起一艘船被風浪推上礁石，撞碎了。這個字裡同時裝著兩樣東西——撞碎的那一瞬間（動詞：把它弄壞到不能再用），和撞碎之後留在那裡的東西（名詞：那堆殘骸）。而且 wreck 的壞法有個特點：不是磨損、不是有點裂，是「碎了、廢了、修不回來了」。從沉船這個畫面出發，後面不管講的是車禍、計畫、還是一個人的狀態，你要抓的都是同一種嚴重程度。

From the word’s history

From Old Norse via Anglo-Norman wrek, ultimately tied to Proto-Germanic *wrekaną "to drive, pursue" (the source of Old English wrecan, modern wreak) — the picture of something driven, pushed onto the rocks.

經由古諾斯語和盎格魯-諾曼語進入英文，字根可追到原始日耳曼語的 *wrekaną「驅趕、追逼」（英文 wreak 就是它的直系後代）。這個「被驅趕」的意思正好貼合沉船的畫面：船不是自己壞掉的，是被風浪推上去撞碎的。北歐海洋民族把這個字帶進英語，難怪它最早、最本命的意思就是船難。

Wiktionary: wreck (Middle English wrek ← Anglo-Norman wrek ← Old Norse, from Proto-Germanic *wrekaną)

Four branches

動詞：撞碎、毀掉

這是沉船畫面裡「碎掉的那一瞬間」，從船擴大到任何東西、任何計畫。

wreck a ship · verb · C2

To damage a ship so badly at sea that it sinks, often after it hits rocks or meets a storm.

使船失事

名詞：留下來的殘骸

同一個沉船畫面，鏡頭往後移了一點：不看撞擊，看撞擊之後剩下的那堆東西。

shipwreck · noun · C2

A ship that went down and now lies under the sea or on the rocks.

沉船

人的崩潰狀態

把「殘骸」放在人身上：人被壓力、疲累或疾病撞過，剩下的就是一個沒法正常運作的自己。

person, exhausted or nervous · noun · C2

A person who looks or feels extremely nervous, tired, or unwell.

垮掉的人

美式：事故本身

美式英語把這個字從「殘骸」順手拿來指造成殘骸的那場事故，是同一畫面的另一個切點。

crash, American usage · noun · C2

A crash with cars, buses, or trains — a mainly American way to name the accident.

車禍

原始詞典資料12 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。

wrecknoun/ˈɹɛk/

  • 1

    Something or someone that has been ruined.

    • He was an emotional wreck after the death of his wife.
  • 2

    The remains of something that has been severely damaged or worn down.

    • To the fair haven of my native home, / The vvreck of vvhat I was, fatigued I come, […]
    • In 2006, 18-year-old Nikki Catsouras was killed in a car wreck in Lake Forest.
  • 3

    An event in which something is damaged through collision.

    • Hard and obſtinate, / As is a rocke amidſt the raging floods: / gaynſt vvhich a ſhip of ſuccour deſolate, / doth ſuffer vvreck both of her ſelfe and goods.
    • the wrecks of matter and the crush of worlds
  • 4

    nauticaltransportAn event in which something is damaged through collision.

  • 5

    lawGoods, etc. cast ashore by the sea after a shipwreck.

    • 2. ... Wreck includes the cargo, stores and tackle of a vessel and all parts of a vessel separated from the vessel, and the property of persons who belong to, are on board or have quitted a vessel that is wrecked, stranded or in distress at any place in Canada.
  • 6

    biologynatural-sciencesornithologyA large number of birds that have been brought to the ground, injured or dead, by extremely adverse weather.

    • [I]n 1952 more than 7,000 were involved in such a "wreck" in Britain and Ireland.

wreckverb/ˈɹɛk/

  • 1

    To destroy violently; to cause severe damage to something, to a point where it no longer works, or is useless.

    • He wrecked the car in a collision.
    • That adulterous hussy wrecked my marriage!
  • 2

    To ruin or dilapidate.

  • 3

    obsoleteTo plunder goods from wrecked ships.

  • 4

    To dismantle wrecked vehicles or other objects, to reclaim any useful parts.

  • 5

    To involve in a wreck; hence, to cause to suffer ruin; to balk of success, and bring disaster on.

    • Weak and envy'd, if they should conspire, / They wreck themselves, and he hath his Desire.
  • 6

    To be involved in a wreck; to be damaged or destroyed.

    • […] Mrs. Marleen Ketchum was not quite certain if the train wrecked or if the volcano blew its top. It took a moment before she was certain it had to be the passenger train.

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。