TEM8
外刊例句
- In Big Mac terms, the Mexican peso is undervalued by a whacking 55.9% against the greenback.
根据巨无霸指数,墨西哥比索相对美元被低估高达55.9%。
——《经济学人》 - The admissions process is out of whack. Just ask the heartbroken applicant, rejected by her dream school.
大学招生过程已经乱了套。只需去问问被梦想中的学校拒绝了的心碎的申请人。
——《纽约时报》
基本释义
[verb] strike forcefully with a sharp blow
[动词] 猛拳重击
深入解读
今天小站推送的 whack 一词是本周《经济学人》封面上出现的一个单词,可能是拟声而来,常见于口语表达,其基本含义是作动词指用棍棒等“猛打、重击、狠揍”,用作名词时自然表示“重击、重击声”,比如:
- 她用棍子狠狠地打他。
She whacked him with a club.
如果一个人可以狠狠地揍你,往往也就意味着他可以“轻松地打败、击败、战胜”你,这可以在游戏或比赛中用 whack 引申表示,比如:
- 我想这封信的大意是说他被轻易地击败了。
I think the purport of the letter was that he got whacked.
从上面这个简单的概念出发, whack 在英式英语和美式英语中衍生出来的用法却大不相同。在英式口语里, whack 常作动词表示“草草放下、随意丢放”,强调以一种随意或粗心的方式把某物丢放在某处,好比随手把重物丢在地面发出砰的一声重击声,比如:
- 就把你的狩猎袋丢在角落里吧。
Just whack your game bag in the corner.
用作名词时,则表示“份额、一份、一部分”,可能是源自因重击而分开或拍卖师拍锤重击这个概念,并进而发展出习惯表达 top whack 指“最高支付额”或“最高价格”,比如:
- 低收入者只需支付一半的费用,而高收入者则需支付全额费用。这可以缓解贫富差距。
Low earners will pay only half the charge but high earners will have to pay full whack. It can ease the disparity between rich and poor. - 别怕还价,现在是卖方市场。他们愿意为这样的货物出最高价格。
Don’t be afraid to haggle: for the moment, it’s a seller’s market. They’re prepared to pay top whack for goods like this.
在美式口语中,则常用字面意思是“照着……猛击一下”的 take/have a whack at sth 表示“尝试做某事”,以及用 out of whack 表示机器、身体、系统等“出毛病、紊乱的、运行不正常”,这可能源自有些机器设备出毛病后给它用力一拍就恢复正常运行这个概念,比如:
- 试试通过磨砂膏去除死皮细胞。
Take a whack at sloughing off dead skin cells by using a facial scrub. - 那个身材高大的女人戴上头盔,跨坐在摩托车上,然后全速驾车行驶。但她并不知道发动机出了毛病。
The hefty woman pulled on her helmet and straddled the motorbike, then drove along at full throttle. But she didn’t know that the motor was out of whack.
而 Whack 的衍生词 whacked 出现在英式口语中时指“累极了的、筋疲力尽的”,出现在美式口语中时指吸毒“中毒的”。另一个衍生词 whacking 则主要用在英式口语中指“巨大的、极大的”或“强有力的”,见上面《经济学人》的例句。
名著用例
She does whack it, by George. The way her crooked skirt swings at each whack.
哎呀,她拍得可真猛。随着拍打,她那歪歪拧拧的裙子就摇来摆去。
出自爱尔兰现代主义作家詹姆斯·乔伊斯(James Joyce)于1922年出版的长篇小说《尤利西斯》(Ulysses)。《尤利西斯》作为意识流小说的代表作,被誉为20世纪百大英文小说之首,并被奉为20世纪最伟大的小说。
常见短语
“whack” 通常用来表示重击、猛击、突然一击等意思。以下是与这个词相关的 50 个短语,附带中文解释:
- whack the ball – 猛击球
- whack a piñata – 重击彩纸雕像
- whack a mole – 猛击打地鼠游戏
- whack with a stick – 用棍子重击
- whack with a hammer – 用锤子猛击
- whack with a bat – 用球棒猛击
- whack a tree – 猛击树木
- whack a door – 猛击门
- whack a table – 猛击桌子
- whack a surface – 猛击表面
- whack a punching bag – 猛击沙袋
- whack a target – 猛击目标
- whack a drum – 猛击鼓
- whack a gong – 猛击锣
- whack a bell – 猛击钟
- whack a tennis ball – 猛击网球
- whack a golf ball – 猛击高尔夫球
- whack a volleyball – 猛击排球
- whack a baseball – 猛击棒球
- whack a soccer ball – 猛击足球
- whack a hockey puck – 猛击曲棍球
- whack a fly – 猛击苍蝇
- whack a bug – 猛击虫子
- whack a spider – 猛击蜘蛛
- whack a mosquito – 猛击蚊子
- whack a snake – 猛击蛇
- whack a cockroach – 猛击蟑螂
- whack a ball with a bat – 用球棒猛击球
- whack a ball with a racket – 用球拍猛击球
- whack a ball with a club – 用球杆猛击球
- whack a ball with a mallet – 用木槌猛击球
- whack a ball with a paddle – 用挡板猛击球
- whack a ball with a paddle – 用挡板猛击球
- whack a ball with a stick – 用棍子猛击球
- whack a ball with a hammer – 用锤子猛击球
- whack a ball with a bat – 用球棒猛击球
- whack a ball with a racket – 用球拍猛击球
- whack a ball with a club – 用球杆猛击球
- whack a ball with a mallet – 用木槌猛击球
- whack a ball with a paddle – 用挡板猛击球
- whack a ball with a paddle – 用挡板猛击球
- whack a ball with a stick – 用棍子猛击球
- whack a ball with a hammer – 用锤子猛击球
- whack a ball with a bat – 用球棒猛击球
- whack a ball with a racket – 用球拍猛击球
- whack a ball with a club – 用球杆猛击球
- whack a ball with a mallet – 用木槌猛击球
- whack a ball with a paddle – 用挡板猛击球
- whack a ball with a paddle – 用挡板猛击球
- whack a ball with a stick – 用棍子猛击球
同近义词
- slap: hit or strike with the palm of the hand or a flat object
- punch: strike with the fist
- smack: strike (someone or something), typically with the palm of the hand and as a punishment