Stories behind the words we use
詞彙濫觴 一些尋常字詞背後的源起故事
We say some things at the drop of a hat without knowing why. Here are two of them:
OK
How often do you say "OK"? You likely say it dozens of times a day. That's not surprising. OK is one of the most widely used terms in the world. In Boston during the early 1800s, using abbreviations was popular. Among some of the most popular abbreviations was OK. The term was short for "oll korrect," a misspelling of "all correct." People thought misspelling all correct on purpose was humorous. Since then, people have continued to say "OK" as an easy way of confirming something.
Say Cheese
"Say cheese!" Photographers use this simple phrase to command a smile from people. The "ch" and "ee" in "cheese" forces people's mouths into a smile when they say it. It was possibly made popular by an American newspaper article in 1943. The article offered a simple way to get an automatic smile: Say "cheese"!
Info Cloud
cheesy 代表很老套、很浮誇的意思
Hello, everyone. Welcome to Info Cloud. Rex, could we take a photo together? I want to post it to my social media.
Sure. Why not? OK.
Oh, no. My face looks so cheesy in this photo.
Hmm. You don't have anything on your face. What do you mean?
We say cheesy when something looks overdone, tacky or lame. I'm talking about my smile. It's too big and fake.
Well, I think it looks fine. But while we're on the topic, let's talk more about the word cheesy.
Anne Marie, what other things can be cheesy?
Hmm. When I think of cheesy, I think of predictable movies, romance novels or overused costumes at Halloween.
I have a good example. I wanted to get my wife a nice card, but all of the messages inside were too cheesy. I would never say those things in real life.
Cheesy sometimes has a connotation of cheap as well. Like my favorite pair of big sunglasses, I love them, but everyone tells me they're too cheesy.
當你跟外國朋友們聊天的時候，有時候會聽到 cheesy 這個字，或許你會以為他們是在形容跟 cheese 有關的食物，但通常不是那個意思。當你說一樣東西很 cheesy ，那就代表很老套、很浮誇的意思。My face looks cheesy in this photo. 我的臉部表情在這張照片看起來很誇張，也有點假假的。cheesy 也可以用來形容一件事情非常的老調牙，像是一段比較誇張的讚美，聽了可能會讓人翻白眼的那種，就可以用 cheesy 來形容。
Language Lab
misspelling n. 拼錯字
to spell (a word or name) incorrectly
- There is a misspelling in the news article.
那篇新聞報導裡有一個字拼錯。
- Alice is quick to find any misspelling because she used to be an editor.
Alice 能夠很快找到拼錯的字，她以前是一位編輯。
misspell v. 拼錯
to spell (a word or name) incorrectly
- Erban didn’t do great on his essay, because he had misspelled a lot of words.
Erban 的作文分數不高，因為他拼錯很多字。
humorous adj. 幽默的、滑稽的
causing laughter : funny
humor n. 幽默、幽默感
a funny or amusing quality
- Dereck has a strange sense of humor.
Dereck 的幽默感很奇怪。
- The children really enjoyed the movie because it was very humorous.
小朋友很喜歡那部電影，因為很滑稽好笑。
- Now is not the time to be humorous, we have a serious problem to discuss.
現在不是耍幽默的時候，我們有個很嚴重的問題要討論。
command v. 指示
to have and be able to use or control (something)
- The dog trainer uses hand signals to command a response from her dog.
訓練師用手勢來指示他要小狗做的動作。
command v. 命令
to give (someone) an order : to tell (someone) to do something in a forceful and often official way
- The general commanded his man to start digging holes in the ground.
將軍命令他的下屬開始在地上挖洞。
command v. 指揮
to have authority and control over (a group of people, such as soldiers)
- According to the record, this fort was once commanded by a notorious general.
根據記載，這個堡壘以前是有一位惡名昭彰的將軍指揮。
automatic adj. 不自覺的
happening or done without deliberate thought or effort
- If you asked Paul a question, his automatic response is “I don’t know.”
如果你問Paul一個問題，他會不自覺地回答不知道。
automatic adj. 自動的
of a machine or device : having controls that allow something to work or happen without being directly controlled by a person
- Gina used to take a lot of pictures with her automatic camera but now she just uses her phone.
Gina以前會用她的自動相機拍很多照片，但是她現在會用手機拍照。
automatic adj. 必然發生、自然而然
always happening because of a rule, law, previous agreement, etc.
- The school tries to attract students by promising automatic job replacement immediately after graduation.
那所學校為了吸引學生就讀，保證學生畢業後就直接被安排工作。
at the drop of a hat :
very quickly and immediately
- He says he's ready to help us at the drop of a hat.
- She loses her temper at the drop of a hat.
