Every language has words with many meanings: 每种语言都有自己的多义词
Today, we’re going to talk about English words with multiple meanings that seem entirelyunrelated to each other: 今天我们要说的这些英语多义词,它们的多个意思相差甚远
These words have a primary meaning that's well-known to all, but they also have one common lesser-known meaning: 这些词最主要的意思大家都知道,但它们另外至少还有一个你可能不知道的意思
Words with multiple meanings: 多义词 (比较常见的“多义词”在英语中的表达)1 Q. A6 T2 H( b' T2 Z8 z
Many native speakers think of it as two different words: 很多英语母语者会把多义词看成完全不同的词 * S/ G, u# ~ s& F' I0 \But for many English learners, they are the same word since the spelling and the pronunciation are the same: 但对很多英语学习者来说,多义词的拼法一样,读音也一样,明明就是一个词啊 a. H- [1 U% \( a1 _/ `8 k, Z
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“Title”
刚打完的NBA总决赛、激战正酣的欧洲杯,都会用到"title"这个词。
Title最常见的三个意思:
1. name of a book, article and so forth: 书名、文章标题等 + {$ V) E+ W3 b% q) f6 i2. description of a position, rank, status: 职称、头衔3 T) {! [; q9 L/ C1 j" g# g
3. championship: 冠军 8 P$ ^7 a5 _6 I; k: z' f" `' C( l( S
* F7 i( L) C$ W" E6 NJob title: 工作职位、头衔 : F( C" _7 x; _6 H, R) gTitle of a book or article: 书名或文章的题目% s. V/ E1 F2 t! f! G5 I
In the context of sports, title means championship: 在体育相关的文本中,title指的是总冠军 \7 _1 S) E3 P; [
You can think of championship as something like a job title: 你也可以把总冠军看作一个像工作职位一样的头衔7 K* C$ r3 B+ M0 b; L/ @1 [
A person can be the president of a company while a team can be the champion of a competition: 一个人可以是公司的老总;一个球队可以是比赛的冠军(两者都是头衔)5 _% \7 u# u$ @+ g
This year, Spain is defending their Euro Cup title: 今年西班牙是欧洲杯的卫冕球队& J/ [- I$ y5 H* t' y. K) C
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“Conference”
Conference: # i2 g) L9 C# G
1. meeting: 会议、大会 5 G: f' x1 t2 X% L* N' O; {2. an association of sports teams that play each other: 体育联合会、赛区,只有NBA和NHL(全美冰球联赛)等一些赛事才分conference ; @9 j( p$ U0 Y4 LYou can also see a conference as a meeting of teams : 你可以把体育赛事中的conference看作是一场球队的集会. F6 F; k5 W( w# N1 [4 q, I
Eastern and Western Conference: 东部赛区、西部赛区 2 b9 H+ y# }/ R4 G1 N! | J6 P0 K+ B+ [& Z 5 [6 ? a" R7 h' o- _" `7 C- q/ h3 d! D8 C& i5 P7 y5 F' A' R
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说完体育,再说说口语中最容易造成误解的多义词!7 Z5 J: w) |" _# E
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“Fine”
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Fine有两个截然不同的意思:
1. good, great: 好、棒. I/ S4 N3 P7 u- P- m3 t
2. money one has to pay as punishment: 罚款、罚金 (亦可作动词,表示对...处以罚款) , B2 e1 D: a, b8 T; v9 M # r" O; u/ P( S- [) H * ~6 n! ]3 D- N& x"Fine" is one of the very first English words that people learn: Fine算是大家最先学的英语词之一了9 m9 J, C' w1 \8 u' q
One meaning of “fine” is “good”: “Fine”的一个意思就是“好、不错” ; `5 j. b1 N( PRight now, in Shanghai, there’re so many police on the street, stopping people on their motorcycles and scooters and giving them a fine: 现在上海路上警察不少,专拦那些违反交规的骑摩托车、骑电动车的人,然后开罚款 ; h5 Z; o; j6 P2 T6 UI got fined today: 我今天被罚款了% `2 a7 `- J2 d7 M3 `+ P' h
Singaporeans often say that Singapore is a very “fine” country: 新加坡人喜欢说自己的国家是一个很“fine”的国家,一语双关,一来说国家好,二来表示这个国家各种罚款很多; }+ g J, [5 I; N* \
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"Mean"
# c3 C1 z$ B+ |0 kMean的几个不同含义:
intent to convey or refer to: 意思 (动词)
unkind: 不友好的、刻薄的、凶凶的 (形容词)
excellent: 出色的,口语中使用,形容技术、技巧高超, (形容词)' I7 M6 _0 U5 u. S+ `" r
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- z, w4 d3 }8 P+ k8 @The word “mean” used to confuse the hell out of me: Mean这个词以前我真是搞不清. _* H$ W7 h( _/ t) D! |
What does the word "mean" mean?: 这个词什么意思? * b/ k% C( X# }& O4 |Mean Girls: 一部美国电影,讲的是一群很刻薄的高中女欺负其他同学, Z- r" B4 F6 C' p+ B6 k# T3 w$ p
My mom makes a mean Lasagna: 我妈做的千层面特别好吃( r% q8 y* I7 H) m- P2 W
He plays a mean guitar: 他吉他弹得特别棒! s* s" c( m" ?. a2 \
When talking about a person’s skills, “mean” is a compliment that suggests he or she is high-skilled: 如果mean形容的是一个人的技巧、技能,那这个时候mean其实是说这个人做得特别好、特别棒! J- n' p5 E8 L( b4 E+ a
Jenny records a mean podcast: Jenny的播客做的特别好 % H8 H' L2 B( R% P& D! y" oWhen referring to skills, “mean” is good; when referring to personalities, “mean” is bad:讲一个人的技能、能力,用mean是褒义的;但用于形容人的性格时,mean就是个贬义词了 5 B. x7 O N1 N1 w6 o9 }8 A) _* B3 F1 {
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"Neat"
8 F$ J7 f# Q: N5 P 2 @& L' l7 f( F4 QNeat的意思:1 B* Z, y% |- }* K, u
1. clean and tidy: 干净整洁; C A6 M. k; x" y7 h6 `6 o- v
2. very good, cool: 极好的 : p/ G1 i5 Z$ Y- s0 k2 n 9 y' o4 D7 o# M/ f# N" b" H + D2 z, L' A0 B- |- G l8 xFor a lot of you who have learned the word “neat”, you might know it means “clean and tidy”: 学过neat这个词的人都应该知道neat有干净整洁的意思 8 i+ N7 d5 i' X. H3 t: C# f* ?- @: ]But it also means "cool" in everyday spoken English: 在日常口语中,neat也有cool的意思,指特别好、特别酷 5 M# g. E7 T6 T"That’s neat!": 好的,不错,真棒 ; `. Y" ~' W$ `! b8 p+ S! L: DYou can also replace “good” with “neat”: 也可以用neat来代替good / d( {# p- K' N - ^9 Z3 X$ u2 F* G 4 I9 B4 c# _' k& H/ N
"Correct"
" f/ Y2 M2 y( v7 j$ L) x I1 m: e1 ]: s4 ~+ Z x" {0 l; b% ICorrect的不同含义: * y# M8 ]! O+ O' M v( D4 x* t1. right: 正确的 (形容词) 6 \* `" G' [$ ~( I3 [2. put right; make right: 修正、纠正 (动词)* B8 W9 f2 X0 n# z9 v) E" ^! I3 M6 U
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I often get confused when I see this word on the screen of a bank machine: 我每次在ATM屏幕上看到这个词都搞不清它的意思6 r$ @ X4 B) r' Y& o
Does it mean "correct" as in there's no mistake? 是正确的意思?# M4 A# V6 P- M% f3 d7 Z
Or does it mean since you made a mistake, you need to correct it: 还是按错了,要纠正的意思?% V4 I. A2 f/ ^* i, y1 e; e* m
Have you figured it out?: 你最后搞清楚了吗? : }% T( l- n8 J4 q7 LI just use the Chinese. It’s much easier: 我就直接看中文,反而比看英语轻松; b0 h/ v. ?& \
*根据语境来分辨多义词的意思是关键! & B4 z- `7 D9 c Y' o/ w* L. f9 t& ]比如截图中,写着“correct"和"cancel"这两个词,既然cancel的意思是取消,那correct在这里应该就是正确的意思。*, N& D/ j4 V! C; j5 W$ V& U
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"Note"
note作为名词的主要两个意思: 6 T* `* u& [4 E1. a piece of paper with information written on it: 纸条 4 L/ @" j0 H6 }: t. L4 p, B# M2. banknote, paper money: 纸币 : ` b0 `0 `' Z8 T% |/ O H' n( s+ J$ T9 F
" X0 ]& N0 A$ @1 E4 Ato write someone a note: 给某人写纸条、留便条 5 o D0 G5 m0 M* e1 ?/ m0 S0 f- jSome students take notes in class while some pass notes to each other: 上课的时候,有些同学记笔记,有些同学互相传小纸条 / ^' G5 |8 k7 W, obanknote: 纸币 % J8 j8 Y5 g. ^9 k* Kcoins and notes: 硬币和纸币3 c: C" Q" N) C" g( M3 [
In monetary terms, notes refer to paper money: 讲货币的时候,notes指的就是纸币. R8 U. ]; U0 h
This machine can only provide five-dollar notes: 本机只提供面值5美元的纸币) M/ l' S; F0 k- L% T8 _/ A
*说到纸币,note在英式英语里更常用;而美国人更习惯用bill这个词。也是多义词,除了账单,还有一个意思是纸币。如: five-dollar bills五元纸币" % J0 X6 a) W$ P5 w$ M/ Y! U5 z+ O2 r% A
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"Company" & l4 `- `1 x3 B
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Company的主要两种意思:) r! X+ W E b8 V* q" Z
1. a firm or business: 公司- _& |; Y0 _) l4 ]+ |9 _0 T( Y, E
2. the state of being with someone: 他人的陪伴 1 t$ I% J2 ?3 t4 b& f ! z( G$ K2 a; Q: c5 S2 u+ ~0 b* t* p M3 V+ {
I’m very lonely. I could use some company: 我好孤单,要有人陪陪我就好了. k9 \4 Z' a! j* l+ Z$ x
Adam, you are great company: Adam, 有你陪伴真好/跟你在一起真开心) k+ \- w# R- J* m) I& U, N
to keep somebody company: 陪某人6 j) I* S# F0 w q
"You’re the company you keep": 近朱者赤,近墨者黑7 B; ]4 R n7 Z
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Party
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Party的意思: , y% e2 p% X( g2 @2 }1. a social event: 派对2 U' f- n, G* R3 V' K3 ^$ T
2. a group of people: 一群人,一个团体 : Q8 |* ]: |% [ & u7 x- B' g+ N& E: j $ o% o. f5 v! y( L2 L7 AAs you go into restaurant, the waiter/waitress might ask you “How many people in your party?”: 进餐厅的时候,服务员会问你“请问几位?” " Q) }. F W4 ?6 Y% i, a" EThe bride, bridegroom, groomsmen and bridesmaids are collectively known as the wedding party: 新郎新娘伴郎伴娘一行人统称wedding party5 [/ i9 b- S/ m5 O# b) U
The party after the wedding is actually called the wedding reception: 婚礼后的宴会不叫wedding party,叫做wedding reception! m- V3 n# X( `
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"Call"
' E# I) l# D3 A" N' n) oCall的两个意思:5 f1 {. R; {! ?# |% {+ e
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1. a telephone call or to make a telephone call: 电话、打电话 1 j7 x2 A6 m. v2. decision: 决定+ e" _7 C& e* q
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You make the call/Your call: 你拿主意,由你决定2 R5 ?- ]; L) E% _: Z$ L" ?
That’s a good call/Good call: 好主意!2 R) t9 a! A% H" k0 n( n( K }
That was a terrible call: 吹得太烂了 (在看足球、篮球赛的时候经常说) d% {3 ~+ V: L( P
Where are we going for dinner tonight?: 今晚去哪吃?5 C! e+ n& a0 |/ E. W
It’s your call: 你来决定 6 ^( t k) T, [- E - B2 M/ P, V: T4 @" U' Q# a) a# M 5 ~8 Y& H4 w- l, W; X今天节目就到这儿。欢迎大家留言,把你的问题、反馈告诉我们! S- o" A* i/ @% \/ q! }! n% [; C9 B" W6 v: n1 l) S
8 ~6 j- N* W$ d2 t G这些多义词的意思、如何使用,你搞清了吗?还有问题,来上周五直播课! ! X/ P4 I5 d/ {& g 0 O8 S1 r; j# d( w : O6 r U! G0 K) g6 k ! X8 u8 r0 e" D& e; ~