| 单词 | 很难想象 |
| 释义 | 〔joke〕It is hard to imagine the English language without the wordjoke , butjoke is only first recorded in 1670. Sincejoke was originally considered a slang or informal usage, it was not suitable to all contexts.The change in status ofjoke from then to now provides us with an excellent example of how usage changes. Joke has a decent enough heritage at any rate, coming from Latiniocus, "jest, sport, laughingstock, trifle.”Iocus in turn can be traced back to the Indo-European root yek-, meaning "to speak,” from which also comes the Umbrian wordiuka, "prayers,” and the Welsh wordiaith, "speech.” 我们很难想象英语中如果没有joke 这个词会怎样， 但是joke 在1670年才首次有文字记载。 因为joke 起初被认为是俚语或非正式用语， 以前它并不是在所有的文章中都适用的。从那时到现在joke 地位上的变化给我们提供了一个关于语言用法如何变化的极好的例子。 不管怎样joke 的词源算得上很体面， 它来自于拉丁语中iocus 一词， 表示“玩笑，游戏，笑柄，琐事”。Iocus 反过来又可追溯到印欧语系中的词根 yek- 表示“说话”， 从这个词根还派生出翁布里亚语中iuka 一词，即“祈祷”， 以及威尔士语中iaith 一词，即“讲话，演说” 〔coupon〕A Roman might have had difficulty predicting what would become of the Latin wordcolaphus, which meant "a blow with the fist.” In Old French, a language that developed from Latin,Late Latincolpus, from Latin colaphus, became colp, or modern French coup, with the same sense. Coup has had a rich development in French, gaining numerous senses, participating in numerous phrases,such ascoup d'état (a term that we have borrowed), and giving rise to many derivatives, includingcouper, "to cut; literally, to divide with a blow or stroke.” Couper yielded the word coupon, "a portion that is cut off,” which came to refer to a certificate that was detachable from a principal certificate.The detachable certificate could be exchanged for interest or dividend payments by the holder of the principal certificate.Coupon is first recorded in English in 1822 with this sense and then came to apply to forms or tickets, detachable or otherwise,that could be exchanged for various benefits or used to request information.罗马人大概很难想象拉丁词colaphus 意为“拳头的一击”所发生的变化。 在由拉丁文发展而来的古法语中，由拉丁词colaphus 转变为后期拉丁文中的 colpus ，变为了 colp 或现代法语中的 coup ，意思未变。 Coup 在法语中变化发展很多， 具有了许多意思，组成了许多短语，如coup d'ètat （英语中已借用的单词），并生成许多派生词， 包括couper “切；字面上的意思是用一击或一打使分开。” Couper 又产生了 coupon 一词，意思是“切掉的一部分”， 并且还用来指可从主要证书中分开的票证。这个可分票证可以由主证书的持有者为得利息或分期付款进行交换。Coupon 有这个意思的最早记录是在1882年， 然后被用来指格式或门票，可分离的或其他样式，它可以用来交换不同的利益或用来获取信息〔dress〕A dress is such a common article of modern attirethat it is difficult to imagine that the worddress at one time did not refer to such a thing. The earliest sense ofdress, recorded in a work written before 1450, was "speech, talk.” The relationship of our modern sense to this early sense is explained by the factthat the noundress comes from the verb dress, which goes back through Old Frenchdrecier, "to arrange,” and the assumed Vulgar Latindīrectiāre to Latin dīrectus, a form of the verbdīrigere, "to direct.” In accordance with its etymology the verbdress has meant or still means "to place,” "to arrange,” and "to put in order.” The sense "to clothe" is related to the notion of putting in order,specifically in regard to clothing.This verb sense then gave rise to the noun sense "personal attire"as well as to the important garment sense, which has made the fortune of many a fashion designer.The earliest noun sense,"speech,” comes from a verb sense having to do with addressing or directing words to other people.衣服是现代服饰中相当普通的物件，很难想象dress 一词一度并不指衣服。 根据写于1450年以前的一本书记载dress 的最早含义是“说话，谈话。” 我们的现代含义与这一早期含义的关系可由以下事实解释：名词dress 来源于动词 dress ， 动词dress又可追溯到古法语drecier， “安排”， 与假定的拉丁俗语directiaer 乃至拉丁语 directus， 该拉丁词是动词dirigere “引导”的一种形式。 按照其词源动词dress 曾经并仍意为“放置”，“安排”与“使有序”。 “着衣”一义与使有序的意思有关，特别是有关衣物时，该动词意义又产生了名词意义“个人服饰”，以及使许多服装设计师大发其财的正式礼服的意义。最早的名词含义，“说话”来自于有关与其它人说话的动词意义〔garage〕It is difficult for a 20th-century imagination to envision a world without garages or a language without the wordgarage. However, probably before the 19thand certainly before the 18th century the word did not exist,and possibly before the end of the 19th century the thing itself did not exist.Our word is a direct borrowing of Frenchgarage, which is first recorded in 1802 in the sense "place where one docks.”The verbgarer, from which garage was derived, originally meant "to put merchandise under shelter,”then "to moor a boat,” and then "to put a vehicle into a place for safekeeping,”that is, agarage, a sense first recorded in French in 1901. English almost immediately borrowed this French word,the first instance being found in 1902.对于20世纪来说，很难想象一个没有车库的世界或者一种语言没有garage 这个词。 但可能在19世纪以前，或者肯定在18世纪以前这个词并不存在，而且极有可能在19世纪末期这个词本身也不存在。我们的单词是直接从法语中garage 这个词借来的， 第一次于1802年使用“停放的地方”这一含义。从动词garer 派生出来了 garage ， 本意为“把货物放在保护处”，后成为“停靠船只”，而后又变成“为保管而把汽车放入一个地方”。也就是说garage 的含义是1901年在法语中记载的。 英语几乎马上借用了这个法语词汇，它的第一例可在1902年找到 |
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