Mysteries of vernacular: Fizzle - Jessica Oreck and Rachael Teel

Transcriber: Andrea McDonough Reviewer: Jessica Ruby

翻译人员: Yixiong Zhu 校对人员: Geoff Chen

Mysteries of vernacular:

词源揭秘：

Fizzle,

“Fizzle”，

to end weakly

无力地结束，

or to fail,

失败，

to die out.

消逝。

The definition of fizzle

“Fizzle”的定义

likely links back to the Old English word fist,

能追溯到古英语单词“fist”，

which meant stink.

意思是臭。

In the mid-fifteenth century,

在15世纪中期，

fist developed into the verb fisten,

“fist”发展出了动词“fisten”，

to break wind,

意思是放屁，

which eventually lead to the modern word feisty,

这个词后来又演变成了现代英语“feisty”，

but that's another story.

不过这就是另一个故事了。

In its earliest form,

“Fizzle”在其最早的形态中，

as a variant of fisten,

作为“fisten”的变种，

fizzle had a very specific meaning:

有很明确的含义：

to break wind without noise.

放屁不出声。

Surprisingly, considering this initial definition,

令人惊讶的是，从这个原本的含义，

by the 1800s, the word fizzle referred instead

到了19世纪，“fizzle”变为指代

to a specific sound,

这一过程的声音，

rather graphically,

而不是这一过程本身。

to the sputtering or hissing of a gas or liquid

过程就是气体和液体从狭小出口

being forced out of a narrow opening.

喷出和放出的过程。

The figurative sense of the word,

这个词的比喻意，

a weak ending,

无力的结尾，

is thus understandable within the context

可以在这些情形中理解：

of a flame consuming the last drops of oil in a lantern

灯笼中的火苗燃尽最后一滴灯油，

or a valve drawing out the contents

和阀门排出水桶中

of the bottom of a cask.

最后一滴水。

Though perhaps not derived directly

尽管可能不是直接

from this subsiding verb,

从这个动词引申而来，

our modern meaning of fizzle

“fizzle”的当代含义

developed as slang in the 1800s.

却是由19世纪的俚语发展而来。

Originally used on college campuses

原本用在大学校园中

to describe failure,

指代失败，

specifically on an exam,

尤其是考试挂科，

it wasn't long before the word came to mean

很快其含义

exactly what it does today

就变成了当今的含义

and was quickly and widely adopted.

并被快速而广泛的采纳。