Mysteries of vernacular: Fizzle - Jessica Oreck and Rachael Teel

Transcriber: Andrea McDonough Reviewer: Jessica Ruby

譯者: Geoff Chen 審譯者: Regina Chu

Mysteries of vernacular:

字源探秘：

Fizzle,

Fizzle

to end weakly

油盡燈枯

or to fail,

失敗

to die out.

或絕跡之意

The definition of fizzle

要討論 fizzle 的定義

likely links back to the Old English word fist,

可能必須先回到古英語單字「fist」

which meant stink.

意指惡臭

In the mid-fifteenth century,

十五世紀中葉時

fist developed into the verb fisten,

fist 演變為動詞 fisten

to break wind,

意指放屁

which eventually lead to the modern word feisty,

最終成了現代人的用字 feisty

but that's another story.

但那又是另一個故事了

In its earliest form,

它最早的形式

as a variant of fisten,

是 fisten 的一個變形

fizzle had a very specific meaning:

fizzle 有個非常具體的含義：

to break wind without noise.

放個悶聲不響的屁

Surprisingly, considering this initial definition,

出人意料的是，考慮到這詞最初的定義

by the 1800s, the word fizzle referred instead

到了 1800 年時，fizzle 指的卻是

to a specific sound,

一種特定的聲音

rather graphically,

而非一種圖形化的方式

to the sputtering or hissing of a gas or liquid

用來形容氣體或液體 被迫離開狹窄通道時

being forced out of a narrow opening.

所發出的嘶嘶聲

The figurative sense of the word,

這個詞喻指

a weak ending,

油盡燈枯

is thus understandable within the context

大致上可以用來形容

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

火焰消耗燈籠中最後幾滴油

or a valve drawing out the contents

或筒底氣閥

of the bottom of a cask.

幾近排盡的狀態

Though perhaps not derived directly

雖然它也許不是衍生自

from this subsiding verb,

這個殆盡的動詞

our modern meaning of fizzle

當代意義上的 fizzle

developed as slang in the 1800s.

發源於 19 世紀時的一個俚語

Originally used on college campuses

它最初使用於大學校園裡

to describe failure,

用來描述失敗

特別用來指考試被當掉的意思

specifically on an exam,

it wasn't long before the word came to mean

沒過多久，這個詞

exactly what it does today

就變成今天這個意思了

and was quickly and widely adopted.

並且迅速廣泛地普及開來