Mysteries of vernacular: Gorgeous - Jessica Oreck and Rachael Teel

字源探秘：Gorgeous - Jessica Oreck 與 Rachael Teel

譯者: Geoff Chen 審譯者: Ning Zhang

Mysteries of vernacular:

字源探秘：

Gorgeous,

Gorgeous

beautiful or very attractive.

意指美麗，或極具吸引力

The source of the word gorgeous

Gorgeous 一詞的來源

can be found in the Latin word, gurges,

可以從拉丁文 Gurges 中發掘

used by the Romans to describe

羅馬人用它來描述

a whirling, swirling whirlpool.

旋轉的漩渦

Thanks to the aquatic phenomenon's cylindrical shape

由於水象中的圓柱形狀

and gurgling form,

與流水潺潺的形狀

gurges also came to mean throat.

Gurges 也有喉嚨之意

By the time gurges reached England in the 14th century,

當 Gurges 在十四世紀來到英格蘭的時候

it had been altered to gorge.

它被改為 Gorge

This, to the English, seemed like an appropriate way

在英語的使用中，這似乎 是一個可以適當地用來

to describe a steep and rocky ravine,

描述陡峭的岩石峽谷

a metaphorical extension of the words

的隱喻衍生詞

referenced to the throat.

用來指喉嚨

The French, however, transformed gorge into gorgias

然而法國人將 Gorge 改為 Gorgias

and used it to describe

用它來形容

one of the most fashionable trends

中世紀最流行的

of the Middle Ages,

的趨勢之一：頭巾

also known as a wimple.

它也被稱為 Wimple

This popular article of clothing

這種流行配件

revealed only the madame's visage,

只顯露女子的容貌

covering her shoulders,

它覆蓋了她的肩膀

head,

頭

and, of course, her throat .

當然，還有她的喉嚨

A stylish and intricate gorgias

一件時尚的、精緻的頭巾 (Gorgias)

was so telling of class and affluence

相當程度上，顯示了階級與富裕程度

that the word soon came to mean

於是這詞很快地就被用來

fond of dress and elegant.

代表對優雅時尚的喜好

This newly fashioned adjective

這新的流行開來的形容詞

voyaged into Middle English as gorgayse,

作為 Gorgayse，輾轉來到了 中世紀的英語世界中

where it was fully anglicized as gorgeous.

在那裡，它以 Gorgeous 之姿被充分地強調

自此，它就被人們用來形容

Since then, it has been linked to all things

of exceptionally graceful allure.

所有絕麗華美的迷人物件了