【英语学习】【WOTD】mettlesome 释义/词源/示例

mettlesome adj. [MET-ul-sum]

Definition

: full of vigor and stamina: spirited
：充满了力量与精力：充满活力的

注：stamina：精力，活力，耐力，【植】雄蕊

Did You Know？

The 17th-century adjective mettlesome (popularly used of spirited horses) sometimes appeared as the variant metalsome. That's not surprising. In the 16th century and for some time after, mettle was a variant spelling of metal - that is, the word for substances such as gold, copper, and iron. (Metal itself dates from the 14th century and descends from a Greek term meaning "mine" or "metal.") The 16th century was also when metal - or mettle - acquired the figurative sense of "spirit," "courage," or "stamina." However, by the early 18th century, dictionaries were noting the distinction between metal, used for the substance, and mettle, used for "spirit," so that nowadays the words mettle and mettlesome are rarely assocaiated with metal.

词源/词根演化：metal（金属）-->mettle（刚烈）--> mettlesome（adj. 刚烈的，精力旺盛的，有活力，耐力的）

mettlesome（精力旺盛的），这个17世纪的形容词常常用于描述烈马，有时候也会写作metalsome作为变体。这并不诡异。在16世纪以及稍后晚些时候，mettle这个词其实是metal的变体，metal（金属）这个词用于表示例如金，铜，铁等这类金属物质。metal本身起源于14世纪，来自于一个意思是“矿物”或“金属”的希腊单词。在16世纪，metal-/mettle-获得了引申的象征含义，用于表示“精力”，“勇气“，和”活力“。但是在18世纪早期，字典开始区分metal与mettle这两个词：metal用于表示金属物质，而mettle用于表示精力。时至今日，mettle/mettlesome与metal在意思上几近断了联系。

注：spirited horse：烈马；acquire：获得；date from：起始于；descend from：起源于

Examples

• " 'I like this place because everything they have can kill you,' Edith Pearlman says, persuing the menu of a Brookline pub on a recent gray afternoon. The remark proves fitting introduction to both the septuagenarian author and her work: at once mischievous and mettlesome, with a twist near the end." 
  --- Leah Hager Cohen, The Boston Globe, 10 Apr. 2012
  
  ”我喜欢这个地方，因为这里所有的东西都足以杀死你“，在最近一个阴暗的下午，Edith Pearlan边说边寻找布鲁克林酒馆的菜单。这句话的确很适合用来介绍这位年过七旬的老者以及她的作品：曾经的玩世不恭与精神抖擞，到现在的暮年佝偻。（一凡：我瞎翻译的，其实没真懂。。。）
  
  注：persue：追求，追捕，继续执行，从事；Brookline：Brookline Massachusetts，马萨诸塞州的布鲁克林；gray afternoon：gray afternoon：阴暗的下午；prove fitting sth：证明做某事是适合的；introduction to sth：介绍... ；septuagenarian：n. 七十岁以上老者, adj. 七十岁以上老者的；mischievous：调皮的，恶作剧的，有害的；twist：拧，扭曲，缠绕
   
• "He was convinced taht [the director] John Huston decided after the first week that the film was a dud and if he could kill or seriously injure his star it would be cancelled and the insurance would pay up. He had Hurt riding over rough terrian on mettlesome horses."
  --- John Boorman, The Guardian, 17 Dec. 2017
  
  他确信：导演John Huston在第一周之后就认为这个电影毫无价值，如果导演可以杀死主角或使主角严重受伤，这个电影即会被取消，而且保险公司会赔偿损失。于是导演让Hurt骑着烈马在崎岖的土地上（奔跑）。
  
  注：dud：无价值的，无用的人/物；insurance：保险；pay up：赔偿损失