每日英詞 #058: On Edge, On the Edge, and Over the Edge

更新於 2024/07/14發佈於 2024/07/14閱讀時間約 6 分鐘

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"On Edge," "On the Edge," and "Over the Edge"

There are three phrases that are quite similar, but that have very different meanings: “on edge,” “on the edge,” and “over the edge.”
有三個短語非常相似，但意思卻大不相同：“on edge”（緊張不安），“on the edge”（在邊緣），和“over the edge”（失去理智）。

We use “on edge” to describe someone who is nervous and anxious, someone who is the opposite of relaxed. For example, if your wife is pregnant and the baby will be born any day, you may be feeling on edge, though your wife may be feeling even more on edge! Someone who is trying to stop smoking may also feel on edge.

我們用“on edge”來形容某人緊張和焦慮，是放鬆的反義詞。例如，如果你的妻子懷孕了，孩子隨時可能出生，你可能會感到緊張，而你的妻子可能會感到更加緊張！試圖戒煙的人也可能感到緊張不安。

“On the edge” can literally mean on the outer part of something. For instance, you may be sitting on the edge of the swimming pool when your brother walks by and pushes you into the water. However, on the edge is also often used “metaphorically” (not literally; not the exact meaning of each word) to talk about something that is just about to happen, or to talk about someone who is just about to do something.

“On the edge”可以字面意思解釋為某物的外緣。例如，你可能坐在游泳池邊緣，當你的兄弟走過來把你推進水裡。然而，on the edge也常被“隱喻地”（不是字面上；不是每個單詞的確切意思）用來談論即將發生的事情，或某人即將做某事。

For example, we might say: “She was on the edge of becoming a singing star when she lost her voice in the accident.” Or, “He was on the edge of winning the election when the newspaper reporters found out about his gambling problem.”

例如，我們可能會說：“她即將成為歌星時，在事故中失去了嗓音。”或者，“他即將贏得選舉時，報紙記者發現了他的賭博問題。”

Finally, “over the edge” is used to describe someone who is “insane” (crazy), and is usually used in situations where the person was “sane” (not crazy) at some point, but because something happened, has now gone insane.

最後，“over the edge”用來形容某人“瘋狂”（瘋狂），通常用於某人在某個時候是“理智的”（不瘋狂），但由於某些事情發生，現在已經瘋了。

For example, you could say: “The boss has always wanted to know what each employee was working on, but I think he’s gone over the edge by making his employees report to him every 15 minutes.”

例如，你可以說：“老闆一直想知道每個員工在做什麼，但我認為他讓員工每15分鐘向他報告一次，這已經失去理智了。”