Like little pebbles in a stream, words get worn down with age; the more we use them, the less they come to resemble their original meanings. But there is still pleasure to be found in exploring some of our most commonly and casually used words. Here’s a short list of the full definitions behind some of our favourite adjectives.
就像溪水里的小鵝卵石會隨著時間的流逝而磨損，文字也是一樣，我們越多地使用它們，它們也就越來越偏離原來的本意。但是在探索我們常用和不常用的單詞的時候還是有一些樂趣的。以下是我們最常用來表達‘極好的’的形容詞的簡短列表以及完整定義。

1.Incredible
難以置信的

Let’s start with a word that is currently in very popular use, the adjective ‘incredible’. ‘Incredible’ has three main meanings. It is popularly used to describe something extremely good or great, especially in size or scale: ‘the party was incredibly good fun’; ‘that’s incredible news!’. But the word itself stems from ‘credibility’, the extent to which something can be believed. Its true meanings, therefore, are the strong one – not credible, cannot be believed, beyond belief – or the weaker one, which is closer to the popular use – difficult to believe, hard to realize.
讓我們以一個非常流行的形容詞‘incredible’作為開篇?！甀ncredible’有三層含義。它通常被用來描述在大小或者規(guī)模上非常好或者很偉大的事物：‘晚會非常有趣’；‘這是個令人難以置信的消息！’。但是這個詞本身起源于‘credibility’。用來指某物可以被相信的程度。因此，它的真正的含義表達的含義是很強烈的，不可相信的，不能被相信，難以置信– 或者它表示的含義不是那么強烈，更受大眾所歡迎? – 難以置信，難以實現(xiàn)。

2.Wonderful
奇妙的，極好的

‘Wonderful’ is similar to ‘incredible’. It means, quite literally, ‘full of wonder’, and describes when either an object inspires in us feelings of excitement or astonishment, or when we ourselves feel those sensations.
‘Wonderful’和‘incredible’含義很像。從字面上來看，它意為‘奇跡般地’，用來描述能夠激發(fā)我們激動或者驚訝的事物，或者它也可以用來表達我們的震撼。

3.Marvellous
不可思議的，驚人的

‘Marvellous’ is a close synonym of ‘wonderful’, and means ‘to excite wonder or astonishment; surprising; having extraordinary properties’. This last definition means it can be applied to apparently mystical experiences. In its weakened state, though, ‘marvellous’ means simply ‘extremely good or pleasing’.
‘Marvellous’是 ‘wonderful’的近義詞，它意為：‘使驚訝，使驚奇；驚訝的；擁有非凡的性能’。很明顯，最后的定義可以用來描述神秘的體驗。在語氣較弱的狀態(tài)下，‘marvellous’僅僅意為‘非常好或者令人愉悅的’。

4.Awesome
令人敬畏的，極好的

On the theme of the supernatural, let’s look at the word ‘a(chǎn)wesome’. ‘Awesome’ means ‘full of awe’ and is defined as ‘profoundly reverential; appalling, dreadful, weird’. This might seem like a strange mix of characteristics, between what we now call ‘a(chǎn)wful’ things and apparently religious or reverential experiences. This can be explained with reference to the related concept of the ‘sublime’: the ‘sublime’ is an experience of very large, potentially dangerous things that remind us of our insignificance in the world, and how large and powerful the universe is.
關(guān)于超自然這個主題，讓我們來看一下‘a(chǎn)wesome’這個詞?！瓵wesome’意為‘充滿敬畏’，被定義為‘非常虔誠；可怕；奇怪’，這似乎是一個非常奇怪的混合特征，介于非?！愀狻氖挛镆约白诮袒蛘唑\的事物之間。這可以用‘sublime’的相關(guān)概念來解釋：‘sublime’是一種非常大的，有潛在危險的一種經(jīng)歷，這會讓我們想起我們在這個世界上有多么渺小，以及這個宇宙有多么巨大。

5.Fantastic
極好的，空想的

The word ‘fantastic’ is also one that come to mean ‘excellent, good beyond expectation’. This seems to be especially the case within professional contexts; imagine a shop assistant replying with ‘fantastic’ when you produce a loyalty card, for example. But the word actually means ‘pertaining to fantasy’: ‘existing only in imagination; proceeding merely from imagination; fabulous, imaginary, unreal; fanciful’.
‘Fantastic’這個詞也意為‘卓越的，比預期要好的’。這個在專業(yè)背景下尤其如此，例如，你可以想象，當你辦理了一張忠誠卡時，商店的售貨員就會說‘好極了’。但是實際上這個詞意為‘與幻想有關(guān)’：‘只存在于想象之中；源自想象；傳說的，想象的，不真實的；想象的，稀奇的’。

6.Fabulous
傳說的，極好的

‘Fantastic’ leads us straight to ‘fabulous’, a word in its weakened state, often used as a synonym for ‘terrific’ or ‘marvellous’ – especially when it’s shortened to ‘fab’. Actually, it refers to anything relating to a fable or story. This could include a ‘fabulous’ author or a reader of their works; the events or characters of a fable; or real-life events or people that seem as if they are straight out of a work of fiction. To judge something ‘fabulous’, therefore, does not necessarily mean it is good.
‘Fantastic’這個詞直接讓我們想到了‘fabulous’這個詞，‘fabulous’的語氣沒有‘fantastic’強，通常用作‘terrific’或者‘marvellous’的同義詞 – 尤其是當‘fabulous’被縮寫成‘fab’的時候。事實上，它指的是任何與寓言故事有關(guān)的事情。這可能包括一個極好的作者或者他們作品的讀者；可以是寓言的時間或者人物；或者是那些現(xiàn)實生活中的事件以及那些看起來像從小說里走出來的人物。因此，判定某事是‘難以置信的’不一定意味著這一定是好事。

7.Epic
優(yōu)秀的，杰出的

Another literary word that has strayed far from its original meaning is ‘epic’. The OED chiefly defines epic as ‘a(chǎn) poem, typically derived from ancient oral tradition, which celebrates in the form of a continuous narrative the achievements of one or more heroic characters; a book, film, or other creative work likened to an epic’. Think of the epics of Homer, the Iliad or the Odyssey. But ‘epic’ in its modern use tends to draw only on the grandeur of those classic poems, which were thousands of lines long, featured feats of superhuman endeavour, and had narratives that spanned a great many years. The dictionary records the weakened use of ‘epic’ as ‘particularly impressive or remarkable; excellent, outstanding’.
另一個偏離其文學原意的詞匯就是‘epic’?！杜＝蛴⒄Z詞典》主要把‘epic’定義為一首詩，它通常來源于古代的口述傳統(tǒng)，以一種持續(xù)的敘述形式來慶祝一個或者多個英雄人物的成就。一本書，一部電影或者其他的創(chuàng)造性作品都可以被比作‘epic’。想想荷馬的史詩，《伊利亞特》或者《奧德賽》。但是在現(xiàn)代的用法之中，‘epic’似乎只指那些經(jīng)典詩歌的偉大之處，這些詩有數(shù)千行，記錄了一些超人的壯舉，承載了上千年的故事。《牛津英語詞典》記錄了‘epic’被弱化的用法，意為‘尤其令人印象深刻，優(yōu)秀的，杰出的’。

8.Brilliant
極好的

When we talk about a book or film we like, or about a friend’s examination scores, we might reach for the word ‘brilliant’. The OED records this kind of use as simple synonyms for the weakened ‘a(chǎn)mazing’ or ‘fantastic’, and notes that the word ‘brilliant’ often relates to the intellect.
當談論我們喜歡的電影，書籍或者是好朋友的考試分數(shù)時，我們可能都會用到‘brilliant’這個詞。據(jù)《牛津英語詞典》記錄，brilliant的這種用法是作為‘a(chǎn)mazing’或者‘fantastic’的同義詞出現(xiàn)，此外詞典中還說明‘brilliant’常指智力。

9.Amazing
令人驚訝的

‘Amazing’ is a word we use a lot to mean ‘great beyond expectation’ or ‘wonderful’, but which also has a good deal of other meanings annexed to it. An ‘a(chǎn)mazing’ thing can be one that causes distraction or consternation, or which tends to confuse us – again, it is not simply the case that ‘a(chǎn)mazing’ means good or positive.
我們常常使用‘a(chǎn)mazing’來表示‘好到超出預期’或者是‘極好的’，但是‘a(chǎn)mazing本身還有許多其他含義?！豢伤甲h的’東西可能會讓我們分心或者驚愕，甚至會讓我們感到困惑 – 再次強調(diào)，‘a(chǎn)mazing’不僅僅意味著好的或者積極的情況。

10.Lovely
令人愉快的

And last, but not least, is ‘lovely’. It might be its own fault that ‘lovely’ is so frequently used, as it has an extremely broad field of signification. At its broadest, it relates to ‘love’ and ‘loveable’, and means ‘loving, kind, affectionate’, but also ‘loveable and attractive’, ‘beautiful’, ‘pleasing to the senses’. Its weakest use, in the terms of the dictionary, is when it is used to mean ‘excellent; delightful, pleasant, nice’.
最后一個，但是卻同樣重要的就是‘lovely’。人們經(jīng)常使用‘lovely’。這可能是‘lovely’本身的問題，因為‘lovely’本身含義就很廣泛。廣義上來講，‘lovely’與‘愛’或者‘可愛的’聯(lián)系緊密，意為‘愛，善良，感情豐富的’，也意為‘可愛的有吸引力的’，‘漂亮的’，‘悅耳的’。狹義上來講，據(jù)詞典中記載，它指‘優(yōu)秀的，快樂的，令人愉快的，好的’。

That last point is perhaps the most important one of all. All the words on this brief list can be used to mean ‘good or great’. There’s a simple truth to the fact that we have pulled so many words towards one point of meaning, the judgment that something is ‘good or great’ – it’s that we’re looking for as many ways as possible to say good things to each other.
最后一點也許是最重要的一點。這個列表里所有的單詞都可以用來表示‘好或者偉大的’。有一個簡單的事實是我們把這么多的單詞都歸結(jié)為一個意義，用它們來表示判斷，即某物是‘好的或者偉大的’– 這是我們在尋找盡可能多的表達方法來向彼此傳達積極的事物。

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