Picture something that has been taking a load for a long time — a beam, a , a sheet of ice. For a while it holds, and nothing looks wrong. Then the load wins, and it does not bend: it cracks, all at once and all the way through. A crack-up is that moment given a name. What is under the load decides which meaning you are reading: if it is a person's ability to keep going, the word means a breakdown; if it is a vehicle, it means a crash.

可以想成一樣東西被壓了很久——一根樑、一片擋風玻璃、一層冰。有一陣子它撐著,外表看起來都好好的。然後力道贏了,它不是慢慢彎下去,而是喀一聲,整個裂開。crack-up 就是替這一瞬間取的名字。底下撐著的是什麼,決定你讀到的是哪個意思:撐著的是一個人繼續過日子的力氣,這個字就是崩潰;撐著的是一台車,它就是撞壞。

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