Picture a thin layer that is only just holding on: the paint on an old door, the top of a warm egg tart, the dry skin on a hand in winter. Touch it and a piece lifts away. That is a flake, and flaky is the state of being made of them. The word's other uses keep the same feel of something that does not hold: a person who agrees to meet and then peels away, a connection that is there and then gone.
可以想成一層黏得不太牢的薄片：舊門上的漆、剛出爐蛋塔的表皮、冬天乾裂的手。手一碰，就掀起一片。那一片就是 flake，而 flaky 就是「由這種薄片組成」的狀態。其他用法可以想成留著同樣的感覺：說好了卻脫落的人、一下在一下不在的連線，都是「撐不住、會掉」的那種東西。
From the word’s history
Built as flake + -y, so the core is simply 'made of, or shedding, flakes'.
這個字就是 flake（小薄片）加上 -y（帶有…的）。所以核心很單純：有薄片的、會起薄片的。
Wiktionary etymology supplied in this packet: 'From flake + -y.'
登入就可以看每一支怎麼連回核心畫面。