這個拼法底下其實是2個不同的字,意思沒有關係, 只是長得一樣。下面分開列出來。跳到 踉蹌;猛然晃動 · 丟下某人不管

1

lurch

verb, noun

One sudden movement that goes further than anyone meant it to go. A bus brakes and every standing passenger is thrown forward; a wave passes under a boat and the deck tips over to one side. Nothing about it is smooth, and nobody is steering it. That single throw is the picture to hold on to, and English then uses it for whatever is being thrown: a body, a vehicle, the feeling in your stomach, or a whole organisation.

lurch 可以想成「被甩出去的那一下」。公車急煞,站著的人整排往前拋;浪從船底下過去,甲板一下歪向一邊。動作不平順,方向也不是自己決定的。被甩的東西可以是身體、可以是車子、可以是胃裡那股感覺,也可以是一整間公司。只要是「突然、收不住、歪一邊」,都還在這個畫面裡。

From the word’s history

The supplied evidence traces this lurch to a sailing term, found in lee-larches, the sudden violent rolls of a ship to the side away from the wind. Beyond that the origin is given as unknown; the same note offers French lacher, to let go, as one possibility. Either way, the ship thrown over by a wave sits very close to the modern picture.

資料上這個 lurch 來自航海用語,出現在 lee-larches(船在大浪中猛然往下風那一側傾側)裡。再往前就查不清楚了,同一份資料另外提到可能跟法文 lâcher(放開)有關。不管是哪一條,船被浪推歪的那一下,跟今天的畫面幾乎重疊。

Wiktionary etymology 1 supplied in packet (kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:870624288:5088)

A second word, same spelling

2

lurch

noun

A different word that only looks the same. Picture an old board game in which one player falls so far behind that the game is already over for them. That losing position had a name, the lurch, and to be in the lurch is to be stuck there while everyone else plays on. Modern English keeps just one moment of it: the person who should have stayed has gone, and you are the one left holding the problem.

這個 lurch 只是長得一樣,其實是另一個字。可以想成一場老遊戲:有一方被拉開到追不回來,那個輸定的位置就叫 lurch。被丟在那裡、別人繼續玩下去,就是 in the lurch。今天的英文只留下一個畫面:該留下來幫你的人走了,事情全落在你身上。

From the word’s history

The supplied evidence takes this lurch from Middle English into Old French lourche, meaning deceived or embarrassed and also the name of a game. The same source records lurch as a double score in cribbage, won when the loser has not yet pegged their thirty-first hole, which is the same idea of being left hopelessly behind.

資料上這個 lurch 經中古英文來自古法文 lourche,意思是「被騙、很窘」,同時也是一種遊戲的名字。同一份資料還記了 cribbage 牌戲裡的 lurch:輸的一方還沒走到第三十一格,就被拉開兩倍分數。兩邊都是同一個意思——被丟在追不回來的位置上。

Wiktionary etymology 4 supplied in packet (kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:870646235:3164)

登入就可以看每一支怎麼連回核心畫面。