Picture someone standing in a corridor full of doors, watching to see which one swings open. The moment one does, they walk through it. What makes them an opportunist is not their speed but the question they ask. They do not ask whether it is right, or whether they planned for it. They ask only whether it is open right now. Both uses of the word grow from that one habit: the person who changes their promises to fit the moment, and the person who takes the bike because it happened to be unlocked.

可以想成一個人站在一排門前面,眼睛盯著哪一扇會打開。門一開,他就走進去。讓他成為 opportunist 的不是動作快,而是他問的問題:不是「這樣對不對」,也不是「我本來計畫什麼」,而是「現在有沒有開」。這個字的兩種用法都從這個習慣長出來——為了眼前好處改口的人,還有因為車剛好沒上鎖就順手牽走的人。

From the word’s history

Recorded as a borrowing of French opportuniste, from opportune plus the ending -ist: the person whose speciality is the right moment.

依據來源,這個字借自法文 opportuniste,由 opportune(時機剛好)加上 -ist(某種人)構成。字面就是「專做『時機剛好』這件事的人」,正好對上今天兩個用法裡共有的畫面。

Wiktionary entry supplied in this packet (source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:823902389:17017): 'From French opportuniste, equivalent to opportune + -ist.'

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