Think of something that has taken in more heat than it can carry. A waiting room with the heating left on, a laptop sitting on a duvet, an engine at the top of a long hill. It has not stopped yet — it is still a room, still a laptop, still running — and that is exactly why the word is a warning: this is past the point where it stays comfortable or safe. Every use of overheated can be traced back to that picture of too much heat in a thing that was working fine a moment ago.
overheated 的核心畫面可以想成：一樣東西吸進了超過它能承受的熱。暖氣忘了關的候診室、放在棉被上的筆電、爬長坡爬到頂的引擎。它還沒壞掉——房間還是房間，筆電還開著，引擎還在轉——而這正是這個字帶著警告的原因：它已經越過舒服或安全的那條線了。這個字的每一種用法，都可以想成從這個「剛剛還好好的，現在熱過頭了」的畫面長出來。
From the word’s history
這個字的組成本身就說明了核心畫面：over-（超過）＋ heat（加熱）＋ -ed（被…的）。可以想成「被加熱到超過該有的程度」。這是從字面拆解來的說法，供給的資料裡沒有附詞源記載，所以只當成理解的線索，不是歷史考證。
登入就可以看每一支怎麼連回核心畫面。