Straightway (much more often written straightaway) means 'immediately, without any delay' — the thing happens right then, with nothing in between. 'She saw the smoke and called the fire station straightaway.' Two things to know.

Straightway（more often written straightaway較常見的寫法是straightaway）means意思是「immediately, without any delay（立刻，毫不拖延）」——the thing happens right then事情當下就發生，with nothing in between中間沒有間隔。'She saw the smoke and called the fire station straightaway.'「她看到煙就立刻打給消防隊。」Two things兩件事 to know要知道。

First, the spelling: 'straightway' is the old form, the one you meet in the King James Bible and in nineteenth-century writing, and it feels quite literary or dated today; modern British writing uses 'straightaway' (and Americans usually say 'right away' or 'immediately' instead — 'straightaway' sounds British to them).

First第一，the spelling拼法上：'straightway' 'straightway' is the old form是舊的寫法，the one you meet in the King James Bible你會在欽定版聖經 and in nineteenth-century writing和十九世紀的文章裡看到，and it feels quite literary or dated today而現在讀起來相當文學或過時；modern British writing現代英式寫法 uses 'straightaway'用'straightaway'（and Americans而美國人 usually say 'right away' or 'immediately' instead通常會改說'right away'或'immediately'——'straightaway' sounds British to them'straightaway'在他們聽來像英式英文）。

Second, and this trips people up: as an adverb it points at time, but the same-looking word can be a noun meaning a straight section of a road or racetrack — 'the cars picked up speed on the straightaway' — and there it points at shape, not speed of response. Which one you have is usually obvious from the sentence: a noun sits after 'the' or 'a', an adverb usually sits at the end of the clause.

Second第二，and this trips people up而這點容易讓人搞混：as an adverb當副詞用 it points at time它指的是時間，but the same-looking word但長得一樣的這個字 can be a noun也可以當名詞 meaning a straight section of a road or racetrack意思是道路或賽道的一段直線——'the cars picked up speed on the straightaway'「車子在straightaway上加速」——and there在這裡 it points at shape, not speed of response它指的是形狀，不是反應速度。Which one you have你遇到的是哪一個 is usually obvious from the sentence通常從句子就看得出來：a noun名詞 sits after 'the' or 'a'會接在'the'或'a'後面，an adverb副詞 usually sits at the end of the clause通常放在子句尾端。

In real speech, British people mostly say 'straightaway' or 'right away'; almost nobody says 'straightway' out loud any more, so read it, but don't reach for it when you talk.

In real speech在實際口說裡，British people英國人 mostly say 'straightaway' or 'right away'大多說'straightaway'或'right away'；almost nobody幾乎沒有人 says 'straightway' out loud any more還會把'straightway'說出口了，so所以 read it你可以讀它，but don't reach for it when you talk但說話時別去用它。