One way to hold this word: a stone step with a dip worn into the middle. Nobody set out to change that step; thousands of feet did it one at a time, and now the shape of the step is a record of the use. Well here means thoroughly, not nicely. So well-worn is anything that has been gone over so many times that the going-over has left its mark — a jacket, a path, or a sentence.

可以想成一階被踩凹的石階。沒有人動手改過它,是幾千雙腳一次一次踩出來的,現在那個凹陷本身就是一份使用紀錄。這裡的 well 要理解成「徹底地」,不是「好好地」——跟 well-known、well-read 的 well 是同一個。所以 well-worn 指的是被經過太多次、經過留下了痕跡的東西。可能是一件外套、一條小路,也可能是一句話。

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