美国人也会搞错的几个词

语言总是变化的, 于是很多词开始从“搞错了”而登堂入室成为了一个“有争议的词” －－有些人认为是可以接受的，有些人觉得是不可容忍的。 对于我们“能说清楚都费劲”的二语学习者来说，“搞错了” “有争议”实在是太奢侈：因此我们有必要注意这些词的使用，和“对错”。

以下的这几个词，很多都是英语为母语人士都“误读” “误用” 的词. 当然，你或许会说：大家都在这么用，SO WHAT? WHAT IS THE MATTER？ -- 看题图。

美国人连自己的语言自己都搞不明白，isn't it ironic*?

What you think it means: A way to add emphasis to any sentence, as in:

e.g. “Justin Bieber’s pants are literally the worst thing ever.”

强调一个句子, “丁日的裤子简直是糟糕至极。

What it actually means: In a literal or strict sense, i.e., something that really happened, without exaggeration or inaccuracy. 实际上是“真正的”

“笑尿了” Vs. "真尿了"

However, the Oxford English Dictionary admitted in 2011 that the common usage of literally to add emphasis had become so widespread that it was forced to alter its definition slightly.

语言就是一直在变化的, "存在即合理." 当大家都错了的时候，错误就“光明正大”的堂皇而入了.

What you think: They mean the same thing.

What they actually mean: To infer is to form an opinion based on evidence and reasoning. The listener infers. To imply is to express something in an indirect way without saying it plainly. The speaker implies.

Imply and infer are opposites, like a throw and a catch. To imply is to hint at something, but to infer is to make an educated guess. The speaker does the implying, and the listener does the inferring.

"The implier is the pitcher; the inferrer is the catcher."

What you think it means:A fun fact of little consequence.

What it actually means:A fun fact that is not true.

例如, 很多人认为美国网络发达，wifi全程覆盖,随处可以上网。这个“fact”等你到了JFK机场和地铁站附近，就会发现，原来是一个 factoid.

维基百科上对这个词的解释拿我们的长城作了例子：

⚠ The Great Wall of China is often incorrectly referred to as the only man-made object visible from the moon.

What you think it means: Something that’s very big.

What it actually means:The extreme scale, seriousness, or extent of something that’s bad or morally wrong. Can also mean a grave crime or sin. As in: “We only just discovered the enormity of the crimes he committed.” “滔天大罪”

首先，或许你要承认你不认识flounder这个词，或者觉得它是“比目鱼”；你要承认或许你认识founder这个词，只知道他是“创始人” －－两者都有“失败”的意思。

What you think they mean: The same thing.

What they actually mean: To flounder is to be clumsy and indecisive, flopping around like a fish out of water; to founder is to fill up with water and sink, or figuratively, to fail.

简单来说：两者的比喻义都有失败的意思。但是略有不同：

Flounder可以认为是"founder（失败）" 和"blunder（笨拙的做事）"的合体。相比来说，flounder强调的是“还在挣扎，没有彻底完蛋” flounder指的是像是“无水之鱼🐟”一样，左右为难，无法前行,费力的去尝试，挣扎，却怎么做都是错.

1) 例如我们可以说,"I find myself floundering as people have difficulties understanding my English" 想象一下说英文的时候，大脑变的空白，语法单词全都忘了的感觉.

2)再例如考托福口语的感觉， "I was floundering during the speaking section of the TOEFL test".

3)"The floundering business is turning around"

Founder: 是to sink, 沉落。因此比喻义来说就是collapse and fail comepeletly: 彻底完蛋了。

1) 例如：Xinhua, in an English-language commentary, said China could not stand by while its largest trading partner foundered.

2) After hitting an iceberg,the Titanic began to founder.

总结陈词：

Flounder and founder are happy little nouns that don't get mixed up. But it all falls apart when they're verbs — if you're floundering, you're struggling. If you're foundering, you're failing completely. You're sunk! You can't even hold onto the letter L :)

What Alanis Morissette thinks it means: Anything mildly humorous.

What it actually means: Something that happens contrary to what is typically expected or appropriate. Can apply to language, as when someone sarcastically says something but means the opposite, such as: “Justin Bieber’s pants look great.”

Alanis Morissette是谁? 这里提到她，是因为她有一首歌叫"Ironic" －点击音乐可以听一下, 歌词和不靠谱翻译如下:

An old man turned ninety-eight
He won the lottery and died the next day

活到 98，中了彩票，第二天挂了
It's a black fly in your Chardonnay

一杯好酒，正要喝，发现只苍蝇
It's a death row pardon two minutes too late

死刑犯，枪毙后的2分钟，被赦免
Isn't it ironic

这难道不是“讽刺”吗？
Don't you think?

你觉得的呢？

是不是irony, 我不知道答案--但是《纽约时报》的答案是: Isn't it ironic? probably not.

New York Times:

Irony requires an opposing meaning between what’s said and what’s intended. Sounds simple, but it’s not. A paradox, something that seems contradictory but may be true, is not an irony. The Times stylebook, which, believe me, can be harsh, offers useful advice:

The loose “use of irony and ironically, to mean an incongruous turn of events, is trite. Not every coincidence, curiosity, oddity and paradox is an irony, even loosely. And where irony does exist, sophisticated writing counts on the reader to recognize it.”

Alanis Morissette’s song “Ironic” is equally useful.If it rains on your wedding day, that’s a coincidence, not an irony. If you win the lottery and drop dead before claiming the money, it’s good luck followed by bad luck. If you meet the man of your dreams and then meet his beautiful wife, it’s a bummer. But if a song called “Ironic” contains no irony, is that in itself ironic? Nope.

It may just be … dumb. It depends on the creator’s intent. So, as has been suggested, if Morissette purposely wrote a song called “Ironic” that contained no irony at all, is that ironic? We may be getting closer. Do you know irony when you see it?

What’s something you’ve read — other than a novel by Jane Austen — that’s ironic?

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