小词详解 | flounder

flounder 英 [ˈflaʊndə(r)] 美 [ˈflaʊndər]

外刊例句

• While places like Des Moines dodged the China shock and some towns gained from the cheaper inputs, others were left to flounder.
  虽然得梅因之类的地方避开了中国冲击，一些城镇也因更廉价的原材料而获益，其他地区却陷入了困境。
  ——《经济学人》

• As that empire floundered in the early 1990s, Mr. Trump pressured his financial backers to forgive hundreds of millions of dollars in debt he could not repay.
  1990年代初，当这个帝国举步维艰的时候，特朗普迫使财务支持者们勾销了他无法偿还的数以亿计的债务。
  ——《纽约时报》

基本释义

[verb] to experience great difficulties or be completely unable to decide what to do or say next
[动词] 遇到重重困难或者完全不知所措

深入解读

尽管flounder是一个比较常见的英语单词，但是它的起源却说法不一。比较流行的说法是flounder演变自单词founder（失败、破产、沉没），主要指在泥潭、沼泽等困境中笨拙而无助地挣扎，也可指茫然不知所措，或者在财务、运营上面临严重的困难。另外，flounder作名词时，指的是比目鱼，同flatfish。

名人用例

Then why flounder around waiting for good business? Get the costs down by better management. Get the prices down to the buying power.
那么为什么要挣扎着等待好生意的到来呢？应改善管理以降低成本，降低价格以匹配购买力。

出自亨利·福特（Henry Ford，1863年7月30日—1947年4月8日），美国汽车工程师与企业家，福特汽车公司的建立者。他也是世界上第一位使用流水线大批量生产汽车的人。

同近义词

• corner: to force a person or an animal into a place or situation from which they cannot easily escape

• limp: to move slowly or with difficulty after being damaged

• trudge: to walk slowly with a lot of effort, especially over a difficult surface or while carrying something heavy

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