小词详解 | mayhem

mayhem 英 [ˈmeɪhem] 美 [ˈmeɪhem]

TEM8

外刊例句

• They also detained dozens of investors, bankers and regulators in investigations of the market mayhem; at least two others committed suicide before the authorities could get to them.
  在调查这场市场乱局时，政府还扣押了几十名投资者、银行业人士及监管官员；至少两人在被当局调查前自杀。
  ——《经济学人》
• He came up with “City on Fire,” starring Chow Yun-fat as an undercover police officer who penetrates a gang of thieves, becomes chummy with one of the robbers (played by Danny Lee) and gets caught up in mayhem when a jewelry store heist goes wrong.
  他拍出了《龙虎风云》，片中周润发饰演一名卧底警察打入盗贼黑帮，和一名劫犯（李修贤饰演）成了朋友，后在抢劫珠宝店失手的混乱中被捕。
  ——《纽约时报》

基本释义

[noun] confusion and fear, usually caused by violent behaviour or by some sudden shocking event
[名词] 混乱和恐惧，通常由暴力行为或突然的震惊事件引起

深入解读

mayhem 最初出现于15世纪晚期，源自诺尔曼时代在英国所用的法语 maihem ，可以追溯至古法语 mahaigne （伤害、错误）。最初该词用于法律领域，表示“以暴力毁伤他人肢体的重伤罪”。到了19世纪， mayhem 开始普遍用于表示“任何形式的极端暴力混乱状态”或“蓄意的暴力破坏行为”。在文学批评或文字编辑领域，mayhem 还指“故意的或不必要的文稿肢解”。

影视用例

出自2013年美国黑色幽默传记片《华尔街之狼》（The Wolf of Wall Street），该片剧情改编自美国励志演说者和前股票经纪人乔丹·贝尔福特所写的同名回忆录。

同近义词

• chaos: a state of complete confusion and lack of order
• havoc: a situation in which there is a lot of damage, destruction or confusion
• riot: a situation in which a group of people behave in a violent way in a public place, often as a protest

往期回顾