小词详解 | prank

prank 英 [præŋk] 美 [præŋk]

SAT GRE

外刊例句

• It bombards users with self-repeating clips. It forms a genre of quick-hit entertainment: a prank, a dare, a teenager looking pretty.
  它用循环播放的短视频轰炸用户，形成了一种短平快的娱乐类型：恶作剧、大冒险、看起来很漂亮的少男少女。
  ——《经济学人》
• A good prank, of course, involves good stagecraft. But it also requires emotional intuition.
  当然，一个好的恶作剧需要好的舞台技巧。但它也需要情感直觉。
  ——《纽约时报》

基本释义

[noun] a practical joke or mischievous act
[名词] 恶作剧

深入解读

Prank 一词不仅与小站（微信公众号：田间小站）上周推送的 yank 同结尾，更与熟词僻义栏目中推送过的 plank 形似，只隔第二个字母不同。

该词词源不详，虽然也曾用来表示过“恶意行为”之类的含义，但现在主要用作名词表示“恶作剧、胡闹”或者说令人难堪的“玩笑”，侧重指旨在得到乐趣或产生滑稽效果的戏耍、捉弄、开玩笑等恶作剧行为，而非造成伤害或损害的恶意行为，比如：

• 他生来就是个有设计天赋的机械师。他读书时总是搞恶作剧捉弄老师。
  He was a born mechanic with a flair for design. When he was at school he was always playing pranks on his teachers.

用作动词时， prank 相应表示对某人“恶作剧、胡闹、开过分的玩笑”，比如：

• 独行其是的导演终于明白自己被人恶作剧了。
  The maverick director finally realized he'd been pranked.

名著用例

The frankness of the urchin girl, the honesty of latrine-cleaners, made Ayooba sick; he told her she had a soul composed of pig-droppings, and a tongue caked with excrement also; and in the throes of his jealousy he devised the prank of the jump-leads, the trick of the electrified urinal.
这淘气的扫厕所的丫头老老实实，直言不讳，使得阿由巴恶心得要命。他同她说，她的灵魂里面全是猪粪，舌头上也全是屎。他醋意大发之时，想到了跨接电线的恶作剧，也就是在小便池通上电流。

出自印裔英国作家萨尔曼·鲁西迪（Salman Rushdie，又译萨尔曼·拉什迪）在1981年出版的长篇小说《午夜之子》（Midnight's Children）。

同近义词

• caper: an activity or escapade, typically one that is illicit or ridiculous
• escapade: an act or incident involving excitement, daring, or adventure
• dido: a mischievous trick or prank

往期回顾