village趣味记单词(每日单词villain)(1)

villain /ˈvɪlən/

CET6丨IELTS丨TOEFL

外刊例句

Governments can make the biggest difference by more widely taxing carbon emissions. But while firms benefit from nature's bounty—its water, minerals and energy—preserving it is also an act of self-interest. If they do not, the last scene of all may be what Shakespeare sums up as “mere oblivion”. Averting catastrophe could depend on whether business plays the role of hero or villain.

政府可以通过更广泛地征收碳排放税来实现最大的改变。但是,当公司从大自然的好处中获益——水、矿物和能源,保护它也是一种利己行为。如果不这样做,最后一幕可能就是莎士比亚总结的“全然遗忘”。避免灾难可能取决于企业扮演的角色是英雄还是恶棍。

——《经济学人》

基本释义

A villain is someone who deliberately harms other people or breaks the law in order to get what he or she wants.

n. 恶棍

追根溯源

单词villain和另一个词villa(别墅)都源于拉丁语vīlla ,在中世纪封建时代,这两个词是密切相关的,villa原指“农庄住宅”或“庄园”,而villain则指为villa的主人工作的“农奴”或“农民”。后来,贵族由于阶级优越感以及他们对农民的阶级偏见,往往把意指农民、乡下人的词语同“愚昧”、“粗野”、“邪恶”等概念联系起来。这样,villain的词义就趋向贬义。

现在,villain主要表示“恶棍、反派”,不再是骂人的话。而像villa和出自同一拉丁词源的village(乡村),基本保留了原拉丁词中的含义。

影视例句

在美剧《摩登家庭》中,Jay和Gloria都想让Manny的女朋友走,但谁也不想开口,于是有了下面的对话:

Jay: Be honest - you want her out of here more than I do.

Gloria: Okay, fine, but I don't want to be the mother that hates her son's girlfriends.

Jay: I don't want to be the villain anymore.

Gloria: But that's your job. I am the quiet and fun one.

-你说实话,你明明比我更想要她滚蛋。

-行,但我不想当那种讨厌自己儿子女朋友的妈妈。

-我也不想再当家里那个坏人了。

-但这是你的职责啊,我是负责安静有趣的母亲。

,