Word of the Day：April 8, 2022
mettlesome
勇敢；精力旺盛的
adjective MET-ul-sum [ˈmetlsəm]
What It Means
Mettlesome means "full of vigor and strength of spirit or temperament."
Mettlesome 的意思是“精神上充满活力、力量的”。
METTLESOME in Context
"My mother was strong, mettlesome—a survivor. We were a lower-middle-class family." — Patti Smith, quoted in The Guardian, 20 Sep. 2020
“我的母亲很坚强，很勇敢——她是一位幸存者。我们是中产偏下的家庭。”
The rider was experienced and had no trouble handling the mettlesome horse.
这位经验丰富的骑手驾御这匹勇猛的马毫无困难。
Did You Know?
The 17th-century adjective mettlesome (popularly used of spirited horses) sometimes appeared as the variant metalsome. That's not surprising. In the 16th century and for some time after, mettle was a variant spelling of metal—that is, the word for substances such as gold, copper, and iron. The 16th century was also when metal—or mettle—acquired the figurative sense of "spirit," "courage," or "stamina." However, by the early 18th century, dictionaries were noting the distinction between metal, used for the substance, and mettle, used for "spirit," so that nowadays the words mettle and mettlesome are rarely associated with metal.
形容词 mettlesome(通常用于形容精力充沛的马)有时会作为变体metalsome使用在17世纪。这不足为奇，因为在16世纪后的一段时间里，mettle是metal的变体，描述像金、铜和铁之类的物质。16世纪metal(或勇气)也有“spirit【精神】”、“courage【勇气】”或“stamina【耐力】”这些的比喻含义。而到了18世纪早期，字典编撰者注意到metal(指物质【substance】)和mettle(指精神【spirit】)之间的区别，所以现在的mettle 和 metttlesome 它们很少和 metal 联系在一起了。
Quiz
Fill in the blanks to complete an adjective meaning "lively in temper, conduct, or spirit": v _ _ ac _ _ us.
vivacious
,
