陳國詩的英文分享平台

關鍵字彙：

anachronism/ apposite/ bide/ decent/ decorous/ decorum/ felicitous/ impropriety/ inopportune/ opportune/ outrageous/ propriety/ unwarranted

1. 正式用法中，指安排等「恰當的」、「符合當時情況的」用apposite。另外， 「恰當」可用propriety（正式），「不當」、「失當」可用impropriety：

•His remark was not apposite for the case.

•He used an apposite quotation to end the speech.

•The movie starts in a graveyard, an apposite image for the decaying society that is the theme of the movie.

•We have been taught to behave with propriety lest we should embarrass our parents.

•I doubt the propriety of making a public statement on that issue before we study the official reports.

•He was guilty of impropriety in public office.

2. 指言辭「得體的」用felicitous（正式）：

•The master-of-ceremony was noted for his felicitous remarks.

3. 指裝束或行為「合宜的」、「體面的」、「不會讓自己丟臉或讓人家傻眼的」 可用decent或decorous，「合宜」、「體面」可用decorum：

•I tell you decent people just don't do things like that.

•The ceremony requested of all participants to wear decent clothes.

•Decent living conditions do not necessarily involve beautiful houses and expensive pieces of furniture.

•Her decorous behavior was praised by her teachers.

•To preserve decorum, they said they were husband and wife.

•They found his conduct quite lacking in decorum.

4. 指時機「恰當的」用opportune，「時機不對的」、「不是時候的」叫inopportune，「等待時機」可說成bide one's time：

•I found no opportune occasion to tell him the truth.

•She came at the opportune moment, for the employer needs a new secretary.

•They were sorry for their inopportune visit.

•He seems to be doing nothing, but really he's just biding his time.

•The employee wanted to ask a raise but bided his time until the right moment.

5. 指所做之事「理由不充份或不正當的」用unwarranted，如果是「太超過的」、 「突然且無理的」則用outrageous：

•She was angry with his unwarranted interruption.

•Our government will never allow outrageous prices that threaten our way of life.

•We were all angry with her outrageous jokes.

6. 「把某事物置於它不可能存在的時代」、「時空錯置」叫anachronism：

•It is an anachronism to say "William Shakespeare was surfing the Internet."

•A smart phone in a movie of the 19th-century setting is an anachronism.