密歇根新闻广播 haphazard的意思

 

An eggcorn is a word or phrase that occurs when someone re-interprets a word in a way that makes sense and allows them to understand its components¹.

For example, someone might say "all intensive purposes," when what they really mean is "all intents and purposes." Or "escape goat" instead of "scape goat."

Anne Curzan has been thinking about an eggcorn she heard on the radio recently. During an interview, a person said "halfhazard" instead of "haphazard³."

It's an it's easy mistake to make. Does anyone actually know what a "hap²" is?

"Haphazard" shows up in English in the mid-16th century as a noun, an adjective and sometimes an adverb.

As a noun, it could refer to a chance or accident or fortuitousness. As an adjective, it meant that something is dependent on chance. It could also be used to describe something that lacks any obvious form of organization.

The "hap" in in "haphazard" is borrowed from early Scandinavian. It comes into English in the 13th century and means good luck or fortune. This is where we get the phrase "by hap" which means by chance or by luck. It's also the "hap" in "mishap⁴."

"Hazard" is also a borrowing and goes back to Anglo-Norman and Old French. It comes into English to refer to a gambling⁵ game played with two dice⁶ and very quickly comes to mean a chance happening or an unpredictable outcome.

From there, it becomes a chance or accident, and that leads to the meaning that we're familiar with today -- a possibility of a dangerous outcome, a risk of loss or harm.

What's your favorite eggcorn? Let us know below.

1 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

2 hap   

n.运气；v.偶然发生

参考例句：

• Some have the hap,some stick in the gap.有的人走运, 有的人倒霉。
• May your son be blessed by hap and happiness.愿你儿子走运幸福。

3 haphazard   

adj.无计划的，随意的，杂乱无章的

参考例句：

• The town grew in a haphazard way.这城镇无计划地随意发展。
• He regrerted his haphazard remarks.他悔不该随口说出那些评论话。

4 mishap   

n.不幸的事，不幸；灾祸

参考例句：

• I'm afraid your son had a slight mishap in the playground.不好了，你儿子在操场上出了点小意外。
• We reached home without mishap.我们平安地回到了家。

5 gambling   

n.赌博；投机

参考例句：

• They have won a lot of money through gambling.他们赌博赢了很多钱。
• The men have been gambling away all night.那些人赌了整整一夜。

6 dice   

n.骰子；vt.把（食物）切成小方块，冒险

参考例句：

• They were playing dice.他们在玩掷骰子游戏。
• A dice is a cube.骰子是立方体。