【英文謬誤】”No strings attached”是沒夾帶什麼?!

claire y. w.
Office English
Published in
3 min readSep 10, 2018

國外很流行一種社會運動叫做Free hugs(免費擁抱),他們都會喊著:Free hugs! No strings attached. 後面這句“No strings attached.” 意思不是夾帶繩子(strings),也不是說你忘了夾帶什麼,而是「沒有附加條件的」、「沒有責任義務的」。

所以你可以這麼說:
Hundreds of people queued up at the new coffee shop when they saw an ad offering free coffee with no strings attached.
數百人在新開的咖啡廳外排隊,因為他們看到有免費提供咖啡的廣告,而且沒有任何附帶條件。

拿掉no,”strings attached“=有附加條款的

Most of the special offers on this website come with strings attached.
這網站上大多數的特價商品都是有附帶條件的。

attach檔案,也能attach感情

attached這個字還可以用在情感「依存、依附」,對什麼東西很有感情、對誰很依戀,介系詞用to

I’m very attached to my old shoes.
我對這雙舊鞋很有感情。

也可以用另一個慣用語emotionally attached,表示「有了感情」

I find myself quite emotionally attached to you.
我發覺我對你有了不少感情。

Since I am now 70 years old, I am emotionally attached to the elderly.
因為我現在70歲了,我對長者特別有感情。

人unattached不是忘了夾帶檔案

attached如果前面加上un-變成unattached就表示,「感覺抽離、處於(團體)邊緣」

Rose is feeling unattached to her coworkers, friends and even families.
Rose感覺和她自己她的同事、朋友,甚至家人很沒有共鳴。

形容人unattached,就是單身、未婚

Mark is still unattached.
Mark還是單身。

最感性的繩子叫heartstrings

No strings attached. (不附帶任何條件)其中attach和感情可以搭配,strings也能,只要前面加上個heart — heartstrings就是中文說心弦、情感。

play on my heartstrings
撥動心弦

This new series on Netflix will play on your heartstrings. It will definitely make you cry.
這在Netflix上的新影集很撩撥情緒,一定會哭。

His rude behavior seriously hurt my heartstrings.
他無理的行為真的嚴重傷了我的心。

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claire y. w.
Office English

A pro-am educator, a grounded dreamer, a daughter and a magazine editor. This is Claire’s flipped English studio.