Far
Far from the madding crowd,出自英國著名作家哈代(Thomas Hardy)長篇小說的書名《遠離塵囂》,meaning in a quiet and private place。
So near and yet so far is used to comment on something that was almost successful but in fact failed,表示功虧一簣,差點兒就得到想要的,但失敗了:It was a crushing experience to have a victory snatched away in such a desperate manner. It’s heartbreaking to be so near and yet so far,看似咫尺,卻是天涯,功敗垂成,令人惋惜。
大相徑庭,大不相同,或者和某件事物相去甚遠,可以用 a far cry from something, meaning very different or a very different experience from something:His new luxury home is a far cry from the one-bed room he lived as a college student,今時的居住環境不同昔日。
Far 通常指空間上的距離很大:a long distance away,例如偏遠的地方。Far 不但顯示空間上的距離,也常用於時間上(time)的久遠距離:a long time from present。Far off 遙遠的,可以是時間上的,空間上的事物。反之,表示地域上距離很小的常用語,便有 near at hand 鄰近的,very close;at your doorstep 在某人的住所旁,very close to where a person lives;within striking distance of something 近在咫尺,very close to something,字面意思是在攻擊範圍之內;within spitting distance of something 也是很近,very close 的意思,但禮貌上差一截。
Far 也可以展示程度或進展:how much progress has been made in doing or achieving something,例子不勝枚舉:as far as = the same distance as;as far as it goes = to the degree that,到某一程度;as far as possible 盡量;as far as I know 就我所知;as far as I can remember 盡我所記得的;as far as one can tell 顯而易見,apparently;as far as I can see 依我看,in the way that I understand;as far as I am concerned 就我而言,in my opinion;so far so good 到目前為止,一切還算順利,up to this point everything is satisfactory。
Near/Nearby/Close
Near 作為形容詞,是這組詞中最籠統的,指空間和時間相距不遠,通常是字面的含義。The post office is quite near 郵局很近。Christmas is near 聖誕節快到了。Nearby = near in position,not far away 也指不遠的,但暗示非常近,在距離上比 near 含義更明確些,而着重點在於「在旁邊」。Close 作為形容詞,大部分用於比喻(metaphorical),通常表示兩者之間幾乎沒有距離。Near and close are often the same in meaning,but in some phrases only one of them may be used,例如:a near miss 近乎命中目標 / the near future 不久的將來 / a near neighbour 近郊,but we say a close call 僥倖脫險 / a close encounter 近距離接觸 / a close contest 難分勝負的比賽。Close 多描述人與人之間的關係:a close friend 密友;close family 關係親密的家庭,均不用 near。
以 near 出現的片語也有一些:no where near 根本沒有離開,not nearly away from。Come on you have eaten no where near enough 來,你吃得根本不多;as near as damn it = near enough 數量相差無幾,沒什麽分別;a near thing 表示兩者差不多,特別指一個好結果和一個壞結果沒有什麼兩樣,a good result that was nearly a bad one。
英文表達「相近」,廣義上和 near/proximity 這個概念拉上關係的慣用語,倒也不少,最常見的例子有:around the corner 在近處,close,nearby;at somebody’s elbow 在某人手邊,very near and convenient;at your finger tips 垂手可及,隨時供你使用;cheek by jowl 非常接近,very close together;in the ballpark 差不多,approximately right 大致上恰當,within an acceptable range;in the shadow of something 在……近旁 very close;on the threshold of something 在開始初期,near the beginning of something;on the verge of doing something 瀕於,接近於,almost doing or experiencing something;within a whisker of something 些微之差,只差那麼一點點,very close to something。
在比賽或競爭中不分高下,難分勝負,equal or very close,可以用 neck and neck:The two computer companies are neck to neck in their competition to win over customers. This phrase is generally used to describe competitors and often with the verb “run”: The athletes are running neck and neck in the race.
一件事緊接另一件事,表示事情很快發生,或隨後即將出現,可以選擇:hot on your heels = following directly behind you / hard on the heels of somebody = close behind or soon after something / in hot pursuit of something = eagerly trying to get something。
本專欄逢周二、五刊登