记忆方法
1、thing 最早也不是"东西"，是"集会"：日耳曼人定个日子开庭议事，那个会就叫 thing——议的是什么事，慢慢地"事"本身成了 thing。冰岛议会到今天还叫 Althing（全国大会）。
2、亲戚帮忙拼（同 -nk/-ng 鼻音收尾一族）：think（想）、thank（谢，第十四轮已入库：本义"记你的好"）——心里"想"出来的对象，古语里也算 thing 的一种来源。
3、用法松散处正是它的本义：thing 指说不清、懒得说细的东西（Where are my things? 我的东西呢）；all things considered（综合来看）、do your thing（按你的方式放开做）。
2、亲戚帮忙拼（同 -nk/-ng 鼻音收尾一族）：think（想）、thank（谢，第十四轮已入库：本义"记你的好"）——心里"想"出来的对象，古语里也算 thing 的一种来源。
3、用法松散处正是它的本义：thing 指说不清、懒得说细的东西（Where are my things? 我的东西呢）；all things considered（综合来看）、do your thing（按你的方式放开做）。
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词族 · thing
词形变化
中文词源
thing 东西，事物，物品
来自古英语 thing,会议，集会，讨论会，来自 Proto-Germanic*thingam,集会，词源同 hustings, 竞选活动。可能进一步来自 PIE*teng,思考，考虑，词源同 thank,think.复合词 hustings 来自 古英语 husting,会议，来自 house,屋子，thing,集会。后词义由会议引申为讨论的内容，最后 词义极大的扩大化，引申诸多具体和抽象的词义。
英语词源
- thing
-
thing: [OE] The ancestral meaning of thing is ‘time’: it goes back to a prehistoric Germanic *thingam, which was related to Gothic theihs ‘time’, and may come ultimately from the Indo- European base *ten- ‘stretch’ (source of English tend, tense, etc). In Germanic it evolved semantically via ‘appointed time’ to ‘judicial or legislative assembly’.
This was the meaning it originally had in English, and it survives in other Germanic languages (the Icelandic parliament is known as the Althing, literally ‘general assembly’). In English, however, it moved on through ‘subject for discussion at such an assembly’ to ‘subject in general, affair, matter’ and finally ‘entity, object’. (The ancient meaning ‘assembly’ is preserved in fossilized form in English husting, etymologically a ‘house assembly’).
=> husting - thing (n.)
- Old English þing "meeting, assembly, council, discussion," later "entity, being, matter" (subject of deliberation in an assembly), also "act, deed, event, material object, body, being, creature," from Proto-Germanic *thingam "assembly" (cognates: Old Frisian thing "assembly, council, suit, matter, thing," Middle Dutch dinc "court-day, suit, plea, concern, affair, thing," Dutch ding "thing," Old High German ding "public assembly for judgment and business, lawsuit," German Ding "affair, matter, thing," Old Norse þing "public assembly"). The Germanic word is perhaps literally "appointed time," from a PIE *tenk- (1), from root *ten- "stretch," perhaps on notion of "stretch of time for a meeting or assembly."
The sense "meeting, assembly" did not survive Old English. For sense evolution, compare French chose, Spanish cosa "thing," from Latin causa "judicial process, lawsuit, case;" Latin res "affair, thing," also "case at law, cause." Old sense is preserved in second element of hustings and in Icelandic Althing, the nation's general assembly.
Of persons, often pityingly, from late 13c. Used colloquially since c. 1600 to indicate things the speaker can't name at the moment, often with various meaningless suffixes (see thingamajig). Things "personal possessions" is from c. 1300. The thing "what's stylish or fashionable" is recorded from 1762. Phrase do your thing "follow your particular predilection," though associated with hippie-speak of 1960s is attested from 1841.
权威例句
- 1. The best thing to do when entering unknown territory is smile.
- 踏入未知地带最好的对策就是微笑。
- 2. "One thing you can never insure against is corruption among your staff."—"Agreed."
- “永远也防不胜防的就是员工内部的贪污腐败。”——“同意。”
- 3. The most amazing thing about nature is its infinite variety.
- 大自然最让人惊叹的是它的无限多样性。
- 4. He hadn't eaten a thing except for one forkful of salad.
- 除了一餐叉色拉，他什么都没吃。
- 5. I would be remiss if I did not do some-thing about it.
- 如果我对此不做点儿什么，就是不负责任。
词语辨析
【affair, matter, concern, business, thing】
这组词都有“事情”的意思，其区别是：
affair: 含义较广，侧重指已发生或必须去做的任何事情或事务。复数形式多指重大或较复杂的事务。
matter: 普通用词，着重指一件考虑中的或需要处理的事。
concern: 往往强调与个人或团体利害有直接或重大关系的事。
business: 通常指较重要或较难而又必须承担的事情，也可指商事。
thing: 用作“事情”解时，词义较笼统、含糊，多用于指不很具体的事。
这组词都有“事情”的意思，其区别是：
affair: 含义较广，侧重指已发生或必须去做的任何事情或事务。复数形式多指重大或较复杂的事务。
matter: 普通用词，着重指一件考虑中的或需要处理的事。
concern: 往往强调与个人或团体利害有直接或重大关系的事。
business: 通常指较重要或较难而又必须承担的事情，也可指商事。
thing: 用作“事情”解时，词义较笼统、含糊，多用于指不很具体的事。