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什么是 “自反义词（contronyms）”

Episode 260610 / 10 Jun 2026

内容简介

单词 “fast” 可以用来形容物体移动得非常 “快速”。不过你知道吗，它也可以用来形容 “很牢固，纹丝不动”？在英语中，这种具有两个截然相反含义的单词被称为 “contronyms（自反义词）”。听节目，跟主持人步理和 Phil 学习几个常见的自反义词，以及在不同语境下如何准确区分它们。

文字稿

（关于台词的备注: 请注意这不是广播节目的逐字稿件。本文稿可能没有体现录制、编辑过程中对节目做出的改变。）

Buli
大家好，欢迎收听 BBC 英语教学的 “你问我答” 节目。This is Question and Answer of the Week, where we answer your questions about English language, culture and life. I'm Buli. Phil's here to help me answer a question about words that 'contradict' themselves.

Phil
Hi, great to see you again, Buli. Let's hear the question.

Buli
最近，一位听众向我们发来了这样的问题：

Question
你好，我最近了解到一个叫 “自反义词” 的概念，它说的是 “同一个单词但发展出了两个完全相反的概念”。比如 “overlook” 这个词就既有 “忽视”，又有 “监督” 的意思。我感觉这些词还是挺容易让人懵圈的，用的时候有什么窍门或者注意事项么？

Phil
I'm actually really excited to answer this question, because I find this really interesting. I do have good news and bad news though.

Buli
Good news and bad news?

Phil
Yes. So, the bad news – there are no general rules about this, you just have to learn the meanings. The good news is that we can give you some examples and tips to help.

Buli
Let's start with the examples first. See how many contronyms you can spot. 让我们先来听一段对话，试试看你能从中听出多少个自反义词和它们的不同含义吧。

Phil, what was that cookery programme you were talking about? I overheard a lot of people talking about it.

Phil
Yeah, I watched them record it last night. I don't know when it's being screened, but soon probably. We were in a restaurant, it was still open, but we were in a section that they had screened off from the public.

Buli
Were there many people there?

Phil
Yes. I mean, it takes a lot of people to make something like that. There was a person to clip the chef's mic on, and someone else just to clip his nails. Someone was dusting the furniture, and someone else was dusting the cakes with sugar so they would look better.

Buli
With all those people it must have gone smoothly!

Phil
Kind of, there was one light that kept falling over, but luckily, they found something to hold it fast. Other than that, it was quite a fast process.

Buli
你正在收听的是 BBC 英语教学制作的 “你问我答” 节目。在本期节目中，我们正在学习 “contronyms（自反义词）” 这个有趣的概念。自反义词指的是那些 “可以表达出两个截然相反的含义的单词”。这些单词用法灵活，稍不注意就可能让人理解错误。

提出这个问题的听众举出了 “overlook” 这个例子。而在刚才的对话中，我和 Phil 又用到了不少其它的自反义词，你都注意到了吗？

Phil, let's reveal the contronyms we've just used. Some of them are quite useful, aren't they?

Phil
Yes. There were quite a few in there. We had the verb 'screen' which can mean to show something like a film or a TV programme. But it can also mean to hide something. The best way to work out which it is, is to think about what kind of screen is being used. Is it a TV screen, or is it a solid screen to stop people seeing through?

Buli
And, we also had 'clip', which means to attach something or to cut something off. Again, think about the noun – is it a clip that is used to fasten something on, or 'clippers' which are a bit like scissors. 动词 “screen” 和 “clip” 都是自反义词，而区分它们含义的其中一个窍门就是关注动作所使用的工具。

比如，我们通常会用一块 “screen（屏幕）” 来 “screen（播放，展映）一部电影或者一个视频”，而用屏风或帷幕等等来 “screen off（遮挡，屏蔽）它们背后的东西”。同理，我们会用 “clip（夹子，别针）” 来 “clip（夹住，固定住）纸张或者衣服布料”，而用 “clipper（小剪子，剪刀）” 来 “clip（修剪，剪短）指甲、树枝等等”。

Phil
Another example where it's important to think about the noun is 'dust'. The verb dust can mean to get rid of the dust, or to sprinkle something powdery over something. Here you need to decide if the dust is good dust or bad dust. If it's the stuff that makes your furniture look dirty, 'dusting' is getting rid of it. If it's sugar, 'dusting' is putting more on.

Buli
Yes. Listening for positive and negative tones towards the object is also a way to tell different meanings of contronyms. 除了所用到的工具，一个动作所传递出的对于动作对象的态度也可以帮助我们区分自反义词的含义。就比如说，“dust” 既可以表示 “清扫，掸除我们不想要的灰尘和脏东西”，也可以表示给蛋糕或饭菜 “撒上糖霜或可可粉、面粉等等”。

除此之外，Phil 还在刚才的对话中用到了 “fast” 这个自反义词。“Fast” 既可以形容 “一样东西被固定得很牢固，很结实”，比如 “hold fast（握紧了，抓牢了）”，“stand fast（坚定不移）” 和 “stick fast（牢牢地粘住）” 等等，也可以表示 “一样东西移动地非常迅速”。

Phil
Now, as we said earlier, there isn't really a rule here. The most helpful things that you can do here, is learn the different meanings that words can have but also think very carefully about the contexts where they're used.

Buli
是的。其实不只是自反义词，许多英语单词对应的汉语含义都不少。在使用多义词，特别是在节奏快速的口语交流中使用它们时，除了在不断变化的语境中选择准确的词汇，我们也完全可以在拿不准别人的意思时问上一句：“What did you mean by that?（你说的这个词，到底指的是哪个意思啊？）”

Phil
And remember, if you have a few words that you can't tell apart, or a question that you'd like us to answer, you can email us too at: questions.chinaelt@bbc.co.uk

Buli
你还可以通过微博向我们提问。我们的微博账号是 “BBC英语教学”。Bye!

Phil
Bye!

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