Word of the Day: January 17, 2024

whinge

抱怨；喋喋不休地抱怨

verb /WINJ/ [wɪndʒ]

What It Means

Whinge is a verb used especially in British English to mean "to complain fretfully."

Whiinge 常用于英式英语中使用的动词，意思是“ 烦躁地抱怨”。

WHINGE in Context

"In his customary forthright manner, [Prince] Philip wanted to do much more than whinge about the environment. In 1970, he told the Conference on World Pollution: 'It's totally useless for a lot of well-meaning people to wring their hands in conference and to point out the dangers of pollution, or the destruction of the countryside, if no one is willing or capable of taking any action.'" — Harry Mount, The Independent (United Kingdom), 9 Nov. 2023

“菲利普亲王以其惯常的直率态度抱怨更多的环境问题。1970 年，他在世界污染会议上表示：“如果没有人愿意或有能力采取任何行动，那么会议上许多善意的人绞尽脑汁指出污染危险或乡村破坏的问题是完全没有意义的。”

Everyone at the pub was whinging about the television not working.

酒吧里的每个人都在抱怨电视坏了。

Did You Know?

One of the strengths of the English language is the nuance it exhibits when called upon to supply words for every possible kind of whining and complaining. We English users vent, we lament, we fuss and grouse and kvetch. We also—especially those of us across the pond—have a tendency to whinge. Contrary to appearances, whinge is etymologically distinct from whine. The latter traces to an Old English verb, hwīnan, meaning "to hum or whir like a speeding object (such as an arrow) through the air." When hwīnan became whine in Middle English, it meant "to wail distressfully"; whine didn't acquire its "complain" sense until the 16th century. Whinge, on the other hand, comes from a different Old English verb, hwinsian, meaning "to wail or moan discontentedly." Whinge retains that original sense today, though nowadays it puts less emphasis on the sound of the complaining and more on the discontentment behind all the whinging and moaning.

英语的优势之一是，当需要描述每一种 whining 和 complaining 的词时，它所表现出的细微差别。We English users vent「发泄」、lament「哀叹」、 fuss「大惊小怪」、grouse「抱怨」和kvetch「怨恨」。我们——尤其是大西洋彼岸的人——也有抱怨的倾向。与表面相反的是 whing 在词源上与 whine 不同。后者可追溯到古英语动词 hwīnan，意思是“to hum oe whir like a speeding object「像空中高速飞行的物体（例如箭）一样发出嗡嗡或呼呼的声音」”。当 hwīnan 在中古英语中变成“whine”时，意思是“ to wail distressfully「痛苦地哭泣」”；直到16世纪，whine 才有了“complain「抱怨」”的意思。另一方面，Whinge 源自一个不同的古英语动词 hwinsian，意思是“ to wail or moan discontentedly「不满地哭泣或呻吟」”。如今 whinge 仍然保留着最初的含义，但它不再是强调抱怨的声音，而更多的是强调抱怨和呻吟背后的不满。

Name That Synonym

Rearrange the letters to reveal a synonym of whinge that means "to to make a low whining plaintive or broken sound": RHIPEWM

whimper