Inkling
“Inkling” 指对某事只有极其模糊的了解或一点点提示、预感，还没有完全搞清楚。通常用于否定句或疑问句。
- “I had no inkling that she was planning to quit her job.” (我一点也没察觉到她打算辞职。)
- “He gave us an inkling of what the new product might look like.” (他向我们稍微透漏了一下新产品可能的样子。)
- “Did you have any inkling of the trouble ahead?” (你对前面的麻烦有一点点预感吗？)
源自中古英语 “inklen” (低声说、暗示)，可能与 “hint” 有关。
- 后缀: “-ling” (指小后缀，或者表示“动作的结果”)。在这里表示“微小的提示”。
在日常英语中，“to have an inkling” 是一个非常地道的表达。它描述那种“直觉上的察觉”或“不经意间获得的线索”。
- 该词通常只作为名词使用。
想象墨水 (ink) 滴了一点点在纸上，虽然看不清全貌，但能看出一点痕迹 (ling) -> 略知一二。
“Sarah’s friends were acting very strange all day. They kept whispering and hiding things. Sarah had a slight inkling that they were planning a surprise party for her birthday, but she pretended not to notice.” (莎拉的朋友们整天都表现得很奇怪。他们不停地低声细语并躲藏东西。莎拉隐约预感到他们正在为她的生日策划一个惊喜派对，但她假装没注意到。)