upset

意外擊敗

【背景知識】

翻看有關本年度奧斯卡金像獎的評論，最炙手可熱的一個詞恐怕就是upset了。美國西部時間3月5日下午5:00，第78屆奧斯卡金像獎頒獎典禮在洛杉磯柯達劇院舉行，事先不被看好的《撞車》擊敗《斷背山》獲得年度最佳影片獎，成為奧斯卡歷史上的最大冷門之一。

【相關報道】

請看路透社的相關報道：The racial drama "Crash" pulled off a stunningupsetat Sunday's 78th annual Academy Awards by swooping in to steal the best picture Oscar from the firm favourite "Brokeback Mountain."

"Crash" and "Brokeback" each won three Oscars, but first-time Canadian director Paul Haggis's study of racial prejudice took the top honour -- best picture, while "Brokeback," the story of unfulfilled love between gay cowboys, had to settle for the best director statuette for Taiwan's Ang Lee.

【解釋說明】

upset

報道中的upset在句子里做名詞，意思是an unexpected triumph in a competition（在比賽中擊敗強勢對手，意外獲取勝利）。upset原意是"推翻、傾覆"，或許，正是由于在比賽中"黑馬"們大爆冷門，推翻人們早先的猜測，才使upset有了這層引申義。

Upset表示"意外擊敗"時，還可做動詞和形容詞，舉兩個例子：The independent candidate upset the mayor in the election（那個獨立候選人意外擊敗市長，獲得本次選舉的勝利）；" Crash " has really made an upset victory（《撞車》獲勝，真得很意外）。