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SAT TEM8 GRE
外刊例句
- Ultimately, whether big family firms will continue to defy expectations of their demise will depend on their ability to negotiate the rocks on which family businesses have a unique propensity to founder. One is the risk of squabbles among relatives.
最终，大型家族企业能否继续令其终将衰落的预言成空，取决于它们能否跨过惟家族企业最易失足的山崖石阵。其中一大风险是亲戚相争、手足反目。
——《经济学人》 - These squabbles can lead to a self-reinforcing negative loop in which both people become fixated on winning, she said.
她说，这些争吵可能会导致一种自我强化的负面循环，在这个循环中，双方都专注于获胜。
——《纽约时报》
基本释义
[noun] a noisy quarrel about something petty or trivial
[名词] 为微不足道或琐碎的事情而生的吵闹
深入解读
Squabble 一词可能拟声而来，最早于17世纪初出现在英语，即用来表示“争吵、口角”，主要指为一些微不足道或琐碎的事情而生的幼稚和不体面的争吵，并不一定意味着愤怒或怨恨，比如：
- 家庭口角
a family squabble
用作动词时， squabble 相应也是指为微不足道或琐碎的事情“争吵”，常用搭配 squabble (with sb) (about/over sth) ，比如：
- 我不愿为5分小钱争吵。
I won't squabble over a nickel. - 他与老板就谁付账问题发生争吵。
He squabbled with his boss about who would pay the bill.
名著用例
All wars are in reality money squabbles.
一切战争实际上都是关于钱的争吵。
出自美国作家玛格丽特·米切尔（Margaret Mitchell）创作的长篇小说《飘》（Gone with the Wind）。
同近义词
- bicker: argue about petty and trivial matters
- quarrel: a heated argument or disagreement, typically about a trivial issue and between people who are usually on good terms
- wrangle: a dispute or argument, typically one that is long and complicated
