desultory
DEH-sul-tor-ee
adjective
What It Means
Desultory means "marked by lack of definite plan or purpose."
Desultory 的意思是“特點是缺乏明確的計劃或目的”。
// After graduation, he moved from job to job in a desultory manner.
畢業之後，他斷斷續續的換了一份又一份的工作。
Examples
"So my friend goes into the office with his copy, walks up to the creative director's desk, gently puts it down in front of him, and waits. The creative director looks baffled and irritated. He picks up the copy and gives it a desultory read." — Rob Long, Martini Shot (KCRW radio), 9 Apr. 2008
“於是我的朋友帶著他的稿子走進辦公室，走到創意總監的辦公桌前，輕輕地把它放在他面前等著。創意總監看起來很困惑和惱怒。他拿起稿子，漫不經心地閱讀起來。” — Rob Long，Martini Shot（KCRW 電台），2008.4.9
Did You Know?
The Latin adjective desultorius was used by the ancients to refer to a circus performer (called a desultor) whose trick was to leap from horse to horse without stopping. It makes sense, then, that someone or something desultory "jumps" from one thing to another. (Desultor and desultorius, by the way, come from the Latin verb salire, meaning "to leap.")
古人用拉丁形容詞 desultorius 來指代馬戲團表演者（稱為 deultor），其伎倆是不停地從一匹馬跳到另一匹馬。那麼，某人或某物從一件事“跳躍”到另一件事是有道理的。（ Desultor 和 desultorius ，順便說一下，來自拉丁動詞 salire ，意思是“跳躍”。）
A desultory conversation leaps from one topic to another and doesn't have a distinct point or direction. A desultory student skips from one subject to another without applying serious effort to any particular one. A desultory comment is a digressive one that jumps away from the topic at hand. And a desultory performance is one resulting from an implied lack of steady, focused effort.
如同，讓一個話題跳到另一個話題，而沒有明確的觀點或方向，就是尬聊。從一個科目跳到另一個科目，而沒有認真學習一種特定的科目就是位散漫的學生。文不對題的評論便是一種毫無章法的評論。時好時壞的表現是缺乏精益求精而導致的。
心得與說文解字:
這次翻的 desultory 也是具有多重的意思，不過原意都是差不多的，所以今後我的翻譯也只會取原意為先，語法為次要。
今天要說文解字的是 performance ， per ( 完整的 ) / form ( 形 ) / ance ( 名詞片尾 )，作出完整的形狀，即是表演(現)、展示、施行。
而 form 也有其他的詞如: uni (相同)/ form ( 形狀 )，就是制服，re (再度) / form ( 形狀 ) 則是改革，con ( 一起 ) / form ( 形狀 ) 就是遵從的意思。
