tip of the iceberg

英语

词源

冰山一角

漂浮在海面上的冰山通常只露出其十分之一体积。20世纪初的用法据信受到了泰坦尼克号撞击冰山后沉没事故的影响。

发音

• (标准英音) 国际音标^(帮助): /ˈtɪp‿əv ðiː ˈaɪsbɜːɡ/
• (通用美式) 国际音标^(帮助): /ˈtɪp‿əv ði ˈaɪsbɝɡ/

• 音频 (澳大利亚)：

  (档案)

• 断字：tip of the ice‧berg

名词

tip of the iceberg (复数 tips of icebergs 或 (罕用) tips of the icebergs)

1. (俗语) 冰山一角

   This is only the tip of the iceberg. Our time together can become much more exciting.

   这只是冰山一角。我们在一起的时光可以变得更加精彩。

   • 1970, J. K. Brierley, “The Iceberg of Disease”, 出自 Biology and the Social Crisis: A Social Biology for Everyman, 1st American版, Rutherford, N.J.: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press; Cranbury, N.J.: Associated University Presses, →ISBN，第 117 页:

     The exposed tip of the iceberg, the recognized illness that brings a man to his doctor, is relatively small compared with the hidden mass of undetected disease, or 'at risk' people, in the population.

     暴露出来的冰山一角，即导致人们去看医生的已知疾病，与人群中未被发现的大量疾病或“高危”人群相比，相对较小。

   • 1999, Leila J. Rupp, “In the Beginning: Same-sex Sexuality in Early America”, 出自 A Desired Past: A Short History of Same-sex Love in America, Chicago, Ill., London: University of Chicago Press, →ISBN，第 30 页:

     Records document nineteen legal cases involving the charge of sodomy and five executions from 1607 to 1740, although this is no doubt just the tip of the iceberg of actual incidents. Even the minimal evidence we do have suggests that ordinary people, in contrast to the ministers and legislators, did not always harshly judge people accused of same-sex sexuality.

     记录显示，从1607年到1740年，有19起涉及鸡奸指控的法律案件和5起处决，尽管这无疑只是实际事件的冰山一角。即使我们掌握的最低限度的证据也表明，与牧师和立法者不同，普通人并不总是严厉地评判被指控同性恋的人。

   • 2001, Kathryn Hendley, “Beyond the Tip of the Iceberg: Business Disputes in Russia”, 出自 Peter Murrell 编, Assessing the Value of Law in Transition Economies, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Press, →ISBN，第 20 页:

     [O]nly a tiny portion of disagreements—the proverbial tip of the iceberg—ever ends up in court. Most agreements drop out along the way, either because they are settled or because the allegedly wronged party decides that the potential costs of proceeding outweigh the potential benefits

     只有一小部分（俗话说是冰山一角）分歧最终诉诸法庭。大多数协议在诉讼过程中被搁置，要么是因为已经达成和解，要么是因为据称受害的一方认为诉讼的潜在成本大于潜在收益

   • 2021年10月10日, Caroline Anders, “A TikTok bone salesman’s wall of spines reignites ethical debate over selling human remains”, 出自 The Washington Post‎^[1]:

     This collection is not even the tip of the human remains iceberg, according to Damien Huffer, an adjunct research professor at Carleton University in Canada. Collectors across the world have much larger collections than JonsBones, he said, and the trade far predates TikTok.

     加拿大卡尔顿大学兼职研究教授达 Damien Huffer 表示，这些藏品甚至还只是人类遗骸的冰山一角。他说，世界各地的收藏家拥有的藏品比乔恩斯的藏品多得多，而且这种贸易远早于 TikTok 的出现。

派生词汇

• tip of the ice cube

参见

• cockroach theory
• drop in the ocean
• scratch the surface

延伸阅读

• tip of the iceberg (disambiguation)在英语维基百科上的资料。维基百科 ^en
• “the tip of the iceberg”，Lexico，Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press，2019–present年.