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外刊例句
- The common retort to such concerns is that humans are far more cognitively adaptable than beasts of burden.
对这类担忧最常见的反驳是人类在认知上的适应性要比役畜强得多。
——《经济学人》 - Mr. Stephens said that many have advised him that he's missing out by not going to college, where, the rationale goes, he could be meeting women and drinking beer. His retort: "I like guys and Champagne."
斯蒂芬说，有不少人都对他说从大学辍学会让他失去不少机会，他原本可以借读大学之机认识女生、大喝啤酒，他对此反唇相讥：“我更喜欢男生和香槟。”
——《纽约时报》
基本释义
[verb] say something in answer to a remark, typically in a sharp, angry, or witty manner
[动词] 以尖锐、愤怒或机智的方式回应某个言辞
深入解读
Retort 一词源自拉丁语 retorquere （返回、扭回、扔回），由前缀 re （回、向后）+ 词根 tort （扭曲，作单词时指“侵权行为”）构成，16世纪中期进入英语时原指“（受伤后）以同样的方式回击”，比如以羞辱对付羞辱（retort insult for insult）。
不过这个含义发展到今天则主要表示“（生气或幽默地）反驳、回嘴”，既可以作动词也可以作名词使用，多用于形容对不同意见、批评或控诉作出迅速、有力或机智的回答，比如：
- 那个衣冠楚楚、野心勃勃的政客以反问答问。
The sleek and ambitious politician retorted a question by another question. - 我顶了他几句。
I said a few words to him in retort.
另外值得注意的是， retort 同小站之前推过的 fret, peer, loom, faction, swallow, staple 等一样也是个同形异义词，还有一个词源不同的含义是作名词表示“曲颈甑、曲颈瓶”。
名著用例
She was about to retort but something checked the words on her tongue.
她刚要抢白两句，可是话到嘴边又咽了回去。
出自爱尔兰现代主义作家詹姆斯·乔伊斯（James Joyce）于1922年出版的长篇小说《尤利西斯》（Ulysses）。下载本书请点击：原版名著下载 | 尤利西斯（Ulysses）
同近义词
- rejoin: return to (a companion, organization, or route that one has left)
- riposte: make a quick, clever reply to an insult or criticism
- return: feel, say, or do (the same feeling, action, etc.) in response
