字面直译为“甘心接受灭绝/消亡”,引申为“听任自己走向灭绝、放弃抵抗而接受消亡的命运”。
其中:
resign oneself to 是固定搭配,意为“听任、顺从、甘心接受(无法改变的事实)”(强调主观上放弃挣扎,接受结果);
extinction 指“灭绝、消亡”(可指物种灭绝、文化消亡、组织倒闭等)。
该短语的关键是反身代词的呼应和语境的适用,具体如下:
"resign oneself to" 中的 oneself 要根据主语的人称/数变化(如 I → myself, you → yourself, he → himself, they → themselves 等),不能省略。
例如:
The endangered tiger has resigned itself to extinction.(这只濒危老虎似乎已甘心接受灭绝。)
We will not resign ourselves to extinction without a fight.(我们不会不战而屈地接受消亡。)
"extinction" 是名词,直接作介词 "to" 的宾语;若要表达“接受做某事导致的消亡”,需接动名词(doing)。
例如:
The tribe refused to resign itself to dying out (→ extinction) due to climate change.(这个部落拒绝因气候变化而接受消亡。)
通常用于描述无法改变或无力扭转的负面结果,主语可以是:
物种(如濒危动物);
文化/语言(如无人传承的古老文化);
组织/企业(如无法适应市场的小企业);
比喻义(如个人/群体“精神消亡”或“被淘汰”)。
1、 物种灭绝:
The last surviving panda in the wild seems to have resigned itself to extinction, as its habitat continues to shrink.
(野外最后一只存活的熊猫似乎已甘心接受灭绝,因为它的栖息地仍在缩小。)
2、 文化消亡:
With no young people learning it, the ancient dialect has resigned itself to extinction.
(没有年轻人学习,这种古老方言已甘心消亡。)
3、 企业/组织倒闭:
After years of losing money, the small bookstore finally resigned itself to extinction and closed down.
(多年亏损后,这家小书店最终甘心倒闭。)
4、 比喻义(被淘汰):
If we don’t update our technology, our company will resign itself to extinction in the competitive market.
(如果不更新技术,我们公司会在竞争激烈的市场中“自取灭亡”。)
不要混淆 "resign" 的不同搭配:
resign from + 职位:辞职(如 resign from the company 从公司辞职);
resign oneself to + 事实:接受事实(如本文短语)。
总结:"resign oneself to extinction" 强调主观上放弃抵抗,接受消亡的结局,是一种带有无奈或绝望的表达,常用于描述“无法逆转的消失”。