Li:    Hello and welcome to Question and Answer of the week from BBC Learning English. 大家好，我是杨莉。 With me today is my colleague Diarmuid. Hi Derm. 
Diarmuid:    Hello Li.
 
Li:    As the word master you would love today’s question.  

Contact sports may cause injuries

 
Diarmuid:    So it’s about vocabulary then?
 
Li:    Indeed. 署名 cxm1978 的同学通过电子邮件提出了这样一个问题。
 
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看书时发现这两句话，感觉  injure 与 hurt 意思差不多，但究竟他们在用法上有什么区别呢，两个可以互换吗？  
 
Li:  Basically she is asking whether there is any difference between the word injure and the word hurt. She also gave two examples in her email:
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He hurt his leg while playing football.
He injured his foot while playing soccer.
 
Li:  So Derm, how similar or different are these two words?
 
Diarmuid:  Well, both of the words have similar meanings in that they mean to suffer pain. So if you are hurt or if you are injured you will have suffered some pain but the difference is in the degree of seriousness. For example, he hurt his leg while playing football indicates not a very serious problem. If we say he injured his foot while playing soccer then that means that there would be lasting damage it could be a broken bone, or something more serious.
 
Li:  嗯，  that’s very useful. Derm 说，两个词虽然都有伤着碰着的意思，但是其程度不同，但是往往程度不同，举下面这两句话为例。 He hurt his leg while playing 
 
football. 他踢球时把腿磕了一下，不严重，程度较轻。 另外一句话。 He injured his foot while playing soccer. 他踢球时一只脚受了伤，这里  injure 表示程度比较严重。 Now Derm, I would like you to give some examples where they are not interchangeable?
 
Diarmuid:    OK. Let’s have a look at the word hurt first. Here are a few examples: My shoes hurt because they are too tight.
My leg hurts when I walk fast. 
 
Now in this situation you are not causing serious physical damage, so you couldn’t say my shoes have injured me or my leg injures. We just wouldn’t say it in that way. How would you explain that in Chinese Li?
 
Li:    Well let’s have a look at the implied meaning of hurt in both sentences. My shoes hurt because they are too tight. 这双鞋太紧了，挤得我脚疼。这里的 hurt 仅仅表示疼痛，因此不能用  injure 来代替。 另一句话 my leg hurts when I walk fast. 我走路一快，腿就疼，也是如此。请大家注意这两句话中的 hurt 都是指身体某个部位有疼痛感，但不是受伤，因此需要用 hurt 而不用  injure. Any other examples?
 
Diarmuid:    Yes. Absolutely. Some phrases and words, we just use these things together, so for example I know that these words may hurt but my intention is to help you. You cannot use injure in this context.
 
Li:  这些话听起来不中耳，但是我是为了帮助你，我的动机是好的。 These words may hurt but my intention is to help you. 这类似汉语中的良药苦口利于病，忠言逆耳利于行。 OK. More set phrases Derm?
 
Diarmuid:    Yes we also use this idiom: to hit somebody where it hurts. 
 
Li:        To hit somebody where it hurts. 这是个固定成语, 意思是 刺着某人的痛处；也就是击中要害的意思。 Here hurt is a verb. 
 
Diarmuid:  And we could also use the word hurt as a noun. So for example, it was a great hurt to her pride. 
 
Li:  这对他的自尊心是个很大的傷害。 A great hurt to her pride.  
 
Diarmuid:    Now that last expression was interesting because we can’t use injure in the same way but we do also have an alternative phrase: injured pride.
 
Li:  Injured pride. What does it mean? 
 
Diarmuid:    Well it means that somebody has done something to you and now your self respect is not as great as it once was, it could be a damage to your pride. 
 
Li:  I see. An injured pride 这个短语也是自尊心受伤害的意思，不过和前面的那句话相比，词语的搭配不同。 Derm, I think this is getting quite interesting now as we learn words and their collocations. Any more phrases? 
 Diarmuid:  Another common phrase in legal English is the injured party.
 
Li:  The injured party 这是一个常用的法律用语，受伤的一方。 
 
Diarmuid:  Another example could be, again from legal terms, you could hear the expression an injury claim but not a hurt claim.
 
Li:  An injury claim 这可是英国人都熟悉的一个法律用语，伤害赔偿 an injury claim. Well, you could make a lot of money out of an injury, couldn’t you?
 
Diarmuid:  Some people do if they are lucky. 
 
Li:  That’s true.
 
Diarmuid:  Now we also have another idiom to add insult to injury. 
 
Li:  Insult 侮辱  injury 是伤痛。 To add insult to injury 就是对一个已经受伤的人还要变本加厉地进行侮辱。  It sounds so cruel. I wonder if you have ever done that Derm?
 
Diarmuid:    No, you know I am a nice gentle person Li and I would never add insult to injury.
 
Li:  I am sure you wouldn’t. So, on that note we will draw this Question and Answer of the week programme to a close but if you have any other questions please don’t hesitate to send them to us. 
 
Diarmuid:  Just send them to chinaelt@bbc.co.uk
 
Li:  Thank you very much Diarmuid for joining me today.
 
Diarmuid:    That’s really my pleasure. Thank you Li.
 
Li:  Bye bye.
 
Diarmuid:  Bye. 

Today we are looking at two words 'hurt' and 'injure'.

How similar or different are they? Are they exchangeable 互换的 in the following sentences?

He hurt his leg while playing football.

He injured his foot while playing soccer?

In English there are some frequently-used idioms relating to hurt or injure. Listen to the programme to find out more about the following phrases:

To hit someone where it hurts.

To add insult to injury.

A great hurt to her pride.

Injured pride.

Remember that if you have a burning question 急切的问题 about the English language, you can email us at questions.chinaelt@bbc.co.uk. We might make a programme about it.