upset

意外击败

【背景知识】

翻看有关本年度奥斯卡金像奖的评论，最炙手可热的一个词恐怕就是upset了。美国西部时间3月5日下午5:00，第78届奥斯卡金像奖颁奖典礼在洛杉矶柯达剧院举行，事先不被看好的《撞车》击败《断背山》获得年度最佳影片奖，成为奥斯卡历史上的最大冷门之一。

【相关报道】

请看路透社的相关报道：The racial drama "Crash" pulled off a stunningupsetat Sunday's 78th annual Academy Awards by swooping in to steal the best picture Oscar from the firm favourite "Brokeback Mountain."

"Crash" and "Brokeback" each won three Oscars, but first-time Canadian director Paul Haggis's study of racial prejudice took the top honour -- best picture, while "Brokeback," the story of unfulfilled love between gay cowboys, had to settle for the best director statuette for Taiwan's Ang Lee.

【解释说明】

upset

报道中的upset在句子里做名词，意思是an unexpected triumph in a competition（在比赛中击败强势对手，意外获取胜利）。upset原意是"推翻、倾覆"，或许，正是由于在比赛中"黑马"们大爆冷门，推翻人们早先的猜测，才使upset有了这层引申义。

Upset表示"意外击败"时，还可做动词和形容词，举两个例子：The independent candidate upset the mayor in the election（那个独立候选人意外击败市长，获得本次选举的胜利）；" Crash " has really made an upset victory（《撞车》获胜，真得很意外）。