翻看有關本年度奧斯卡金像獎的評論，最炙手可熱的一個詞恐怕就是upset了。美國西部時間3月5日下午5:00，第78屆奧斯卡金像獎頒獎典禮在洛杉磯柯達劇院舉行，事先不被看好的《撞車》擊敗《斷背山》獲得年度最佳影片獎，成為奧斯卡歷史上的最大冷門之一。 請看路透社的相關報道：The racial drama "Crash" pulled off a stunning upset at 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. 報道中的upset在句子里做名詞，意思是an unexpected triumph in a competition（在比賽中擊敗強勢對手，意外獲取勝利）。upset原意是"推翻、傾覆"，或許，正是由于在比賽中"黑馬"們大爆冷門，推翻人們早先的猜測，才使upset有了這層引申義。 Upset表示"意外擊敗"時，還可做動詞和形容詞，舉兩個例子：The independent candidate upset the mayor in the election（那個獨立候選人意外擊敗市長，獲得本次選舉的勝利）；" Crash " has really made an upset victory（《撞車》獲勝，真得很意外）。 (中國日報網站編）