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各種文體在英文裡的用法 The usage of Fairy tale / anecdote / urban legend / legend / fable / myth / parable / allegory / epic / saga/

story

n. true or fictional account of some occurrence; short work of fiction; plot; news report; joke, anecdote; lie, fib; floor, level in a building

tale

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tale tales
1. [N-COUNT; N-IN-NAMES]
A tale is a story, often involving magic or exciting events.
    ...a collection of stories, poems and folk tales...
2. [N-COUNT: usu with supp, oft N of n]
You can refer to an interesting, exciting, or dramatic account of a real event as a tale.
    The media have been filled with tales of horror and loss resulting from Monday's earthquake.
= story
see also fairy tale, old wives' tale, tall tale
4. [PHRASE: V inflects]
If you survive a dangerous or frightening experience and so are able to tell people about it afterwards, you can say that you lived to tell the tale.
    You lived to tell the tale this time but who knows how far you can push your luck.
5. [PHRASE: V inflects]
If someone tells tales about you, they tell other people things about you which are untrue or which you wanted to be kept secret.
    I hesitated, not wanting to tell tales about my colleague.
see also tell-tale

12

noun 1. a fairy tale story, short story, narrative, anecdote, legend, fable, myth, parable, allegory, epic, saga; inf. yarn.
2. hear tales of her wild behaviour talk, rumour, gossip, hearsay; report, allegation.
3. the child didn't see the burglar—that was a tale lie, fib, falsehood, untruth, fabrication, piece of fiction; inf. story, tall story, cock-and-bull story, whopper, terminological inexactitude.

Fairy tale / anecdote / urban legend / legend / fable / myth / parable / allegory / epic / saga/

1. A fairy tale is a story for children involving magical events and imaginary creatures.

2. A legend is a very old and popular story that may be true.

2-1. A legend is a story that people talk about, concerning people, places, or events that exist or are famous at the present time(now).

3. Urban legend : an often lurid story or anecdote that is based on hearsay and widely circulated as true.

4. A fable is a story which teaches a moral lesson. Fables sometimes have animals as the main characters.

4-1. parable:

A parable is a short story, which is told in order to make a moral or religious point, like those in the Bible.

4-2. allegory:

1. [N-COUNT: oft N of n]
An allegory is a story, poem, or painting in which the characters and events are symbols of something else. Allegories are often moral, religious, or political.

2. [N-UNCOUNT]
Allegory is the use of characters and events in a story, poem, or painting to represent other things.

4.3- allegory

n. representation of abstract or moral concepts in art or literature by means of concrete 具象 things or events; symbolic narrative, fable, parable, metaphor, analogy

4-3. yarn: A yarn is a story that someone tells, often a true story with invented details which make it more interesting.

5. anecdote : An anecdote is a short, amusing account of something that has happened.

6. A myth is a well-known story which was made up in the past to explain natural events or to justify religious beliefs or social customs.

6-1. myth

n. traditional story about supernatural beings or imaginary people that narrates a common belief or explains some natural phenomenon; fable, folk tale; legendary character; commonly held but unsubstantiated belief

6-2. 1 a : a usually traditional story of ostensibly historical events that serves to unfold part of the world view of a people or explain a practice, belief, or natural phenomenon b : PARABLE, ALLEGORY
2 a : a popular belief or tradition that has grown up around something or someone especially : one embodying the ideals and institutions of a society or segment of society <seduced by the American myth of individualism ― Orde Coombs>

narrative

nar·ra·tive narratives
1. [N-COUNT]
A narrative is a story or an account of a series of events.
    ...a fast-moving narrative...
    Sloan began his narrative with the day of the murder.
2. [N-UNCOUNT]
Narrative is the description of a series of events, usually in a novel.
    Neither author was very strong on narrative.
    ...Nye's simple narrative style.

7. folktale

n. traditional superstition or story of a people which has been passed down from generation to generation

episode

epi·sode episodes
1. [N-COUNT: usu with supp]
You can refer to an event or a short period of time as an episode if you want to suggest that it is important or unusual, or has some particular quality.
    This episode is bound to be a deep embarrassment for Washington...
    Unfortunately it was a rather sordid episode of my life.
2. [N-COUNT: oft N of n]
An episode of something such as a series on radio or television or a story in a magazine is one of the separate parts in which it is broadcast or published.
    The final episode will be shown next Sunday.
= instalment
3. [N-COUNT: usu with supp]
An episode of an illness is short period in which a person who suffers from it is affected by it particularly badly. (MEDICAL)
= attack

meme

n. cultural idea, social practice, concept or action that becomes a norm and begins to repeat itself consciously in a society (term coined by Richard Dawkins in his book "The Selfish Gene", 1976)