upset: 意外击败

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。

请看路透社的相关报道：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.

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）。