| 单词 | 一句 |
| 释义 | 〔joke〕a speech that was full of witticisms. Aquip is a clever, pointed, often sarcastic remark: 充满诙谐语句的演说。 quip 指一句机智的、一针见血的、常常是讽刺性的语句： 〔enthuse〕The verbenthuse is not well accepted; its use in the sentenceThe majority leader enthused over his party's gains was rejected by 76 percent of the Usage Panel in an earlier survey.This lack of acceptance ofenthuse is often attributed to its status as a back-formation: such words often meet with disapproval on their first appearanceand only gradually become accepted over time.But other back-formationssuch asdiagnose (a back-formation from diagnosis that was first recorded in 1861) and donate (first cited in 1785 as a back-formation from donation ) are considered unimpeachable English words. This situation suggests thatin truth the continued lack of acceptance ofenthuse, first recorded in 1827, may have less to do with doubts about its lineagethan with shortcomings in its character.Unlikeenthusiasm, which denotes an internal emotional state, enthuse denotes either the external expression of emotion,as inShe enthused over attending the Oscar ceremonies, or the inducement of enthusiasm by an external source,as inHe was so enthused about the miracle diet pills that he agreed to do a testimonial for their television ad. It is possible that a distaste for this emphasis on external emotional display and manipulation is for some people the source of an uneasethat manifests itself in a distaste for the word itself.See Usage Note at intuit 动词enthuse 并未被广泛接受； 其在优势党领导人对本党的利益极为热衷 一句中的用法， 在早期调查中遭到用法使用小组百分之七十六成员的反对。Enthuse 所以不被接受常归因于它是由逆序造词法产生的词： 这种词通常在他们刚刚出现时遭到反对，只有随着时间的流逝才逐渐被人们接受。但是其它逆序生成的词，如diagnose （由 diagnosis 而逆序生成，最早见于1861年）和 donate （最先于1875年作为由 donation 一词的逆序生成词被引用）被看作无可挑剔的英语词汇。 这一情况说明，不接受enthuse 这个1827年便出现的词汇， 实际上并非出自对其来历的怀疑，而是由于其本身的缺陷。与enthusiasm 这一可表现出内在情感状况的词不同， enthuse 要么显示出情感的外在表达，如在她为参加奥斯卡颁奖仪式感到兴奋 一句中， 要么显示出外界对热情的诱惑，如他对神奇的减肥药十分热心，意欲为其电视广告写一份鉴定书 一句。 有可能由于对其强调外在情感的表现与处理的不满，导致了一些人不愿意使用这个词 参见 intuit〔input〕The nouninput has been used as a technical term for about a century in fields such as physics and electrical engineering, but its recent popularity grows out of its use in computer science,where it refers to data or signals entered into a system for processing or transmission.In general discourseinput is now widely used to refer to the transmission of information and opinion, as inThe report questioned whether a President thus shielded had access to a sufficiently varied input to have a realistic picture of the nation or The nominee herself had no input on housing policy. In this last sentence the meaning of the term is uncertain:it may mean either that the nominee provided no opinions to the policymakersor that she received no information about housing policy.This vagueness in the nontechnical use ofinput may be one reason that some critics have objected to it (including, in an earlier survey, a majority of the Usage Panel). Though the usage is well established,care should be taken not to use the word merely as a way of pretending to a scientific precision unwarranted by the facts of the case.名词input 作为一个专业名词在象物理和电子工程领域已经被用了大约一个世纪， 但是它在计算机科学上的最新流行超出了原来的用法，在计算机科学上它指输入系统进行运行或传送的信息和信号。总的来说，input 广泛地用来指信息和观点的传送， 就象在报告怀疑这样保护起来的总统是否能获得接近足够多样信息的机会，从而有一幅这个国家的现实图景 或 被提名人自己没有关于房产政策的任何信息 。 在后一句中单词的定义是不确定的：它既可以指被提名人未向决策者提供任何建议，也可以指她未收到任何有关房产政策的信息。这种模糊在input 的非专业用法中有可能是一些批评家反对它（在一个早期调查中，其中包括大部分用法专题小组成员）的一个原因。 尽管这种用法已完全确立，用这个词时也应谨慎，不能把这个词仅仅用来伪装一种科学的精确性，而在这样的情况下，如此的精确性是不被事实所证明的〔apropos〕Apropos, where were you yesterday?顺便问一句，你昨天在哪儿?〔caring〕Some critics have objected to the use ofcaring as an adjective, perhaps because it appears to treat compassion as a chronic condition.The acceptability of the usage may therefore vary according to the relation between the source and object of the caring.Thus 74 percent of the Usage Panel accepts the sentence A child has a right to certain things: a secure home, a healthful environment, and caring parents. A smaller majority, 58 percent,acceptsWe are looking for a few caring people to help with this program, where the adjective appears to ascribe an undiscriminating disposition to care about whatever object of concern may present itself.Finally, only 29 percent of the Panel accepts 一些评论家反对把caring 当作形容词用， 也许是因为该词看起来把同情作为一种长期的状态来对待。对该词形容词用法的可接受性也许会因此根据同情的缘由和对象的关系而变化。所以有74％的用法专题使用小组成员认为 儿童有权享受一定的事物：安定的家庭，健康的环境以及充满爱心的父母一句可接受。 比例少一些的多数人。即58％的成员，认为我们正在寻找一些有同情心的人帮助实施这项计划 一句可接受。 该句中的形容词似乎把一种不加区别的性情当作关心任何一个可能出现的需要关心注意的对象。最后，只有29％的小组成员接受 〔proverbial〕Expressed in a proverb.用一句谚语表示的〔personal〕an uncalled-for, highly personal remark.一句不得体且纯属人身攻击的话〔decimate〕Decimate originally referred to the killing of every tenth person, a punishment used in the Roman army for mutinous legions.Today this meaning is commonly extended to include the killing of any large proportion of a group.Sixty-six percent of the Usage Panel accepts this extension in the sentenceThe Jewish population of Germany was decimated by the war, even though it is common knowledge thatthe number of Jews killed was much greater than a tenth of the original population.However, when the meaning is further extended to include large-scale destruction other than killing,as inThe supply of fresh produce was decimated by the accident at Chernobyl, the usage is accepted by only 26 percent of the Panel.Decimate 最初指杀死每十人中的一个， 用于古罗马军队对反叛军团的一种惩罚。现在这一层意思通常引申为大批杀死。用法专题使用小组中66%的成员认为在德国的犹太人在战争中被大批杀死 一句中该词的这一引申义可接受， 尽管众所周知，被杀的犹太人的数目远比最初人口的十分之一要多。可是，当词义外延至包括大量毁灭而不是戳杀，如在新鲜农产品的供应由于车诺比事故极大地受到了破坏 一句中， 用法专题使用小组中只有26%的成员接受这一用法。〔plus〕 (compareTwo cows plus two cows makes four cows ). This situation suggests thatplus in these uses should be regarded as a particular kind of conjunction, which joins two elements that are taken together as a single entity,the way the conjunctionand does in a sentence such as Peas and carrots is Sophie's favorite combination. · The usage ofplus in he construction industry has been hurt by the rise in rates. Plus which, bad weather has affected housing starts is not well established in formal writing, nor is the use ofplus introducing an independent clause, as inShe has a great deal of talent, plus she is willing to work hard. （试比较Two cows plus two cows makes four cows )。 这种情况暗示我们plus 在这些用法中应作为特殊的连词来看待， 这种连词联结被视为一整体的两个成分，就象连词and 在 Peas and carrots is Sophie's favorite combination 这样的句子中一样。 Plus 在 建筑业受到了利率提高的损害。 此外，糟糕的天气也影响了房屋的兴建一句中的用法在正式的书面写作中是未被广泛接受的， plus 引导一个独立句的用法亦是如此， 如在她极有天赋，加上她又愿意努力工作。 〔boff〕A line in a play or film, for example, that elicits a big laugh:戏剧或电影中的逗趣：戏剧或电影中的一句引起大笑的台词：〔apropos〕By the way; incidentally:顺便说；随带问一句：〔ironic〕though some Panelists noted that this particular usage might be acceptable if Susie had in fact moved to California in order to find a husband,in which case the story could be taken as exemplifying the folly of supposing that we can know what fate has in store for us).By contrast,73 percent accepted the sentence 虽然一些成员注意到如果苏茜搬到加利福尼亚的目的确是为寻找一位丈夫的话，那么这一句的用法还是可以接受的，因为这个故事可视为代表了这样一种愚行，认为我们能够知道命运为我们保留着什么）。与此形成对照的是，百分之七十三的成员接受了下面这句话 〔joke〕He made a crack about my driving ability.他对我的驾驶技术说了一句挖苦的话。〔joke〕Something said or done to evoke laughter or amusement, especially an amusing story with a punch line.笑话：为引人发笑或逗乐而说的话或做的事，尤指有一句妙语的有趣故事〔aggravate〕It is sometimes claimed thataggravate should be used only to mean "to make worse" and not "to irritate.” Based on this view it would be appropriate to sayThe endless wait for luggage aggravates the misery of modern air travel, but not It's the endless wait for luggage that aggravates me the most. But the latter use dates back as far as the 17th century and is accepted by 68 percent of the Usage Panel. As H.W. Fowler wrote, "the extension from aggravating a person's temper to aggravating the person himself is slight and natural,and when we are told that Wackford Squeers [in Dickens'sNicholas Nickleby ] pinched the boys in aggravating places we may reasonably infer that his choice of places aggravated both the pinches and the boys.”有时认为aggravate 应当只被用来表示“加重；使恶化”的意思而不表示“使恼火；激怒”。 根据这种观点，The endless wait for luggage aggravates the misery of modern air travel（无休止地等待行李加重了现代飞机旅行的困难） 这个句子是正确的，而 It's the endless wait for luggage that aggravates me the most（无休止地等待行李最为令我恼火） 这一句则不正确。 但是后一种用法可以追溯到17世纪，并且被百分之六十八的用法使用小组成员所接受。正如H·W·福勒写道，“从使一个人的脾气变得更坏到使一个人恼火的延伸是微小和自然的，当我们看到威克福特·斯贵尔斯［出自狄更斯的小说尼古拉斯·尼克尔贝 ］往令人恼火的地方拧孩子们时， 我们可以合理地推断出他所选择的地方既加剧了拧的疼痛又令孩子们大为恼火。”〔identify〕In the sense "to associate or affiliate (oneself) closely with a person or group,”identify has developed two distinct subsenses. In one, the verb suggests a psychological empathy with the feelings or experiences of another person,as inMost young readers readily identify (or identify themselves ) with Holden Caulfield. This usage derives originally from psychoanalytic writing,where it has a specific technical sense,but like other terms from that field,it was widely regarded as jargon when introduced into the wider discourse.In particular,critics seized on the fact that in this sense the verb was often used intransitively,with no reflexive pronoun.As Wilson Follett wrote in 1966,"The critic . . . could help restore the true notion in these words if he would give upidentifying at large and resume identifying himself with Ivan Karamazov, Don Quixote, Mary Poppins, or whomever.” In recent years, however, this use ofidentify with without the reflexive has become a standard locution. Eighty-two percent of the Usage Panel accepts the sentenceI find it hard to identify with any of his characters; whereas only 63 percent now accepts this same usage when the reflexive pronoun is used,as inI find it hard to identify myself with any of his characters. · Omission of the reflexive with this use ofidentify serves among other things to distinguish it from use of the verb to mean "to associate (oneself) with the goals, interests, or principles of a group.” This use of the verb can be traced back to the 18th century,but it is now somewhat less acceptable to the Panel than the first sense under discussion:58 percent of the Panel accepts the sentenceShe identified herself with the campaign against drug abuse, and only 40 percent acceptsShe identified with the campaign against drug abuse, where no reflexive pronoun is used. 在“使（自己）密切联系或依附于别人”这一意思中的。identify 一词又有两种不同的含义。 第一，这个动词表现了对其他人的感情或经历在心理上的认同，例如大多数青年读者很快认同了 （或 identify themselves ) 霍尔顿·科尔菲德。 这种用法来源于有关心理分析的著作，在这些著作中，这个词具有特殊的科技含义，不过就象从该领域引入的其它词语一样，这个词在日常生活使用中还带有专业术语的痕迹。特别指出的是，批评家们在发现这个词常常作为不及物动词来用，后面不带反身代词。正如威尔逊·福勒特1966年写到的，“如果评论家们很早就全面放弃identifying 而重新使用 identifying himself with 伊万·卡拉玛佐夫、堂吉诃德、玛丽·波普斯等人物，那就会有助于探询出这些词的真实含意。” 不过，近年来使用identify with 中间不加反身代词已成为一种标准搭配。 用法专题小组中82%的成员认为我觉得很难认同于他小说中的人物 一句是正确的； 而现在只有63%的成员接受使用反身代词来表达同一意思的句子，即I find it hard to identify myself with any of his characters。 省略反身代词以及其它一些方法，使identify 这种用法区别于它作为动词在“与某个集团的目标、利益或原则相联系”一句中的意思。 它作为动词的用法可追溯到18世纪，不过对于用法专题小组来说它没有第一种解释那样被易于接受：58%的小组成员接受她支持反对滥用药物的运动 这一说法， 只有40%的成员接受不要反身代词的She identified with the campaign against drug abuse 这一说法 〔cannot〕The idiomatic phrasecannot but has sometimes been criticized as a double negative, perhaps because it has been confused withcan but. Thebut of cannot but, however, means "except,” as it does in phrases such asno one but, while thebut of can but has the sense only, as it does in the sentenceWe had but a single bullet left. Bothcannot but and can but are established as standard expressions. · The constructioncannot help is used with a present participle to roughly the same effect as cannot but in a sentence such as We cannot help admiring his courage. But this construction is generally restricted to contextsin which a person is unable to affect an outcome that would normally be under his or her control.It would be more precise to sayWith all the public interest in the affair, the book cannot but attract the attention of reviewers (or . . . can but gain . . . )than to say the book cannot help attracting the attention of reviewers, which suggests that the book might have had a say in the matter. · The constructioncannot help but probably arose as a blend of cannot help and cannot but; it has the meaning of the first and the syntax of the second: 习语cannot but 有时候被判定为一种双重否定， 这也许是因为它已混淆于can but 。 然而cannot but 中的 but 表示“除了”， 就如用在象no one but 这样的短语中一样， 而can but 中的 but 意思却是 only（只有） ， 就如用在我们只剩下了一颗子弹 中那样。 cannot but 和 can but 都已被确定为标准的表达法。 cannot help 结构与现在分词同用的作用和 我们禁不住钦佩他的勇气 一句中的 cannot but 大致相同。 但这一结构通常只限于这种情况，即一个人在该情况下不能实现正常情况下处于他或她控制之下的结果。由于公众对该事件的浓厚兴趣，这本书理所当然地引起了评论家的注意 （或 …can but gain… ）的说法比暗示这本书在此事中想必有决定权的 这本书情不自禁地吸引了评论家的注意 说法要更为精确。 cannot help but 也许是来自 cannot help 和 cannet but 的混合； 它具有前者的意思和后者的句法结构： 〔crambo〕A word game in which a player or team must find and express a rhyme for a word or line presented by the opposing player or team.对韵游戏：一种文字游戏，一人或一队说出一词或一句，对手必须对以同韵的词或句〔can〕Only 21 percent of the Usage Panel acceptscan in the latter sentence. Butcan has a long history of use by educated speakers to express permission, particularly in British English.What is more, the blurring of the line betweencan and may is socially and historically inevitable, since politeness often makes the use ofcan preferable in the "permission" sense. For example, the sentenceYou can borrow my car if you like is a more gracious offer than You may borrow my car; the first presumes the granting of permission,while the second makes a point of it.Still, it is understandable that insistence on the use ofmay should become a traditional schoolroom ritual, particularly in first-person requests such as 用法专题使用小组中只有21%的成员接纳can 用于后面一句中。 但can 被受过教育的说话者用于表示许可已有很长的历史， 尤其是在大不列颠英语中。而且，can 和 may 之间不明显的界限从社会和历史渊源上说也是不可避免的， 因为礼貌常使can 的使用比较适宜“允许”这个意义。 例如，句子如你想要的话，你可以借用我的车 是比 你可以借用我的车； 亲切得多的提议， 第一句假定表示许可，而第二句却限定于这一点。然而，主张may 的用法应成为课堂内的惯例也是可以理解的， 尤其是在第一人称中，如 〔tangential〕a tangential remark.一句与本题无甚关系的话〔hypercatalectic〕Having an extra syllable or syllables at the end of a metrically complete line of verse or in a metrical foot.附加音节的，超音节的：一个对称的音脚或诗节中对称完整诗行中一句末尾附加一个或多个音节〔minimal〕Under the strict interpretation ofminimal, this sentence should mean only "Alcohol has an unpleasant effect when I have eaten nothing.”If the looser interpretation is allowed, however,the sentence can also mean “ . . . when I have eaten a bit.”Presented with the sentence, 29 percent of the Usage Panel said that it could have only the "eaten nothing" (that is, the strict) interpretation;34 percent said that it could have only the "eaten a bit" (that is, the looser) interpretation;and 37 percent said that it could have either meaning.Thus the looser sense ofminimal is accepted by 71 percent of the Panel and must be considered acceptable in nontechnical use. · In an analogous shift,the verbminimize is often used to mean "to reduce,” an extension of its strict etymological sense of "to reduce to the smallest possible level.”This looser usage is the result of the imprecision that usually attaches to the use of the verb in most nontechnical contexts.When a manager announces thatThe company wants to minimize the risk of accidents to line workers, we naturally interpret the manager as meaning that the risk is to be reduced to the smallest level consistent with considerations of efficiency and cost,not that risks are to be reduced to the lowest level logically possible.Even when used with allowable imprecision, however, the verbminimize should carry some implication that the relevant quantity is reduced as much as could reasonably be expected in the circumstances.Thusminimize retains at least an approximately superlative sense and so is inconsistent with modification by adverbs such asgreatly or considerably, which imply that the verb is being used as a simple synonym forlessen or reduce. 若句中的minimal 的意思比较严格， 那么这一句就只能理解为“当我什么没吃时喝酒会搞得我很难受。”但是如果比较宽泛的词义得到承认，那么这一句同时也有“…当我吃过一点东西时”这层意思。百分之二十九的用法专题使用小组成员认为这一词只能当“什么都不吃”（即严格意义上的词义）来讲；百分之三十四的成员说它只有“吃过一点”（即宽泛一些的）词义；百分之三十七的成员说两种含义都可适用。所以minimal 宽泛的含义被用法专题使用小组的百分之七十一的成员接受。 与其相类似的是，动词minimize 经常被用来指“减少”， 是其“减少到最可能小的水平”的严格意义上的延伸。这一较宽泛的含义是非技术性文章使用这一动词的不精确性而带来的结果。当一个经理宣称公司试图将生产线上工人面临出事故的风险降至最低， 我们自然会认为经理的意思是工厂的事故风险将被降至一个同时又考虑效率和成本的最小程度，而不是逻辑上可以达到的最低程度。即使在可以允许不精确的程度内使用时，动词mininize 也应有一层隐含的意思， 即其相对数量已被减少到了情况所期望的合理的程度。这样，minimize 至少仍然保留着一种大致为最高级的意思， 因而它与这些副词如greatly 或 considerably 不能搭配使用， 因为这些副词暗示着这一动词被当成了lessen 或 reduce 简单同义词而使用 〔reflexive〕Of, relating to, or being the pronoun used as the direct object of a reflexive verb, asherself in She dressed herself. 反身代词的：（关于）作反身动词的直接宾语的代词的，如herself（她自己） 在 她给自己穿衣 一句 〔financial〕He received thanks but no pecuniary compensation for his services.他的服务只得到了一句谢谢却并没有物质上的补偿。〔between〕certainlybetween would be impossible). Between is the preferred choice when the entities are seen as determining the limits or endpoints of a range: 后一句亦可适用于当仅有两者时的情况；当然between 是不可能的）。 实体被视为确定某范围的界限或终点时，更适合选择用between ： 〔tag〕A cliché, saw, or similar short, conventional idea used to embellish a discourse:陈腔滥调，格言：为了给所讲的话润色而使用的一句陈腐的套话、格言或相类似的简短而传统的观念：〔craft〕Craft has been used as a verb since the Old English period and was used in Middle English to refer specifically to the artful construction of a text or discourse.In recent years,crafted, the past participle of craft, has enjoyed a vogue as a participle referring to well-wrought writing. This may be a sign that the Jamesian conception of the literary muse has begun to yield to a Trollopian conception of literature as a kind of intellectual handicraft;or it may indicate little more than the desperation with which book reviewers seize on any novel adjective.In any event, the usage is more acceptable when applied to literary works than to other sorts of writing,and more acceptable as a participle than as a verb.It was acceptable to 73 percent of the Usage Panel in the phrasebeautifully crafted prose. By contrast, only 35 percent of the Panel accepted the sentenceThe planners crafted their proposal so as to anticipate the objections of local businesses. Craft 这一词语在古英语时期就被用作动词， 在中古英语中它被用来指某一课文或论述的精巧句法结构。近几年来，crafted 即 craft 这一词的过去分词被广泛用于描述写作佳品。 这可能是詹姆士文学灵感观念开始让位于作为一种智力创作技巧的特罗洛普文学观念的一个信号；或者它也有可能暗示了书评作者们对采用小说修饰语的进一步失望。不管怎样，把它用于指文学作品比用于指其它类型的写作更易被人接受，而用作分词比用作动词更易被人接受。用法专题使用小组中73%的成员认同它在精美构思的散文 这一短语中的用法。 与此相反，只有35%的成员认同它在策划者们制订计划以预防地方商业的阻挠 这一句子中的用法 〔flimsy〕The origin offlimsy, although uncertain, is not completely obscure.The word is first recorded in English in the 17th century in a dictionary of cant, the jargon of people such as thieves and beggars.Its early senses "frail" and "trivial"as well as its form may link it withflim-flam, recorded first around 1538.The nounflim-flam could mean "a piece of nonsense or idle talk,” and the adjective could mean "frivolous.” Flim-flam itself is a reduplication in which the patternfl—m occurs twice, the first time with the sound (ĭ);the second, with the sound (ă). Flim may be related to the Old Norse wordflim, meaning "a lampoon, libel.”Flimsy 的词源虽然不确定， 但并不是完全不清楚。这个单词在17世纪首次用英语记载于一本行话字典里，即记载如小偷和乞丐等人所使用的隐语的字典。它最初的意思是“脆弱的”和“轻微的”，其形式可能与flim-flam 有联系， 首次记载大约是在1538年。Flim-flam 作名词时意思为“一句无意义的或无聊的话，” 作形容词时可当作“琐屑的，无意义的”讲。 Flim-flam 本身是一个重叠词，fl-m 这样形式出现两次， 第一次是与语音（i）组合；第二次是与语音（a）组合。 Flim 可能与古斯堪的纳维亚语flim 有关， 其意思为“讽刺，诽谤”〔refrain〕A phrase, verse, or group of verses repeated at intervals throughout a song or poem, especially at the end of each stanza.副句，副歌：一个短语、一句诗或一组诗句在一首歌或诗中每隔一段重复一次， 尤其在每个诗节的结尾处〔irrelevant〕an irrelevant comment;一句不相干的评语；〔if〕With all deference to the traditional rules governing the use of the subjunctive,it should be noted that a survey of the prose of reputable writers over the past 200 years would reveal a persistent tendency to use the indicativewas where the traditional rule would require the subjunctive were. A sentence beginningIf I was the only boy in the world, while not strictly correct, is wholly unremarkable. But the corresponding practice of using the subjunctive in place of the indicative may be labeled a hypercorrection. ·In spoken Englishthere is a growing tendency to usewould have in place of the subjunctive in contrary-to-fact clauses, as inif I would have been the President, but this usage is still widely considered incorrect.See Usage Note at doubt ,should ,wish 在与指导虚拟语气使用方法的传统规则相冲突的一系列不同用法中，我们应注意到一项对过去200年散文作家的调查显示，在传统语法要求使用虚拟式的were 的情况下，有一种持久的使用直陈式 was 的趋势。 一句用假如我是世界上唯一的男孩 开头的句子不会引起人们的注意。 而一定要把其中的直陈式换成虚拟式就显得矫正过了头。在英语口语中，在与事实相反的从句中，使用would have 一词的趋势有所增加， 例如如果我会是总统， 但这种用法仍然被大多数人认为是不正确的 参见 doubt,should,wish〔joke〕In a sally at the end of the debate the candidate elicited much laughter from the audience.在辩论结束时候加入的一句俏皮话引起了听众的大笑。〔deceptively〕There appears to be a great deal of confusion about the sense ofdeceptively when it is used to modify an adjective. Does the sentenceThe proof is deceptively simple mean that the proof is simpler or more difficult than it appears?The Usage Panel was asked to choose among paraphrases for the sentenceThe pool is deceptively shallow: 50 percent said that it means "The pool is shallower than it appears";32 percent said that it means "The pool is deeper than it appears";and 18 percent found it ambiguous.Thus the writer who used such a sentence in a warning notice could expect that at least half the public would either misinterpret the messageor would be uncertain as to which sense was intended.Where the context does not make the meaning clear,a substitute should be used,asThe pool is shallower than it looks or The proof is simple, despite appearances. 当用deceptively 修饰一形容词时，该词的意思似乎大有令人困惑之处。 The proof is deceptively simple 一句中，是比它看起来更容易的意思呢， 还是比它看起来更难的意思呢?有人曾要求用法专题使用小组的成员对The pool is deceptively shallow 一句的释义进行选择， 百分之五十的成员认为该句意为：“池塘看起来很浅”；百分之三十二的成员认为该句意为：“池塘看起很深”；而百分之十八的成员则认为该句意义含混模糊。因此，把这句话写在警告牌上的作者可能会发现至少有一半的公众不是误解这则信息，就是不能确定这句话的意图究竟是什么。在上下文不能使意义明了的地方，应该换一种表达方式，如这个池塘比它看起来要浅 或 证明很简单，尽管看起来有些难 〔minimal〕Etymologically,minimal is properly used to refer to the smallest possible amount, as inThe amplifier reduces distortion to the minimal level that can be obtained with present technologies. In recent years, however,the word has come to be used to refer simply to a small amount,as inIf you would just put in a minimal amount of time on your homework, I am sure your grades would improve. Critics have often objected to this extension,but it appears to be well established.To determine the acceptability of the newer use,we presented the Usage Panel with the sentence 从词源学上来说，minimal 应被正确地用来指最小的可能数量， 如在这台扩大器能将失真减至为当前技术水平所有达到的最低限度内 。 但是近几年来，此词已被用来表示一个较少的数量，如在假如你在家庭作业上花上一点时间的话，我敢肯定你的成绩会变好的 一句中。 批评家们经常反对这种延伸，但这似乎已被广泛接受。为确定这种较新用法的被接受程度，我们以下句进行了用法调查 〔offensive〕an offensive remark;一句冒犯性的话；〔reflexive〕Of, relating to, or being a verb having an identical subject and direct object, asdressed in the sentence She dressed herself. 反身动词的：关于有相同主语和直接宾语的，如dressed（穿衣） 在 she dressed herself（她给自己穿衣） 一句中 〔moot〕This usage may be originally the result of a misinterpretation of its legal sense in phrasessuch asa moot question. A number of critics have objected to this use,but it was accepted by 59 percent of the Usage Panelin the sentenceThe nominee himself chastised the White House for failing to do more to support him, but his concerns became moot when a number of Republicans announced that they, too, would oppose the nomination. 起初这种用法可能是它在法律意义误释的结果，如在短语一个不重要的问题 中， 许多评论家反对这一用法，可是它被用法小组59%的成员所接受，并出现于被提名者本人强烈谴责白宫没能更多地支持他， 但是当一些共和党人宣称他也将反对此次提名时，他就变得不那么重要了一句中 〔kind〕To this may be added a word of caution to American writers:despite the existence of ample literary precedent forthese kind of films, the construction has been so thoroughly stigmatized by native grammariansthat its use would have to be reckoned indiscreet, if not strictly incorrect.关于这一点也许可以给美国作家加上一句警告：尽管有大量的像these kind of films 一样的文学上的先例存在， 这一结构已被本国的语法专家彻底否定掉，以至于它的用法即使不认为是严格的错误，也会被认作不慎重〔write〕wrote in an apology at the end of the note.在纸条末尾加上一句道歉的话〔joke〕 Joke especially denotes an amusing story with a punch line at the end: Joke 专门指结尾处有一句妙语的有趣故事： |
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