单词 | 不管怎样 |
释义 | 〔joke〕It is hard to imagine the English language without the wordjoke , butjoke is only first recorded in 1670. Sincejoke was originally considered a slang or informal usage, it was not suitable to all contexts.The change in status ofjoke from then to now provides us with an excellent example of how usage changes. Joke has a decent enough heritage at any rate, coming from Latiniocus, "jest, sport, laughingstock, trifle.”Iocus in turn can be traced back to the Indo-European root yek-, meaning "to speak,” from which also comes the Umbrian wordiuka, "prayers,” and the Welsh wordiaith, "speech.” 我们很难想象英语中如果没有joke 这个词会怎样, 但是joke 在1670年才首次有文字记载。 因为joke 起初被认为是俚语或非正式用语, 以前它并不是在所有的文章中都适用的。从那时到现在joke 地位上的变化给我们提供了一个关于语言用法如何变化的极好的例子。 不管怎样joke 的词源算得上很体面, 它来自于拉丁语中iocus 一词, 表示“玩笑,游戏,笑柄,琐事”。Iocus 反过来又可追溯到印欧语系中的词根 yek- 表示“说话”, 从这个词根还派生出翁布里亚语中iuka 一词,即“祈祷”, 以及威尔士语中iaith 一词,即“讲话,演说” 〔anyhow〕I think they're asleep; anyhow, they're quiet.我想他们睡着了;不管怎样他们很安静〔however〕In whatever manner or way:无论如何,不管怎样:〔limerick〕Etymologies can sometimes be a bit disappointing,as, for example,when one is told thatlimerick is named after a city or county in Ireland without being told why it is so named.Unfortunately, we run into a difficulty here that is not uncommonly faced by etymologists,namely, that no one is precisely sure why this piece of humorous verse was so named.One theory is that it was named for a group of poets who wrote in Limerick in the 18th century;another, that it came from a custom at parties of making up a nonsense verse and following it with a chorus of "Will you come up to Limerick.”In any case,the first limericks appeared in books published in 1820 and 1821,and the form was popularized by Edward Lear in a collection published in 1846.The word itself, however, is not recorded until 1896.Let us sum up by saying:"There once was a verse form named limerick./No one can account for the name of it./Some think from a game/Or from poets it came./If you know please come up to Limerick.”查看词源学后会经常令我们失望,这是因为,比如,当某人得知limerick 是由爱尔兰的一城市(或一个郡的)名字而来, 却并不告知这样命名的原因。不幸的是,我们碰到了一个词源学家经常遇到的难题,那就是,没有一个人能确定为什么这种幽默的诗歌这样命名。一种理论认为它是源于18世纪在利默里克写作的一群诗人;还有一种看法认为它是源于一种集会上的风俗,这种风俗要求写完一毫无意义的诗后众人合唱“你将去利默里克吗”。不管怎样,1820年和1821年出版的这种五行打油诗集子广为流传,爱德华·利尔于1846年出版的集子使这种形式得到普及。但是,这个单词直到1896年才有记载。我们可以通过这么说来总结:“曾经有种诗的形式名叫利默里克。/但没有人能解释它的名字。/有人认为源于一种游戏/或源于一群诗人。/如果你知道就到利默里克来。”〔lonely〕Henry Bradley, one of the four editors of theOxford English Dictionary, said "It is a truth often overlooked, but not unimportant, that every addition to the resources of a language must in the first instance have been due to an act (though not necessarily to a voluntary or conscious act) of some one person.”In many casesthis one person may have been an author,since the first recorded instance of a word is often found in an author's work.Of course, as Bradley warns,this is the firstrecorded instance; it is possible that a given author picked up the word or sense somewhere elseor that these reside undiscovered in an earlier work.In any caseit might be a minor relief of our condition the next time we feel lonely to know that the first recorded instance of the wordlonely occurs in the works of Shakespeare. The passage appears inCoriolanus (1607-1608) in a speech by Coriolanus to his mother Volumnia:"My mother, you wot [know] well/My hazards still have been your solace, and/Believe't not lightly—though I go alone,/Like to alonely dragon, that his fen/Makes fear'd and talk'd of more than seen—your son/Will or exceed the common or be caught/With cautelous [crafty] baits and practice.” Lonely here, of course, has the sense "solitary.” The dragon does not feel dejected,or if he does,he does not seem to know how to reach out to others effectively.牛津英语词典 的四位编纂者之一亨利·布莱德雷说: “人们经常忽视这样一个现实,但它并非不重要,那就是对某种语言词汇的每一次添加都首先是由于某一个人的行为(尽管不一定是自愿的或有意识的行为)”。许多时候,这一个人可能是个作者,因为一个词有记载的首次使用往往出自一位作者的作品。当然,正如布莱德雷所提醒人们的,这是首次有记载的 的例子; 某个作者可能是从别处学到这个词或这个意思,或是这个词或意思在更早的作品中已经出现,只是未被人们发现。不管怎样,当我们知道lonely 这个词的有记载的首次使用出现在莎士比亚的作品中时,这些都不大能减轻我们的沮丧心情。 在卡里奥拉纳斯 (1607-1608年)中, 卡里奥拉纳斯对他母亲弗罗姆尼娅讲的一段话中有这样的文字:“我的母亲,你清楚地知道/我的冒险一直是你的安慰,而且/不要轻信——尽管我要只身前往,/就象去面对一条孤单的 龙,他的沼泽/令人谈而色变,尽管并未亲见——你的儿子/决意或是胜过凡人或是被狡猾的圈套和手段擒捉”。 Lonely 在这里的意思当然是“孤单的”。 龙不会感到沮丧,即便它感到沮丧,他也不太可能知道如何让别人体会到它的感情〔least〕In any event; anyway:无论如何;不管怎样:〔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 〔all〕To any extent; whatever:丝毫,一点:无论在任何程度上;不管怎样:〔event〕In any case.在任何情况下,不管怎样〔least〕You might at least answer.你不管怎样该给个答复〔tattoo〕The practice of tattooing the body is prehistoric,but the English wordtattoo was introduced fairly recently. Our word came from Polynesian languages such as Tahitian and Samoanand was introduced to English speakers by the explorer Capt. James Cook (who also gave us the wordtaboo ). The earliest use of the verbtattoo in English is found in 1769 in his account of a voyage around the world from 1768 to 1771. Cook also used a noun in his writings of 1769but treated it as a native wordso he is not given credit for the first use of the noun in English (recorded in 1777).In any event,sailors introduced the custom into Europe from the Pacific societies in which it was practiced,and it has remained associated with sailors,although many other people have tattoos as well.尽管在身体上刺出花纹这一做法在史前就已存在,但英语中tattoo 一词却是在距离现在较近的时候才被引入的。 我们这个词源于塔西提语或萨摩亚语等波利尼西亚语族,它是由探险家詹姆斯·库克船长介绍给英语使用者的(库克同时也给了我们taboo 一词)。 动词tattoo 在英语中的首次使用见于库克关于他在1768年-1771年所做的一次环球航行记录中。 库克在他1769年的日志中也把这个词用作一个名词,但因为他只是把它作为一个土著人的词汇对待,所以人们不认为他是第一个在英语中使用该词名词形式的人(记录于1777年)。但不管怎样,是水手们将这种原本是太平洋岛屿社会中的习俗带入欧洲的,所以直到今天这种做法仍然和水手们联系在一起,虽然各种职业的人们都在身上刺花纹 |
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