| 单词 | 专题 |
| 释义 | 〔gift〕Gift has a long history of use as a verb meaning "to present as a gift; endow.” The practice appears to provide a useful distinction,in as much as the verbgive can sometimes be ambiguous between "to transfer physical possession" and "to transfer ownership"; and in fact a verb analogous togift is found in a number of other languages (for example, Italianregalare, "to give as a gift,” from regalo, "gift, present"). Unfortunately the verbal use ofgift in Modern English is irredeemably tainted (as is its derivative giftable ) by its association with the language of advertising and publicity (as in Gift her with this copper warming plate ). In an earlier surveythe usage was rejected by a large majority of the Usage Panel.Where clarity is required, substitutessuch asgive as a gift, bestow, or donate are recommended. · The phrasefree gift should, of course, be considered redundant. But the increasing currency of its use is indicative mainly of the degree to which the wordgift itself has been expropriated by advertisers to refer to merchandise offerings to which an obligation is attached—if not a direct price, then taking a test drive,sitting through a sales pitch, or enrolling in a book club.It is perhaps to this use ofgift, rather than to the redundancy free gift, that critics ought most strenuously to object. Gift 作动词意为“赠送礼物，赠予”的用法已有很长的历史了， 这种惯用法的出现提供了有用的区分，因为作为动词give 可能有时会在“传递有形财产“和”传递所有权“之间有模棱两可的意思； 但事实上类似于gift 的词是在其它语言上建立起来的 （如意大利语的regalare “作为礼物给予”来自于 regalo “礼物，礼品”）。 不幸的是gift 在现代英语中动词性质的用法由于广告语言和公众语言的联系而不可挽回地被污染了（如它的派生词 giftable ）（又如在 给她这个铜暖盘作为礼物 ）。 在较早的一个调查中，这种用法被大部分的用法专题使用小组的成员所反对。为了在此处的用法更清晰的一些替代词，如give as a gift, bestow 或 donate 被采纳了。 词组free gift 自然是应该被认为是多余的， 但是这种用法的迅速使用主要表示了gift 这个词被广告商所侵用而用来指提供商品优惠是一种附加的义务——如果不是直接的价格， 那么就参加一次竞赛活动，等待商品广告宣传或在一个读书俱乐部中报名登记。也许gift 的这种用法应该比冗余的 free gift 更为批评家所坚决反对 〔holocaust〕When referring to the massive destruction of human beings by other human beings,holocaust has a secure place in the language. Fully 99 percent of the Usage Panel accepts the use ofholocaust in the phrase nuclear holocaust. Sixty percent accepts the sentenceAs many as two million people may have died in the holocaust that followed the Khmer Rouge takeover in Cambodia. But because of its associations with genocide,extended applications ofholocaust may not always be received with equanimity. When the word is used to refer to death brought about by natural causes,the percentage of the Panel's acceptance drops sharply.Only 31 percent of the Panel accepts the sentence holocaust 在指人类之间大规模的杀害时用法稳定。 百分之九十九的用法专题使用小组成员接受holocaust 在 nuclear holocaust 中的用法。 百分之六十的成员接受在红色高棉组织接管柬埔寨之后，高达两百万的民众死于那场大屠杀 。 但由于它和种族灭绝有一定联系，人们并不总能很平静地接受holocaust 的引申用法。 当用这个词表示由于自然灾害引起的死亡时，用法小组接受的百分比明显下降。只有百分之三十一的成员同意这样的用法： 〔anticipate〕Some people hold thatanticipate is improperly used as a simple synonym for expect; they would restrict its use to situations in which advance action is taken either to forestall (anticipate her opponent's next move ) or to fulfill ( anticipate my desires ). In earlier surveys, however, a majority of the Usage Panel accepted the use ofanticipate to mean "to feel or to realize beforehand" and "to look forward to.” The wordunanticipated, however, is not established as a synonym for unexpected. Thus 77 percent of the Usage Panel rejected the sentenceThey always set aside a little extra food for unanticipated guests, inasmuch as guests for whom advance provision has been made cannot be said to be unanticipated,though they may very well be unexpected.有些人认为把anticipate 作为 expect 的简单同义词并不恰当； 他们把这个词的用法限制在某种情境中，即抢在…之前行动(抢在对手的下步之前行动 )或满足( 满足我的欲望 )。 然而，在以前的调查中，用法专题小组大多数成员所接受的anticipate 的意思是“预感、预知”和“期望”。 可是，unanticipated 这个词并不能作为 unexpected 的同义词。 这样一来，用法专题小组中77%的人都不同意下面这句话他们总是额外留出一些食物给未预料到的客人 ， 既然已提前为这些客人们准备了食物，就不能说他们是未预料的，尽管他们是不速之客〔protagonist〕Theprotagonist of a Greek drama was its leading actor, of whom there could be but one in any play.This is an etymological nicety that many modern writers continue to observe when using the word to refer to the main character of a drama or other fiction.Thus when the members of the Usage Panel were asked "How many protagonists are there inOthello ?” the great majority answered "One"and offered substitutes such asantagonist, villain, principal, and deuteragonist to describe Desdemona and Iago. But there is reputable precedent from the 17th century on for usingprotagonist to mean simply "important actor" or "principal party,”with no implication of uniqueness,as inThere are three protagonists in this sluggish novel. Smith and Jones were the protagonists in the struggle over the future of the computer company. Thus, while some writers may prefer to confine the word to a singular sense in their own usage,it is pedantic to insist that the looser use is incorrect. ·The use ofprotagonist to refer to a proponent has become common only in the 20th century and may have been influenced by a misconception that the first syllable of the word represents the prefixpro-, "favoring.” In sentences such asHe was an early protagonist of nuclear power, this use is likely to strike many readers as an errorand can usually be replaced byadvocate or proponent with no loss of sense.希腊戏剧的protagnist 是主角， 且在任何戏剧中仅有一个主角。许多现代作家在用这个词时都注意使它指代戏剧或其他小说的主要人物，因此当用法专题小组成员被问及“在奥赛罗 里有几个主要人物?”时， 大部分人回答“一个”，而且用如antagonist、villain、principal 和 deuteragonist 等词来描述苔丝德蒙娜和雅各。 但是从十七进纪开始，有一个使用protagonist 的规范惯例， 仅表示“重要的演员”或“首要的政党”，而丝毫没有独一无二的暗示，象在句子在这部文风拖沓的小说中有三个人物。 史密斯和琼斯是为计算公司的未来而奋斗的主角中一样。 因此，当某些作家可能在他们自己的用法中偏于把这个词限制在一个简单的含义中时，仍强调自由用法不正确就是卖弄学问的了。用protagonist 来指代建议者或支持者仅在20世纪开始变得常见， 而且被对于代表意为“支持的”前缀pro- 的该词第一个音节的误解所影响。 在句子他是核武力的早期支持者 中， 这种用法可能会使读者认为是个错误，而且常被advocate 或 proponent 所替代， 同时也不会有任何意思的遗漏〔man〕Traditionally,man and words derived from it have been used generically to designate any or all of the human race irrespective of sex.In Old Englishthis was the principal sense ofman, which meant "a human being" regardless of sex;the wordswer and wyf (or w÷pman and wifman ) were used to refer to "a male human being" and "a female human being" respectively. But in Middle Englishman displaced wer as the term for "a male human being,”whilewyfman (which evolved into present-day woman ) was retained for "a female human being.” The result of these changes was an assymetrical arrangement that many criticize as sexist.Many writers have revised some of their practices accordingly.But the precise implications of the usage vary according to the context and the particular use ofman or its derivatives. · Man sometimes appears to have the sense of "person" or "people" when it is used as a count noun, as inA man is known by the company he keeps and Men have long yearned to unlock the secrets of the atom, and in phrases likethe common man and the man in the street. Here the generic interpretation arises indirectly:if a man is known by the company he keeps,then so, by implication, is a woman.For this reasonthe generic interpretation of these uses ofman is not possible where the applicability of the predicate varies according to the sex of the individual. Thus it would be inappropriate to say thatMen are the only animals that can conceive at any time, since the sentence literally asserts that the ability to conceive applies to male human beings.This usage presumes that males can be taken as representatives of the species.In almost all cases,however, the wordsperson and people can be substituted for man and men, often with a gain in clarity. · By contrast,man functions more as a generic when it is used without an article in the singular to refer to the human race, as in sentences likeThe capacity for language is unique to man or in phrases like man's inhumanity to man. But this use ofman is also ambiguous, since it can refer exclusively to male members of the human race.In most contexts wordssuch ashumanity or humankind will convey the generic sense of this use of man. · On the whole,the Usage Panel accepts the generic use ofman, the women members significantly less than the men. The sentenceIf early man suffered from a lack of information, modern man is tyrannized by an excess of it was acceptable to 81 percent of the Panel (including 58 percent of the women and 92 percent of the men).The Panel also accepted compound words derived from genericman. The sentenceThe Great Wall is the only man-made structure visible from space was acceptable to 86 percent (including 76 percent of the women and 91 percent of the men).The sentence"The history of language is the history of mankind" (James Bradstreet Greenough and George Lyman Kittredge) was acceptable to 76 percent (including 63 percent of the women and 82 percent of the men). Such compounds were acceptable even when the context required that they be applied chiefly to women.Thus, 66 percent of the Panel (including 57 percent of the women and 71 percent of the men) accepts the wordmanpower in the sentence Countries that do not permit women to participate in the work force are at a disadvantage in competing with those that do avail themselves of that extra source of manpower. · A related set of problems is raised by the use ofman in forming the names of occupational and social rolessuch asbusinessman, chairman, spokesman, layman, and freshman, as well as in analogous formationssuch asunsportsmanlike and showmanship. Some condemn this use categorically;however, these words remained acceptable to a majority of the Usage Panel when they were used to refer to a role or class in the abstractbut were rejected when they were used to refer to a woman.Thus the general use ofchairman was acceptable to 67 percent of the Panel (including 52 percent of the women and 76 percent of the men) in the sentence The chairman will be appointed by the Faculty Senate. But only 48 percent (including 43 percent of the women and 50 percent of the men) accepted the use of the word inEmily Owen, chairman of the Mayor's Task Force, issued a statement assuring residents that their views would be solicited, where it is applied to a woman. · Several strategies have been suggested for replacing the categorical use of compounds formed withman. Parallel terms likebusinesswoman, spokeswoman and chairwoman are increasingly used to refer to women. Also in use are common-gender terms coined withperson, such asbusinessperson, spokesperson, and chairperson. For occupational titles ending inman, new standards of official usage have been established by the U.S. Department of Labor and other government agencies.In official contexts termssuch asfirefighter and police officer are now generally used in place of fireman and policeman. · A majority of the Panelists rejected the verbman when it was used to refer to an activity performed by women. The sentenceMembers of the League of Women Voters will be manning the registration desk was unacceptable to 56 percent of the Panel (including 61 percent of the women and 54 percent of the men). See Usage Note at -ess ,people 传统上，man 以及它的衍生字一般是用来指任何人或整个人类， 不考虑性别。在古英语中，这就是man 这个字主要的意思， 即“人” 而不分性别；单词wer 和 wyf （或 woepman 和 wifman )则分别用以指“男人”和“女人”。 但在中古英语时man 取代了 wer 这个词， 也具有“男人”的意义了；而wyfman （这个字发展演变成了今天的 woman 这个字）作为“女人”这个意思被保留了下来。 这些变化的结果是，作为性别歧视者所批评的匀称排列。为此，许多作家相应地修订了他们部分的创作活动。但是这用法的准确含义取决于它的上下文以及man 的具体用途或它的衍生字。 当man 这个字被当作一个可数名词来用时，它有时似乎具有“一个人”或“人们”的意思， 如在被他所在的那个公司熟悉了解的人 和 很久以来，人们都期盼着解开原子的秘密 ， 以及如下短语中普通的人 和 街上的人 。 这里，一般的理解源于间接地推理：如果一个男人是被他所在的公司了解的话，其言下之意是，一个女人也是被他所在的公司熟悉了解的。正是这个原因，使得man 当此一般理解之义用时，其谓语随着个人性别的改变而变化是不可能的。 所以，说人是唯一能在任何时候思考的动物 是不适当的， 因为这句话字面之义是指男人的思考能力。这种用法是假定男人可以作为人类的代表。几乎毫无例外的是，词person 和 people 可以用 man 和 men 来取代，且后两字意思更清楚。 相反，当man 以单数不带冠词出现用以指人类时，它更是指一类、一属， 如在象句子只有人才有语言能力 或象短语 人类对人类的不人道 中。 但man 若以这种形式出现，其意思也会模糊不清， 因为其可只指人类中的男性成员。在大多数的行文中，例如humanity 或 humankind 这样的字也传达了 man 这种用法的一般意义。 总的说来，在用法专题使用小组成员中接受man 这种一般用法的女性比男性明显少得多。 下面这句话如果说古代人受信息不足之苦的话，那么现代人则是受信息过量之虐待了 在小组中有81的成员可接受 （其中女性成员中的接受率为58，男性中则为92)。专题小组会还接受作为一般意义的man 构成的复合词。 长城是太空中的唯一可见的人造物 这句话有86的成员接受 （其中女性成员的接受率为76，而男性中为91)。“语言史就是一部人类史” （詹姆士·布拉斯瑞特·格里诺和乔治·莱曼·基特里奇）这句话的接受率为76（基中在女性成员中有63接受，而男性中为82)。 即使是上下行文所需的字主要指的是女人，这种复合词仍然被接受。因此小组中的66（其中女性委员的57，男性的71)接受了manpower 这个词在下句的用法： 那些不允许女人加入生产力大军的国家和那些允许女人加入生产力大军的国家相比，在处理剩余劳动力这一点上明显处于竞争的劣势 。 由于man 的使用所引起的一系列相关问题产生了， 在构成职业或社会角色类别的名称，如商人、主席、发言人、外行 和 渔夫 ， 以及将这个字用于类似的构词法中，如违反运动精神的 和 善于表演的才能 。 有些人谴责这种类别的用法；然而，当它们抽象地指某种角色或阶层时，这些词仍能得到用法专题使用小组大多数人的接受；但当它们用由于指女性时，这些词就被拒绝了。因此在句子主席由职工委员会指定 中 主席 的这种一般用法就得到了67小组成员的接受（其中在女性成员中为52，而男性中为76)。 但是，在句子艾米莉·欧文，市长任务小组的主席，发表了一个声明，向市长保证将考虑他们的观点 中这个字的用法，由于是指女性，只有48的成员接受（其中在女性成员中的接受率为43，而男性中为50)。 对于如何替换用man 构成的类别复合词，几种构思被提了出来。 与之相对的复合词如女商人、女发言人 和 女主席 越来越多地被用来指女性。 另外，用person 构成的中性词也创造了出来， 如商人、发言人 和 主席 。 对于用man 结尾的职业名称， 美国政府劳工部和其它政府机构已建立起了新的官方运用标准。在官方行文，现在一般用如firefighter 和 police officer 代替 fireman 和 policeman 。 大多数的小组成员反对将动词man 用于指那些女性从事的活动。 句子登记处将配备女性选民联盟的成员 在用法专题使用小组中的反对率是56（其中在女性成员中的反对率是61，而男性中为54) 参见 -ess,people〔research〕Some critics have objected to the use ofresearch as a transitive verb, but the usage has ample historical precedent and is common in reputable writing.In the most recent survey 81 percent of the Usage Panel accepted the sentence 一些评论家反对把research 一词作为及物动词使用， 但是这一用法有充足的历史先例并在优秀的写作中司空见惯。在最近的一次调查中81%的用法专题小组成员接受了 〔certain〕Althoughcertain appears to be an absolute term, it is frequently qualified by adverbs,as infairly certain or quite certain. In an earlier survey,a majority of the Usage Panel accepted the construction 尽管certain 像一个独立的词， 它也经常被副词的限定，如相当确定 或 非常肯定。 据以前的调查，多数用法专题使用小组成员接受这一结构 〔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 〔various〕Various is sometimes used as a pronoun, as inHe spoke to various of the members. It is not clear why this usage should be regarded as an error, since it is supported by analogy to the uses of quantifiers such asfew, many, and several. But it has occasioned widespread critical objections;in an earlier survey the usage was found unacceptable by 91 percent of the Usage Panel.Various 有时用做代词， 如在他和成员中的好几个人谈过话。 因为，对数量词如few, many 和 several 的用法的类推支持这种用法，所以为什么这种用法被看做是一种错误就不明确了。 但是也遇到不同的广泛流传的批评性的反对，在一次早期调查中发现，用法专题使用小组的百分之九十一的成员对此用法不予接受〔intrigue〕The introduction of the verbintrigue to mean "to arouse the interest or curiosity of" was initially resisted by writerson usage as an unneeded French substitute for available English words such asinterest, fascinate, or puzzle, but it now appears to be well established.Seventy-eight percent of the Usage Panel accepts it in the sentenceThe special-quota idea intrigues some legislators, who have asked a Washington think tank to evaluate it, whereas only 52 percent accepted it in a 1968 survey.意为“激起…的兴趣或好奇心”的动词intrigue 的引入， 最初遭到作家们的抵制，他们认为在用法上没有必要用法语词代替现成的英语词汇，例如interest，fascinate 或者 puzzle， 但是现在它已经被普遍认可。用法专题小组百分之七十八的成员认同它存在于句子特殊配额的意见吸引了一些立法者，他们要求华盛顿智囊团对此进行评价 中， 而在1986年的调查中只有百分之五十二的人同意〔oblivious〕In an earlier surveya majority of the Usage Panel accepted the use of bothof and to with oblivious: 在早期调查中，大多数用法专题使用小组的成员接受of 和 to 与 oblivious的连用： 〔memoir〕A report, especially on a scientific or scholarly topic.研究报告：报告，尤指科研报告及专题学报告〔disinterested〕Despite critical disapproval, disinterested has come to be widely used by many educated writers to mean "uninterested" or "having lost interest,”as inSince she discovered skiing, she is disinterested in her schoolwork (a sense it had at an earlier stage of English, but which had in the interim become outmoded).Many maintain that the word can legitimately be used only in its sense of "having no stake in (an outcome or issue),”as inSince the judge stands to profit from the sale of the company, she cannot be considered a disinterested party in the dispute. In our most recent survey,89 percent of the Usage Panel rejected the sentence 尽管批评界的不赞成， disinterested 已逐渐成为许多有学识的作家们广泛用来指“不感兴趣的”或“失去兴趣的”，如在因为发现了滑雪这一运动，她就对功课失去了兴趣 （该词在英语的早期阶段就有这个词义，但在过渡时间，该词义已不再用）许多人认为在法律上该词只可用来表示“与（结果或事件）无利害关系，”如因为法官站在这一方是为了从公司所售物品中获利，她不能被看作是在这场争论中无任何关系的一方。 在最近的统计中，用法专题使用小组中百分之八十九的成员不接受下面的句子 〔whose〕It has sometimes been claimed thatwhose should be used only as the possessive form of who and should thus be restricted to animate antecedents, as ina man whose power has greatly eroded. But there is extensive literary precedent for the use ofwhose as the possessive of which, as inThe play, whose style is rigidly formal, is typical of the period. In an earlier survey this example was acceptable to a large majority of the Usage Panel.The alternate formof which also can be used to this purpose, as in The play, the style of which is rigidly formal, is typical of the period. But as this example demonstrates, substitutingof which for whose may result in stiltedness. See Usage Note at else ,which ,who 人们有时认为whose 只应作为 who 的所有格形式并限于表示有生命的先行词， 如在句子a man whose power has greatly erode. （能力已大大衰退的人）中。 但把whose 用作 which 的所有形式也是有许多先例的， 如 the play, whose style is rigidly formal, is typical of the period. （这个剧本的文体僵化正式，是当时的典型）。 在早期，这种用法对于用法专题小组的多数人来说都是可以接受的。其变化形式of which 在这种情况下也可用，如 The play, the style of which is rigidly formal, is typical of the period. 。但象 这个例子所显示的一样，用of which 代替 whose 会显得不自然 参见 else,which,who〔symposium〕A collection of writings on a particular topic, as in a magazine.专题论文，专题论文集：就某一专题撰写的文章的合集，如某杂志的〔cohort〕The use ofcohort to refer to an individual rather than a group has gained considerable currency in recent years, and seems now to be the predominant usage.Seventy-one percent of the Usage Panel accepts the sentence 使用cohort 来指个别的而不是一群的在近年已很流行， 现在似乎已大量地使用。百分之七十一的用法专题使用小组成员接受这个句子 〔sneak〕Snuck is an Americanism first introduced in the 19th century as a nonstandard regional variant ofsneaked. But widespread use ofsnuck has become more common with every generation. It is now used by educated speakers in all regions,and there is some evidence to suggest that it is more frequent among younger speakers thansneaked is. Formal written English is naturally and properly more conservative than other varieties, of course,and heresnuck still meets with much resistance. Many writers and editors have a lingering unease about the form,particularly if they recall its nonstandard origins.In fact, our consolidated citations, exhibiting almost 10,000 instances ofsneaked and snuck, indicate thatsneaked is preferred by a factor of 7 to 2. And 67 percent of the Usage Panel disapproves ofsnuck. Nevertheless, in recent yearssnuck has been quietly establishing itself in formal writing. An electronic search of a wide range of reputable publications turns up hundreds of citations forsnuck, not just in sports writingbut in news columns and commentary: Snuck 是一个美国独创词， 19世纪作为sneaked 的不标准的地方变体被首次引入。 在每一代，snuck 这个词都得到了广泛应用。 现在，任何地区受过教育的人都使用它，而且证据显示在年轻的使用者中，它比sneaked 更加常用。 当然，正式的文字英语自然要比其它语体保守一些，在这里，snuck 一词还是受到了排挤。 许多作家和编辑对这个词的形式有一种长久的反感，特别是联系到它不标准的起源。实际上，在我们反复验证过的显示约一万个使用sneaked 和 snuck 的引文中， 表明sneaked 受到青睐的程度为七比二。 用法专题使用小组成员中百分之六十七的人的反对snuck 一词。 但是，最近几年，snuck 在正式文体中也悄悄确立了它的地位。 对一系列著名出版物的电子扫描调查显示出几百处使用snuck 的地方， 而且不光是在体育文章中，在新闻专栏和评论中也有使用： 〔contact〕In 1966 Wilson Follett wrotethat "Persons old enough to have been repelled by the verbcontact . . . may as well make up their minds that there is no way to arrest or reverse the tide of its popularity.” His prophecy is proving correct:In 1969 only 34 percent of the Usage Panel accepted the use ofcontact as a verb, but in our most recent survey 65 percent of the Panel accepted the sentence 1966年威尔森·福莱特写道：“对contact 这个动词素有反感的年长者还不如趁早接受这一无法阻拦或逆转它日渐通用的趋势这个事实”。 他的预言证明是正确的，在1969年用法专题使用小组成员中只有34％的人接受将contact 作为动词的用法， 但在我们最近的调查中65％的用法小组成员接受以下句子： 〔and〕It is frequently asserted that sentences beginning withand or but express "incomplete thoughts" and are therefore incorrect. But this rule was ridiculed by grammarians like Wilson Follett (who ascribed it to "schoolmarmish rhetoric") and H.W. Fowler (who called it a "superstition"),and the stricture has been ignored by writers from Shakespeare to Virginia Woolf.Members of the Usage Panel were asked whether they paid attention to the rule in their own writing:24 percent answered "always or usually,” 36 percent answered "sometimes,” and 40 percent answered "rarely or never.”See Usage Note at both ,but ,try ,with 通常认为用and 或 but 开始的句子表达“不完整的思想”，因而是不正确的。 但这条规则被一些语法学家所嘲弄，如威尔逊·弗莱特（称之为“古板的修辞”），和H·W福勒（称之为“迷信”），从莎士比亚到弗吉尼亚·沃尔夫之间的作家都忽视了这条规定。当用法专题小组的成员被问到在他们的自己写作中是否也注意到这条规则时：24%的人回答“一直是这样或一般是这样”，36%的人回答“有时这样”，40%的人回答“很少或从来没有” 参见 both,but,try,with〔hopefully〕Writers who usehopefully as a sentence adverb, as inHopefully the measures will be adopted, should be aware that the usage is unacceptable to many critics,including a large majority of the Usage Panel.But it is not easy to explain why critics dislike this use ofhopefully. It is justified by analogy to the unexceptionable uses of many other adverbs,as inMercifully, the play was brief or 当作者们把hopefully 用作句中副词， 如在但愿这些措施能被采用 中时， 应当意识到很多批评家并不接受这一用法，其中包括用法专题小组的大多数成员。但是批评家们为什么不喜欢hopefully 的这个用法却并不容易解释。 与许多其他副词无可指摘的使用进行类比，它有着充分正当的理由，比如幸好，这出戏很短 或 〔consensus〕Expressions such asoverall consensus and general consensus are harder to defend against the charge of redundancy. In the most recent survey,overall consensus was judged redundant by 95 percent of the members of the Usage Panel. See Usage Note at redundancy 象overall consensus（整体一致） 和 general consensus（大体上一致） 的说法，称它们罗唆更是理所应当的。 在最近的调查中，用法专题使用小组中95%的成员认为overall consensus（整体一致） 是罗唆的 参见 redundancy〔host〕Host was used as a verb in Shakespeare's time, but this usage was long obsoletewhen the verb was reintroduced (or perhaps reinvented) in recent yearsto mean "perform the role of a host.”The usage occurs particularly in contexts relating to institutional gatherings or television and radio shows,where the person performing the role of host has not personally invited the guests to his or her own establishment (thus it would be odd to sayThis evening we are hosting a dinner party at our house for my husband's cousins from New York ). Perhaps because the verb involves a suspect extension of the traditional conception of hospitality,it initially met with critical resistance.In a 1968 surveyonly 18 percent of the Usage Panel accepted the usage in the sentenceThe Cleveland chapter will host this year's convention. Over time, however,the usage has become increasingly well establishedand appears to serve a useful purpose in describing the activities of one who performs the ceremonial or practical role of a host (in arranging a conference or entertainment, welcoming guests, and so forth).In our most recent survey53 percent of the Panelists accepted the usage in the phrasea reception hosted by the Secretary of State. The verb is less well accepted when used to describe the role of a performer who acts as a master of ceremonies for a broadcast or film,where the relation of the word to the notion of "hospitality" is stretched still further.Only 31 percent of the Panel accepted the use of the verb in the sentenceStudents have watched Sex, Drugs and AIDS, a graphic film hosted by actress Rae Dawn Chong. · The verbcohost has likewise become well established in its use to refer to those who collaborate in assuming responsibility for an occasion. Fifty-eight percent of the Usage Panel accepted this use in the sentenceThe Department of Architecture and the Department of History will be cohosting a reception for conference participants. Host 一词在莎士比亚时代用作动词， 但自那时起这一用法很长时间不用了，直到近年来又被重新起用（或者可能重新创造），用来表示“担当主人的角色”。这一用法尤其在学术聚会或电视、电台节目的情况下使用，在这些情况下，身为主人的人并没有以私人身份邀请客人去到他或她自己的家中，（这样的话，如果我们说今天晚上我们将在家中为我丈夫来自纽约的表兄妹‘主办’一个晚餐会 就会觉得有点别扭）。 也许是因为有人认为这一动词用法会扩大传统的“好客”概念，所以一开始它就遭到了批评性抑制。在1968年的一次调查中，用法专题使用小组中18%的成员在如下句子中的用法，即克利夫兰分会将主办本年度的大会。 但是，随着时间的推移，这一用法已逐渐被接受，并在描绘一个担当司仪或具体的主人任务（例如安排会议或娱乐活动，欢迎客人等等）时起到了很好的作用。在我们最近一次的调查中，用法专题使用小组中的53%的成员接受了短语由国务卿出面举办的招待会 中"host"一词的用法。 但当这一动词用法用来描绘作为广播节目或电影节目的主持人的主持工作时，人们就不太接受其用法，因为这样用，这个词与“好客”这一概念的关系就更松了。只有31%的用法专题使用小组成员接受host在句子学生们观摩了 由 演员雷·唐·宗主持解说的纪录片 ‘性、毒品与艾滋病’”中的动词用法。 同样，用来表示分工合作共同举办某一活动的动词cohost 也已被普遍接受。 58%的用法专题使用小组成员接受这一动词在如下句子中的用法：建筑系和历史系将共同为与会者举办一次招待会 〔celibate〕Historically,celibate means only "unmarried"; its use to mean "abstaining from sexual intercourse" is a 20th-century development.But the new sense of the word appears more or less to have displaced the old,and the use ofcelibate to mean "unmarried" is now almost sure to invite misinterpretation in other than narrowly ecclesiastical contexts.Sixty-eight percent of the Usage Panel rejected the older use in the sentenceHe remained celibate [unmarried] , although he engaged in sexual intercourse. 历史上，celibate 只作“未婚的”解； 用作“禁欲”的意思是在20世纪发展起来的。但是该词的新含义多少有取代原含义的趋势，并用celibate 作“未婚的”意义， 现在除了在狭小的神学领域外几乎都会引起误解。用法专题使用小组百分之六十八的成员在句子他仍是单身的 ［未婚的］ ，尽管他仍保有性生活 中，拒绝使用该词的旧含义 〔commentate〕Commentate, in the sense "to make a running commentary on,” as inshe commentated the fashion show, was unacceptable to a majority of the Usage Panel in an earlier survey.Commentate 有“对…不断地评论”之意， 就象在她评论时装展示 ， 这种用法在用法专题使用小组以前的调查中是不被接受的〔alternative〕Some traditionalists hold thatalternative should be used only in situations where the number of choices involved is exactly two, because of the word's historical relation to Latinalter, "the other of two.” H.W. Fowler, among others, has considered this restriction a fetish.The Usage Panel is evenly divided on the issue, with 49 percent accepting the sentenceOf the three alternatives, the first is the least distasteful. · Alternative is also sometimes used to refer to a variant or substitute in cases where there is no element of choice involved, as inWe will do our best to secure alternative employment for employees displaced by the closing of the factory. This sentence is unacceptable to 60 percent of the Usage Panel. ·Alternative should not be confused with alternate. Correct usage requiresThe class will meet on alternate (not alternative ) Tuesdays. 有些持传统观点的人认为alternative 只能严格地用在二者择一的情况下， 因为这个词来源于拉丁语alter ，意思是“二者中的另外一个”。 包括H.W.福勒的其他人认为这种限制是一种迷信。用法专题小组中持这两种意见的人各占一半，49％的人都接受这句话在三个选项中，第一个是最不让人讨厌的。 · Alternative 如果没有供选择的成分存在，其有时也指一个变体或替换的事物， 如我们将尽全力保证因工厂倒闭而离开岗位的雇员以某种方式就业。 语言用法专题小组中60％的人不接受这句话。Alternative 不能和 alternate混淆。 正确的用法要求全班每隔 （不是 alternative ） 星期二 见一次面。 〔convince〕In an earlier survey, a majority of the Usage Panel held that this distinction should be maintained,but the use ofconvince with an infinitive has become increasingly common even among reputable writers, and it is unlikely that this stricture can be maintained for much longer.在更早的一次调查中，用法专题使用小组成员的大多数人认为这一区别应当保持，但是甚至在知名作家中convince 和不定式连用的用法也已变得日渐普遍起来， 这一限制不可能会保持很久〔boast〕Some have objected to the use ofboast as a transitive verb meaning "to possess or own (a desirable feature),” as inThis network boasts an audience with a greater concentration of professionals and managers than any other broadcast vehicle. This usage is by now well established, however,and is acceptable to 62 percent of the Usage Panel.有人反对将boast 用作意指“占有或拥有（一种良好素质）”的及物动词， 比如在这家媒体网络拥有比任何其他传播媒介都大的专业人员和管理人员群体 中。 然而这种用法已被广泛接受了，百分之六十二的用法专题使用小组成员同意这种用法〔hegemony〕Hegemony may be stressed on either the second or first syllable, though 72 percent of the Usage Panel prefers the first pronunciation. Hegemony 这个词的发音，尽管用法专题使用小组的72%成员认为重音应放在第二个音节上，但实际上重音放在第一个或第二个音节上都是可以的 〔crescendo〕Crescendo is sometimes used by reputable speakers and writers to denote a climax or peak, as in noise level, rather than an increase. Although citational evidence over time attests to widespread currency,it is difficult for anyone acquainted with the technical musical sense ofcrescendo to use it to mean "a peak.” Such usage, as inWhen the guard sank a three-pointer to tie the game, the noise of the crowd reached a crescendo, was unacceptable to 55 percent of the Usage Panel.Crescendo 一词有时被享有声誉的演说家和作家用于表示高潮或顶点，而不是指渐强的过程，就象在噪声级中。 尽管过多的引证表明了这一流行趋势，然而对于熟悉渐强 这一音乐上的专门意义的人来说，很难把它用于指“顶点”。 在当后卫投入一个三分球而使比赛成平局时，观众的嘈杂声到达了极点 中的这类用法， 有55%的用法专题使用小组成员不接受〔data〕But whiledata comes from a Latin plural form, the practice of treatingdata as a plural in English often does not correspond to its meaning, given an understanding of what counts as data in modern research.We know, for example, what "data on the homeless" would consist of—surveys, case histories, statistical analyses, and so forth—but it would be a vain exercise to try to sort all of these out into sets of individual facts,each of them a "datum" on the homeless. (Does a case history count as a single datum,or as a collection of them?Is a correlation between rates of homelessness and unemployment itself a datum, or is it an abstraction over a number of data?)Since scientists and researchers think of data as a singular mass entity like information,it is entirely natural that they should have come to talk about it as such and that others should defer to their practice.Sixty percent of the Usage Panel accepts the use ofdata with a singular verb and pronoun in the sentenceOnce the data is in, we can begin to analyze it. A still larger number, 77 percent, accepts the sentence 但是当data 来源于一拉丁复数形式， 在英语中把data 当作复数来对待的运用常常和它的意义不相符合， 给了我们在现代研究中算作数据事物的一种理解。例如，我们知道，“无家可归人的资料”将由调查、个人历史，数据分析等等构成——但是试着把这些都分类到一套个人事实将会是一次无用的尝试，他们中的每一个都为无家可归人的资料。 （个人历史是算作一个简单的资料，还是作为其中的一个收集?无家可归人的比率和失业之间的联系是一个资料，还是一系列资料中的一个提取？）既然科学家和研究工作者认为资料和信息一样是一个单一的团体，他们就应该这样地来谈论它并且其他的人应当服丛他们的说法，这是完全自然的，百分之六十的用法专题使用小组成员接受把data 和单数动词和代词连用， 如在句子一旦资料来了，我们就能开始分析了 中， 更大的比例，即百分之七十七的成员接受了句子 〔graduate〕The verbgraduate has denoted the action of conferring an academic degree or diploma since at least 1421, as inShe was graduated from Yale in 1980. This earlier pattern of use is still defensible,if slightly old-fashioned,and is acceptable to 78 percent of the Usage Panel.In general usage,however, it has largely yielded to the much more recent active pattern (first attested in 1807): 动词graduate 最晚从1421年起便指授予学位或毕业证书的行为， 如1980年她毕业于耶鲁大学。 最早的使用方式仍然受到辩护，即使有些过时，仍为语言用法专题使用小组百分之七十八的成员所接受。在一般的用法中，该词毕竟已经变为现在更活跃的方式（已证明最早在1807年）： 〔feminist〕The termfeminist may be applied to a person of either sex, according to 86 percent of the Usage Panel. 用法专题使用小组86%的成员认为词条feminist ，可用来指任一性别的人 〔exuberate〕Exuberate is not well established in its use to mean "to be exuberant.” In an earlier surveyit was unacceptable to a majority of the Usage Panel.Exuberate 并不广泛用于表示“生气勃勃”。 在早期调查中，并不被用法专题使用小组大部分成员接受〔critique〕Critique has been used as a verb meaning "to review or discuss critically" since the 18th century, but lately this usage has gained much wider currency,in part because the verbcriticize, once neutral between praise and censure, is now mainly used in a negative sense. (One is not likely to say, for example,She criticized the bill approvingly. ) But this use ofcritique is still regarded by many as pretentious jargon; 69 percent of the Usage Panel rejects the sentence Critique 这一词自从18世纪以来作为动词的意思是“批判性地评论或讨论”， 然而近来这一用法变得更为通用，部分由于动词criticize 这一原先介于赞扬和苛评之间的词现主要用于否定意义中。 （人们不太可能说，比如她赞成地批判这个法案。 ) 但是critique 的这一用法仍被许多人认为是做作难懂的话； 用法专题使用小组69%的成员否认这种句子 〔burgeon〕Burgeon has gained greater acceptance in recent years in its use to mean not just "to put forth buds" but more generally "to grow and flourish.” In 1969 only 49 percent of the Usage Panel accepted the phrasethe burgeoning population of Queens ; in our most recent survey 74 percent accepted the same phrase.However, it should be noted that in this useburgeon is more acceptable when it takes the form of the present participle. Only 29 percent of the current Panel accepts the sentence News programs are less expensive to produce than entertainment series, and the public's appetite for them has burgeoned. Burgeon 一词近年来有了更广泛地使用，它不仅用来表示“生长发芽”更普遍地用作“生长并繁茂”。 1969年只有百分之四十九的用法专题使用小组成员承认短语the burgeoning population of Queens（女王时代的人口膨胀） ； 在最近的调查中对同一短语有百分之七十四的人接受。然而，值得注意的是，当burgean 一词在以现在分词形式被使用时，其更能被接受。 仅有百分之二十九的现有小组成员接受如下句子 新闻节目的制造要比一系列的娱乐活动经济实惠，并且公众对此的口味也已急速发展起来 〔quote〕As a transitive verbquote is appropriately used to describe the use of an exact wording drawn from another source. When the original source is paraphrased or alluded to,the more general termcite is usually preferable. · The nounquote is well established as a truncation of quotation, though many critics regard it as unduly journalistic or breezy.As such, it is best avoided in formal literary discussions.The use of the noun was acceptable to only 38 percent of the Usage Panel in the sentenceHe began the chapter with a quote from the Bible. But the usage is less objectionable in informal contexts or in reference to less august sources;the word was acceptable to 53 percent of the Panel in the sentenceHe lightened up his talk by throwing in quotes from Marx Brothers movies. · The nounquote is sometimes used as a synonym for "dictum, saying,” as inHis career is just one more validation of Andy Warhol's quote that "in the future, everybody will be famous for fifteen minutes.” This example was unacceptable to 76 percent of the Usage Panel.作为一个及物动词，用quote 一词来指从另一出处中抄取完全一样的用语是很恰当的。 当原文出处被意译或是间接提及时，一个意义更广泛的词cite 更可取。 quote 这名词形式是由 quatation 削减而来，也已被普遍接受， 虽然许多批评家认为这个词染有不恰当的记者文风或不太正式。因此，在正式的文学讨论中最好避免使用。在用法专题使用小组的调查中，只有38%的人认为这个名词在这章的开始他引用了《圣经》中的一段 文字 这个句子中的用法是可行的。 但在不正式的语境下或提及的出处不很严肃时，对于这种用法的反对意见要少一些。在他插入了一段引自马克斯兄弟电影中的 话 来活跃谈话气氛 这个句子中， 53%的小组成员认为这个词可以接受。 Quote 这个名词有时也可用作“格言、名言”的同义词， 如在他的一生再一次证实了安迪·霍尔的 格言 “将来，每个人都将享有十五分钟的知名度” 这个句子中， 用法专题使用小组中76%的成员认为这个例句无法接受〔finalize〕Finalize is frequently associated with the language of bureaucracy and so is objected to by many writers.The sentenceWe will finalize plans for a class reunion was unacceptable to 71 percent of the Usage Panel. Althoughfinalize has no single exact synonym, a substitute can always be found from amongcomplete, conclude, make final, and put into final form. See Usage Note at -ize Finalize 经常与官方语言联系在一起， 所以被许多作家拒绝使用。我们将完成班级聚会的计划 这句话在用法专题使用小组中有71%的成员认为不可接受。 虽然finalize 没有特别好的近义词， 但总还是可以从 complete, conclude, make final 以及 put into final form当中找到替代词 参见 -ize〔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 〔harass〕Educated usage appears to be evenly divided on the pronunciation ofharass. In a recent survey50 percent of the Usage Panel preferred a pronunciation with stress on the first syllable,while 50 percent preferred stress on the second syllable.Curiously, the Panelists' comments appear to indicatethat each side regards itself as an embattled minority.harass 一词在受教育者的使用中也同样有不同的发音。 在最近的一次调查中，百分之五十的用法专题使用小组成员将该词的重音放在第一个音节，而另百分之五十则倾向于将重音放在第二个音节上，奇怪的是在小组成员的观点中可以看出，各方都认为自己是不断受困扰的少数派〔prioritize〕It can be argued thatprioritize serves a useful function in providing a single word to mean "arrange according to priority,” but like many other recent formations with-ize, it is widely regarded as corporate or bureaucratic jargon.In an earlier survey,prioritize was unacceptable to the great majority of the Usage Panel. See Usage Note at -ize 人们当然可以争论prioritize 在提供一个单字以表示“按优先次序排列”上的有用功能， 但是象许多其他新近形成的以-ize 结尾的词一样， 它被广泛地认为是公司或官僚主义的行话。在较早的一次调查中发现，用法专题使用小组中绝大多数认为prioritize 不可接受 参见 -ize |
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