| 单词 | 之所以 |
| 释义 | 〔why〕"The reason why[regular verbs] are called regular is that we can predict what all the other three forms are" (Randolph Quirk)“[规则动词] 之所以称为规则是因为我们能够预知动词另三种形式的变化” (伦道夫·夸克)〔scan〕In the 1969 edition ofThe American Heritage Dictionary a dead issue was buried by our Usage Panel, 85 percent of whom thought it was acceptable to usescan in the sense "to look over quickly,” though the note stated that this was less formal usage.The usage issue was raised becausescan in an earlier sense meant "to examine closely.” From a historical perspective it is easy to see how these two opposite senses ofscan developed. The source of our word, Latinscandere, which meant "to climb,” came to mean "to scan a verse of poetry,” because one could beat the rhythm by lifting and putting down one's foot.The Middle English verbscannen, derived from scandere, came into Middle English in this sense (first recorded in a text composed before 1398). In the 16th century this highly specialized sense having to do with the close analysis of verse developed other senses,such as "to criticize, examine minutely, interpret, perceive.” From these senses having to do with examination and perception,it was an easy step to the sense "to look at searchingly" (first recorded in 1798),perhaps harking back still to the careful, detailed work involved in analyzing prosody.But a thorough search can change into a quick one, as it seems to have done in the case of the verbscan. 在1969年版的美国传统词典 中，我们的用法委员会放弃了一个已废弃的争议， 其中85%的人认为scan 意为“快速浏览”是可接受的， 虽然注释上说这是非正式的用法。之所以这么用是因为scan 在较早的意义上表示“仔细检查”。 从历史的角度了解scan 的两个相反意思如何发展是容易的。 这个单词的词源是拉丁语scandere ，意为“攀登”，后又演化为“标出诗之格律”， 因为人们可以通过抬起或放下脚来打拍子。中世纪英语动词scannen 即是在这个意义上从 scandere 转化而来的（首次被记载在一本1398年之前编辑的教科书上）。 在16世纪这个已经高度专门化并且用来表示仔细分析诗歌的词语又发展出了其它的意项，如“批评、细致入微地检查、翻译或理解”。从这些表示检查和察觉的意思，很容易就过渡到“细察”(1798年首次被记载）的意义，也可能返回到仔细分析诗体的细微工作。但就象这个动词scan 一样，彻底地搜查可能变成快速地浏览 〔influenza〕from Medieval Latin īnfluentia [influence (so called apparently from the belief that epidemics were due to the influence of the stars)] * see influence 源自 中世纪拉丁语 īnfluentia [星力（之所以如此命名显然与相信传染病是由于星相导致有关）] * 参见 influence〔jerkwater〕From jerkwater [a branch-line train, so called because its small boiler had to be refilled often, requiring train crews to "jerk" or draw water from streams] 源自 jerkwater [铁路支线，之所以这样称呼是因为火车的小汽缸需要经常加水，要求火车乘务员供水或从河中抽水添入汽缸] 〔be〕Traditional grammar requires the nominative form of the pronoun in the predicate of the verbbe : It is I (not me ); That must be they (not them ), and so forth. Even literate speakers of Modern English have found the rule difficult to conform to,but the stigmatization ofIt is me is by now so deeply lodged among the canons of correctness that there is little likelihood that the construction will ever be entirely acceptable in formal writing.Adherence to the traditional rule in informal speech, however, has come to sound increasingly pedantic,and begins to sound absurd when the verb is contracted, as inIt's we. · The traditional rule creates particular problems when the pronoun followingbe also functions as the object of a verb or preposition in a relative clause, as in It is not them/they that we have in mind when we talk about "crime in the streets" nowadays, where the plural pronoun serves as both the predicate ofis and the object of have. In this example, 57 percent of the Usage Panel preferred the nominative formthey, 33 percent preferred the accusativethem, and 10 percent accepted both versions.But H.W. Fowler, like other authorities, argued that the use of the nominative here is an error caused by "the temptation . . . to assume, perhaps from hearingIt is me corrected to It is I, that a subjective [nominative] case cannot be wrong after the verb to be. ” Writers can usually find a way to avoid this problem: They are not the ones we have in mind, We have someone else in mind, and so on. See Usage Note at I 1we 传统语法要求系动词谓语中的代词用主格形式be ： It is I （而不是 me ）； That must be they （而不是 them ），等等。 即使现代英语有文化的人也发现很难遵守这个规则，而It is me 的烙印现在已深刻地印入了判断是否正确的准则之中， 以致很少有可能使这种用法在正式书面语中被完全接受。但是在非正式讲话中奉行传统规则已经日益变得象在卖弄学问。并且当系动词被缩减时，就象在It's we 中一样，听起来反而象是不合语法的。 当代词跟在be 后面做动词宾语或做关系从句中的介语宾语时，传统的规则就象在 当我们谈到当今“街上的犯罪”时，他们不是我们心中所想的那些人， 句中复数代词同时充当is 的宾语和 have 的宾语。 在这个例子中57%的用法使用小组更喜欢用主格形式they， 33%更喜欢用宾格形式them， 而10%则两种都接受。但是象其他的权威一样，H.W.福勒争论道，在这里用主格是一个错误，它之所以错是因为“多半听到了It is me 都被改正成 It is I 而拿不定主意，以为主格的情况在动词 to be 后面不可能错。” 作家们常常能够找到一个办法来避免这个问题： 他们不是我们所想的人，我们脑子里想的是另一些人等等 参见 I1we〔hectic〕In the Usage Panel survey done for the first edition of theAmerican Heritage Dictionary (1969), 92 percent of the Panel approved of the use ofhectic in its most familiar sense, "characterized by feverish activity, confusion, or haste.”The question was put to the Panelbecause in earlier usage that sense was sometimes deprecated as a loose extension of the term's meaning in medicine.Unless one has some medical knowledgeone probably does not know the older medical uses of the term,for example, "relating to an undulating fever, such as those accompanying tuberculosis,”and unless one has some acquaintance with Middle Englishone would not recognize the first recorded instance of the word,etik, in a text written before 1398. The Middle English term comes from the Old French development of the Late Latin wordhecticus, whose form helped reshape our word in the 16th century.Late Latinhecticus in turn comes from Greek hektikos, "formed by habit or forming habit" and "consumptive,” developing the last sense because of the chronic nature of tuberculous fevers.Thus a word that once simply meant "habitual"eventually had an English descendant used to refer to circumstances that would be undesirable if they were habitual.在针对美国经典辞书 （1969年）第一版对用法专题使用小组的调查中， 92%的成员赞成hectic 一词最常用的意思， “以紧张的活动、忙乱或慌忙为特征的”。之所以要向这些成员提这个问题，是因为作为该词医学含义的模糊延伸，这个意义有时不为人们所接受。除非某人有医学方面的知识，否则他就很可能不知道这个词在医学方面的古老用法，比如“和起伏不定的热病有关的，如肺结核的伴随症”。另外，除非某人对中古英语有一度程度的了解，否则他也认不出1398年以前的一个文本中该词的首例etik 。 这个中古英语单词是由古法语经后期拉丁语hecticus 一词的发展而来的， 其形式在16世纪帮助重新形成了这个单词。而后期拉丁语中的这个词hecticus 又是由希腊语中的 hektikos 一词而来，这个词在希腊语中意指“由习惯形成的或形成习惯的”及“患肺痨的，肺痨的”， 之所以得到最后的意思，是出于肺痨病的特性。这样一来，原来只是表示“习惯性的”这个词，传到英语中最后竟变成了指一旦成为习惯则不被人所喜爱的情形〔potshot〕[So called because such a shot is fired by a hunter whose main purpose is to get food for the pot] [之所以得名是因为这是猎人所作的滥猎射击，主要为获取肉食] 〔prude〕Being a prude has never been widely considered a good thing,but if we dig further into the history of the wordprude, we will find that it had a noble past.The change for the worse took place in French.Frenchprude first had a good sense, "wise woman,” but apparentlya woman could be too wise or, in the eyes of some,too observant of decorum and propriety,and soprude took on the sense in French that was brought into English along with the word, first recorded in 1704.The French word first meant "wise woman"becauseprude was a shortened form of prude femme (earlier in Old Frenchprode femme ), a word that was modeled on earlierpreudomme, "a man of experience and integrity.” The second part of this word is, of course,homme, "man.” Old Frenchprod, meaning "wise, prudent,” is from Vulgar Latin prōdis with the same sense. Prōdis in turn comes from Late Latin prōde, "advantageous,” derived from the verbprodesse, "to be good.” We can see that the history ofprude is filled with usefulness, profit, wisdom, and integrity, but in spite of all this,things did not turn out that well.人们从来没有普遍地认为做一个拘守礼仪的人是一件好事，但是如果我们深挖prude 这个词的历史， 我们会发现这个词有一个体面的过去。这个词变成贬义是在法语中发生的。法语词prude 开始时是褒义的，意为“明智或聪明的女人，” 但是很显然，女人可能会过于聪明或者在某些人的眼里，对仪表和行为的得体过分注重，这样法语词prude 就有了这个和词一起被引入英语的意思， 并最早记载于1704年。这个法语词开始时的意思之所以是“聪明的女人”，因为prude 是 prudefemme 的缩写形式 （更早的时候在古法语中为prodefemme )， 这个词模仿更早的一个词preudomme “一个富有经验而又正直的男人”而来。 这个词的第二部分当然是意为“男人”的homme。 意思是“聪明，谨慎”的古法语prod 由一个相同意思的俗拉丁词 prodis 而来。 Prodis 从后期拉丁语 prode 演变而来，意为“有利的”， 该词又从意思为“从善”的动词prudesse 衍生而来。 我们现在明白prude 的历史充满了有利、利益、智慧或忠诚的意思， 但尽管如此，事情并没有变得那么好〔cutworm〕[So called because many species eat through stems of plants] [之所以如此称呼是因为许多种类能咬穿植物的茎] 〔allyl〕-yl [so called because it was first obtained from garlic] -yl [之所以这样称呼是因为它最早从大蒜中提取出来] 〔loan〕The verbloan is well established in American usage and cannot be considered incorrect.The frequent objections to the form by American grammarians may have originatedfrom a provincial deference to British critics,who long ago labeled the usage a typical Americanism.Butloan is used only to describe physical transactions, as of money or goods.For figurative transactions,lend is the only possible form: 动词loan 在美国英语中的用法已根深蒂固， 不能认为是不确切的。美国语法专家们之所以对这一形式经常提出异议，是出于对英国批评家的狭隘尊崇，他们很久以来一直把这一用法列为典型美国腔。但loan 只用于描述物质交易， 如钱或商品。至于象征性的交易，只可能用lend ： 〔chameleon〕The words referring to the animal chameleon and the plant chamomile are related etymologically by a reference to the place one would expect to find them, that is, on the ground.The first part of both words goes back to the Greek formkhamai, meaning "on the ground.” What is found on the ground in each case is quite different, of course.Thekhamaileōn is a "lion [ leōn ] on the ground,” a term translating the Akkadian phrasenēš qaqqari. Thekhamaimēlon is "an apple [ mēlon ] on the ground,” so named because the blossoms of at least one variety of this creeping herb have an applelike scent.Both words are first found in Middle English,chameleon in a work composed before 1382 andchamomile in a work written in 1373. 指动物变色蜥蜴和植物春黄菊的词，在词源上通过人们预期可找到它们的地点（即地面上）而相关联。这两个词的前一部分都可追溯到希腊形式khamai 意思为“在地面上。” 当然，两种情形下在地面上发现的东西是非常不同的。Khamaileon 是指“地面上的狮子 [ leon ]”， 即阿卡得短语nes qaqqari 翻译过来的词语。 Khamaimelon 是指“地面上的苹果 melon ”， 之所以这么命名是因为至少有一类这种蔓生草本植物所开的花具有类似苹果的气味。两个词最初出现在中古英语里面，chameleon 出现于1382年前的一部作品， chamomile 出现于1373年的一部作品里 〔uranium〕The element uranium, whose discovery has been so vital to our nuclear age, owes its name to a preceding scientific discovery, that of the planet Uranus.Sir William Herschel, who discovered Uranus in 1781, named the planetGeorgium sidus, "the Georgian planet,” in honor of George III.Some also called itHerschel, but convention prevailed and the planet came to be calledUranus (the form in Modern Latin and English),the name of a heavenly deity like the rest of the planets.Called Uranus in Latin mythology and Ouranos in Greek,this god of the heavens was chosen because he was the father of Saturn (Greek Cronos), the deity of the planet next in line,who was the father of Jupiter (Greek Zeus), the deity of the next planet.The name of this new planet was then used in the name of a new chemical element,uranium, discovered eight years later by M.H. Klaproth. Klaproth, a German scientist, gave it the Latin nameuranium in honor of the discovery of Uranus. Uranium passed into English shortly thereafter, being first recorded in the third edition of theEncyclopedia Britannica, published in 1797. 元素铀的发现对现今的核子时代是至关重要的。它的名称是据在它之前发现的天王星命名的。威廉·赫歇尔爵士于1781年发现了天王星，并起名为Georgium sidus， “乔治的行星”， 用来纪念乔治三世。有人称之为赫歇尔， 但传统的力量更巨大，最终这颗行星被称之为Uranus （现代拉丁文和英语形式），如用其余的行星一样是用天神的名字命名的。在拉丁神话中被称作优拉纳斯神，而在希腊神话中被作优拉诺斯神，之所以选中这个天神因为他是萨图恩（希腊神话中为克洛诺斯）的父亲，而萨图恩是和他临近的行星；他还是朱庇特（希腊神话中的宙斯）的父亲，而宙斯又是下一颗临近的行星。这颗新行星的名字又用来命名一种新发现的化学元素，铀 是由M.H.克拉普罗特八年后发现的。 克拉普罗特这位德国科学家给予它铀 这种拉丁字母是为了纪念 天王星的发现。 Uranium在这之后不久进入英语， 首次出现于1797年出版的大不列颠百科全书 的第三版中 〔shotgun〕"Shotguns[are] so named because a shotgun fired through the front door of these long, narrow homes could pass straight through the house and out the back door without hitting any barriers" (Melissa O. Fryauf)See Regional Note at beignet “盒式房屋之所以[被] 叫做shot guns是因为用滑膛枪在这些狭长房子的前门射击，子弹穿过房间，从后门射出，在这过程中子弹不会遇到任何障碍物” (梅利萨O.弗雷奥夫) 参见 beignet〔wallflower〕TheCheiranthus cheiri, with its sweet-smelling yellow, red, or brown flowers, came to be called the wallflower because it was noted for growing on surfaces such as old walls, rocks, and quarries. This plant name is first recorded in 1578.It is not known who first observed a likeness between this delicate, fragrant flower and the unpartnered women sitting along the wall at a dance, but the figurative sense is first found in an 1820 work by Mrs. Campbell Praed entitledCounty Ball. The word, although originally used only to describe women, has become unisex,and of course one can be a wallflower without having a wall in the vicinity.具有芳香的黄、红或棕色花的桂竹香 之所以后来被称为 wallflower 是因为它以生活于物体表面（如旧墙面、岩石成或矿井面）而闻名。 该植物名称首载于1578年。没有人知道谁最先发现了这种雅致、芳香的花与在舞会上单独坐在墙边的女子的关系，但是这种比喻义最早发现于埃贝尔·普利德夫人1820年名为郡办舞会 的作品中。 虽然该词起初只用来描绘女子，后来却男女都适用。而且，一个人即使周围没有墙也能成为一个离群之人〔intelligent〕We were successful not because we were quick-witted but because we persevered.我们之所以成功不是因为我们机智，而是因为我们坚韧不拔。〔despair〕Her despondency arises from her inability to find employment.她之所以意志消沉是因为她无法找到工作。〔roster〕To be told that the wordroster is related to a gridiron upon which one roasts meat might not come as a surprise, depending on what sort of rosters one's name has graced.The connection between the roster as we know it and a gridiron was made in Dutch,where the wordrooster, meaning "gridiron" (from the verb roosten, "to roast"), was extended in sense to mean "a table, list.”This extension was made because of the resemblance of a gridiron to a piece of paper divided by parallel lines that contains a list or table.The earliest use in English (first recorded in 1727) for the wordroster borrowed from Dutch was military, referring to a list or plan that outlined when officers, men, and bodies of troops should perform their turn of duty. Roster is no longer exclusively military in usage,nor does it mean simply a list of rotating turns of duty;one could perhaps even have a roster of meats to be roasted at a barbecue.如果说roster 一词与供烤肉用的烧烤架有关也许不会令人吃惊， 这就要看名字上了什么样的花名册。荷兰语把我们所知道的roster（花名册）与gridiron（烤架）联系了起来，rooster 意为“烤架”（源于动词 roosten ，意思是“烤”）， 词义延伸后意为“表格，名单”。该词之所以有这样的延伸义是因为烤架与被平行线分成表格的纸张有相似之处。roster 一词从荷兰语中借用后，在英语中（第一次记载于1727年）最早运用于军事， 指粗略记录军官、士兵和部队轮流执行任务的名单或计划。 Roster 不再为军队专用，也不仅仅表示“轮班的名单”的意思，烧烤时我们甚至可以用“烤肉的肉单”〔tangerine〕The nametangerine is like the skin of an orange, which when peeled off reveals something of interest.The name reflects the geographic source of the fruit, Tangier, Morocco,from which port the first tangerines were shipped to Europe in 1841.The wordtangerine, from Tangier or Tanger, was already an English word (first recorded in 1710), meaning "of or pertaining to Tangier.”This word had been formed with the suffix-ine, as in Florentine. The fruit was first called atangerine orange, later reduced simply totangerine. Confusion exists between the nametangerine and the name mandarin, and with good reason.The tangerine is a type of mandarin orange,so in fact the oranges shipped from Tangier could have been calledmandarins. However, although both names can be used interchangeably in a general sense,there does now exist a particular type of orange calledtangerine as distinguished from another type called specifically mandarin. The mandarin orange, which is native to China,is thought probably to have received its namebecause of its resemblance in color to the robes of a mandarin.单词tangerine 这个名称就好象桔子的皮， 当我们把它剥下来时就会发现有趣的东西。这个名称反映了它所指的水果的地理来源，即摩洛哥的丹吉尔；第一批柑橘就是在1841年从该港口用船运往欧洲的。源于Tangier 或 Tanger 的 tangerine 一词在这时已经是一个英语词汇（它第一次见于文献是在1710年）， 意为“属于或关于丹吉尔的”。这个词是用加后缀-ine 的方法构成的，就象 Florentine 一词的构词法一样。 丹吉尔所产的这种水果一开始被称作tangerine orange ， 后来被简化成tangerine。 在tangerine 和 mandarion 之间一直存在着混淆， 而这种混淆是有原因的。丹吉尔柑橘确为一种中国柑桔种类，所以事实上从丹吉尔运出的那批桔子在当时可能就被称为mandarin 。 然而，尽管这两个名称在一般的使用中是可以互换的，但世界上确实存在着与另一种被称为manderin 的类型不同的一种被称作 tangerine 的桔类。 中国柑桔原产于中国，它之所以被这样命名，可能是因为它的颜色类似清朝的高官所穿的官服的颜色 |
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