单词 | 因此 |
释义 | 〔nomograph〕A graph consisting of three coplanar curves, each graduated for a different variable so that a straight line cutting all three curves intersects the related values of each variable.列线图解:由三条共面曲线所组成的图,每一条曲线走向不同,因此截断这三条曲线的一条直线与每一条不同的曲线都以不同的变量相交〔ironic〕The wordsironic, irony, and ironically are sometimes used of events and circumstances that might better be described as simply "coincidental" or "improbable,” in that they suggest no particular lessons about human vanity or folly.Thus 78 percent of the Usage Panel rejects the use ofironically in the sentence 单词ironic, irony 和 ironically 有时所修饰的事件和环境也许就简单地描述为“巧合的”或“不可能发生的”还更好一些, 因为它们并未对人类的虚妄或愚蠢提出什么特别的暗示。因此,用法专题讨论小组的百分之七十八的成员反对将ironically 用在下面这句话中 〔Capet〕A dynasty of French kings (987-1328), includingHugh Capet (940?-996), who was elected king in 987, thereby permanently removing the Carolingians from power, and ruled until his death. The expansion of territory and centralization of power under the Capets began the movement toward a unified France. 卡佩王朝:法兰西的一个王朝(987-1328年),其中有雨果·卡佩 (940?-996年),他于987年被推选为国王并因此永久地使加洛林王室丧失了权力。他一直统治到逝世时为止。卡佩王朝期间的领土扩张和中央集权开始了统一法兰西的运动 〔Smith〕American suffragist. With her sisterAbby Hadassah Smith (1797-1878) she became famous for refusing to pay taxes until she could vote. 史密斯,尤莉娅·伊夫莉娜:(1792-1886) 美国争取妇女选举权运动者。她同其妹阿比·哈德莎·史密斯 (1797-1878年)一起在没有选举权的情况下拒绝纳税,因此而闻名 〔wean〕In recent yearsweaned on has come to be widely used in the sense "raised on,” as inMoviegoers weaned on the Star Trek TV series will doubtless find the film to their liking. A few critics have objected to this usage on the grounds thatwean refers literally to a detachment from a source of nourishment. But the process of weaning involves a substitution of some other form of nourishment for mother's milk;thus it is sometimes said that a child isweaned onto or on sugar water. Hence a sentence likePaul was weaned on Dixieland may suggest metaphorically that Paul's exposure to Dixieland began from the time he stopped nursing, that is, from a very early age. 近些年来weaned on 已经被广泛地用于“被…养大”的意义, 如此句看着 特莱克明星 电视连续剧长大的影迷会毫无疑问地发现这部电影对他们的胃口。 一些批评家反对这种用法的理由在于wean 原指脱离营养之源。 但是断奶的过程包含了以别种形式营养代替母乳;于是有时候我们说一个孩子断奶水 或 糖水。 因此句子如保罗是听着迪克西爵士乐长大的 可能暗喻地表示保罗从停奶的时候,也就是很早以前就听过迪克西爵士乐了 〔lifestyle〕Whenlifestyle began to gain wide currency a generation ago, a number of critics objected to it as voguish and superficial,perhaps because it appeared to elevate habits of consumption, dress, and recreation to a primary basis of social classification.Nonetheless, the word has proved durable and useful,if only because such categories doin fact figure importantly in the schemes that Americans commonly invoke in explaining social values and social behavior,whether appropriately or not,as in Rachel Brownstein's remark that 当life style 在上一代人中开始广泛使用时, 许多评论家认为这个词浅薄且只风行一时,因此反对它,这可能是因为它看上去把消费习惯、衣着和享乐上升为社会阶级划分的主要基点。但是,这个词证明是持久有用的,如果仅仅因为这些范畴,事实上确实成为美国人解释社会价值与社会行为时所采用的极其重要的标准,无论合适与否,例如在雷切尔·布朗斯坦的话中 〔gonorrhea〕A sexually transmitted disease caused by gonococcal bacteria that affects the mucous membrane chiefly of the genital and urinary tracts and is characterized by an acute purulent discharge and painful or difficult urination, though women often have no symptoms.淋病:一种由淋病双球菌所引起的主要作用于性器官和尿道粘膜并通过性接触而传染的疾病。由于排泄处化脓得厉害,因此排尿困难且疼痛难忍,但女性通常无此症状〔tight〕Tight is used as an adverb following verbs that denote a process of closure or constriction, assqueeze, shut, close, tie, and hold. In this useit is subtly distinct from the adverbtightly. Tight denotes the state resulting from the process,whereastightly denotes the manner of its application. As such,tight is more appropriate when the focus is on a state that endures for some time after the activity has ended. The sentenceShe closed up the house tight suggests preparation for an impending blizzard. By the same token, it is more natural to sayThe windows were frozen tight than The windows were frozen tightly, since in this case the tightness of the seal is not likely to be the result of the manner in which the windows were frozen.With a few verbstight is used idiomatically as an intensive and is the only possible form: sleep tight; sit tight. Tight can be used only following the verb:The house was tightly (not tight ) shut. Tight 作副词用在表示关闭或压迫过程的动词后, 如squeeze,shut,close,tie 和 hold 。 在这种用法中,它与副词tightly有细微的差别。 Tight 表示过程导致的状态,而tightly 表示使用这些动作的方式。 因此,当焦点放在动作结束后仍然能持续一段时间的状态时,用tight 更为恰当。 句子她把房子的门窗紧紧地关起来 中表示准备迎接即将来到的暴风雪。 同样,我们说The windows were frozen tight 比 The windows were frozen tightly 更为自然, 因为这里的密封不大可能是窗子被冻上的结果。tight 还与几个动词结合惯用为加强语气的成分,且是唯一可能的形式: sleep tight; sit tight。 Tight 只能用于动词后:房子紧紧地 (而非 tight ) 关闭着 。 〔Glasgow〕American writer known for her realistic, historical novels of Virginia, such asIn This Our Life (1941), for which she won a Pulitzer Prize. 格拉斯哥,埃伦·安德逊·古尔逊:(1873?-1945) 美国作家,以其现实的有关弗吉尼亚的历史小说著名,比如《在我们这样的生活里》 (1941年),她因此获得普利策奖 〔antimetabolite〕A substance that closely resembles an essential metabolite and therefore interferes with physiological reactions involving it.抗代谢物,抗代谢药:一种与基础代谢物非常相似的物质,因此能够干预包含代谢物的生理反应〔Grouchy〕French marshal who distinguished himself in the Napoleonic Wars but failed to stop reinforcements from reaching Wellington at the Battle of Waterloo (1815) and was thus partially blamed for the final defeat of Napoleon I.格鲁希,伊曼纽尔·德:(1766-1847) 法国元帅,在拿破仑战争中战功卓著,但在滑铁卢战役中(1815年)未能阻止威灵顿与其增援部队会合,因此被认为对拿破仑一世的最终失败负有部分责任〔between〕According to a widely repeated but unjustified tradition,“between is used for two, and among for more than two.” It is true thatbetween is the only choice when exactly two entities are specified: the choice between (not among ) good and evil, the rivalry between (not among ) Great Britain and France. When more than two entities are involved, however, or when the number of entities is unspecified,the choice of one or the other word depends on the intended sense.Between is used when the entities are considered as distinct individuals; among, when they are considered as a mass or collectivity. Thus in the sentenceThe bomb landed between the houses, the houses are seen as points that define the boundaries of the area of impact (so that we presume that none of the individual houses was hit). InThe bomb landed among the houses, the area of impact is considered to be the general location of the houses, taken together (in which case it is left open whether any houses were hit). By the same token, we may speak ofa series of wars between the Greek cities, which suggests that each city was an independent belligerent, or ofa series of wars among the Greek cities, which allows as well the possibility that the belligerents were shifting alliances of cities. For this reason,among is most appropriate to indicate inclusion in a group: 根据重复多次但没什么根据的传统看法,“between 用于两者之间,而 among 用于二者以上。” 当只提到两个实体时,between 确实是唯一的选择: the choice between (而不用 among ) good and evil(善与恶之间的选择),the rivalry between (不用 among ) Great Britain and France(英法间的对抗)。 当牵涉到两个以上实体时,如果实体的数目不确定,选择其中之一则取决于倾向性。当实体被看作不同的个体时用between ; 当其被看作整体或集合时用among 。 因此在句子The bomb landed between the houses 中,房屋被看作一个限定了中弹地区的界限( 所以我们假设一所所单独的房子未被击中)。在The bomb landed among the houses 中,被中弹地区被看作是房屋的整体地区( 在这种情形下房屋是否被击中并未说明)。同样的表示法,我们可以说a series of wars between the Greek cities, 表示每个城市是独立的参战者,我们也可以说a series of wars among the Greek cities, 表示存在某些城市做为联合参战者的可能性。 因此,among 最适合表示包括在一群成一组人之内: 〔Eijkman〕Dutch hygienist and pathologist. He shared a 1929 Nobel Prize for his discovery of the nutrient, later called vitamin B1 or thiamine, that relieves beriberi. 艾克曼,克里斯蒂安:(1858-1930) 荷兰卫生学家,病理学家。他发现减轻脚气病的一营养素,后来称做维生素B1或硫胺素,并因此获得1929年诺贝尔奖 〔ramada〕One of the words Spanish contributed to the English of the American Southwest isramada, a term for an open porch. Ramada can also mean an openwork trellis constructed over a walkwayonto which climbing plants are trained;this sense illustrates the derivation of the word from Spanishrama, meaning "branch"— henceramada, "arbor, mass of branches.” The suffix-ada in Spanish denotes "a place characterized by (something).” Ramada might have remained a relatively obscure regional wordwere it not for its adoption in the name of a national chain of motels.对美国西南部英语起作用的一个西班牙单词是ramada , 它的意思是开敞的门廊。 Ramada 的另一个意思是修建于人行道上方的一种露天棚架,上面培植有攀援植物;这个意思显示了本词源于西班牙语中的rama ,意思是“枝杈”—— 因此ramada 有“藤架和一片枝杈”的含义。 后缀-ada 在西班牙语中指“具有(某物)特征的地方”。 Ramada 这个词后来被用到了一家全国性汽车连锁旅馆的名字里,否则它可能总是一个不起眼的地方性词汇〔periodic〕Periodic has long been used loosely to mean "occasional, intermittent,” but this usage may be confusing for readers who are accustomed to using the word only in its narrower sense of "at regular or predictable intervals.”Thus the writer who saidParker's losses at the track were not covered by his periodic winners invited the (most likely unintended) inference that Parker had a system that enabled him to pick winners at regular intervals. Substitution ofoccasional in this context would have resolved the ambiguity. Periodic 长时间以来不严谨地用于指“时常的,偶而的”, 但这个用法常常使那些习惯于将这个词用于“在有规律或可预测的间歇内”这个狭窄词义的读者迷惑。因此写帕克在赛跑中的失败不如他的胜利多 这句话的作者(主要是无意中)造成帕克有在定期赢得比赛的方法的推论。 在上下文中用occasional 代替应该能解决这种模棱两可的问题 〔taboo〕Among the many discoveries of Capt. James Cook was a linguistic one, the termtaboo. Cook used this word in his journal of 1777while he was in the Friendly Islands (now Tonga).Hence, even though similar words occur in other Polynesian languages,the formtaboo from Tongan tabu is the form we have borrowed. The Tongans usedtabu as an adjective; they spoke of persons or things that weretabu, that is, "under prohibition, forbidden, or set apart. ”Cook, besides borrowing the word into English,also made it into a noun referring to the prohibition itselfand a verb meaning "to make someone or something taboo.”From its origins in Polynesian society the wordtaboo has spread throughout the English-speaking world and has been applied in ways that never occurred to the people from whom Cook originally borrowed it.詹姆士·库克船长的许多发现中有一个是语言上的,即taboo 这个词。 库克在他1777年的航海日志中使用了这个词,当时他在弗兰德里群岛(现在的汤加)。因此,虽然相似的词也曾出现在其它的波利尼亚语言中,但是从汤加语的tabu 发展而来的 taboo 这一形式就成了我们所借用的形式。 汤加人将tabu 用作一个形容词; 他们谈论某人或某事是tabu 的, 即意味着它们是“处于禁令下的、被禁止的或和别人分开对待的”。库克除了把这个词借用到英语中,还把它变成了一名词,表示禁止,也把它用作一个动词,意为“使其人或某事成为禁忌”。起源于波利尼西亚社会的taboo 这一词已在说英语的世界中被广为使用, 而它的一些用法是库克当年向其借用该词的人们所从未想到的〔return〕"Thus with the year/Seasons return" (John Milton). “因此随着一年/季节的到来” (约翰·弥尔顿)。 〔premise〕Why do we call a single buildingthe premises ? To answer this question,we must go back to the Middle Ages.But first, let it be noted thatpremises comes from the past participle praemissa, which is both a feminine singular and a neuter plural form of the Latin verbpraemittere, "to send in advance, utter by way of preface, place in front, prefix.” In Medieval Latin the feminine formpraemissa was used as a term in logic, for which we still use the termpremise descended from the Medieval Latin word (first recorded in a work composed before 1380).Medieval Latinpraemissa in the plural meant "things mentioned before" and was used in legal documents, almost always in the plural,a use that was followed in Old French and Middle English, both of which borrowed the word from Latin.A more specific legal sense in Middle English,"that property, collectively, which is specified in the beginning of a legal document and which is conveyed, as by grant,”was also always in the plural in Middle English and later Modern English.And so it remained when this sense was extended to mean "a house or building with its grounds or appurtenances,”a usage first recorded before 1730.为什么我们把单独的一幢建筑称为the premises ? 为了回答这个问题,我们必须回到中世纪。但首先必须注意的是premises 是从过去式 praemissa 而来的, 这是意思为“预先发送,以前言的方式说出,放在前边,前缀”的拉丁动词praemittere 的阴性单数形式及中性复数形式。 在中世纪拉丁语中,praemissa 作为阴性形式被用作逻辑状语, 因此我们仍然使用这个来源于中世纪拉丁语的术语premise (第一次记载于1380年前编纂的作品中)。中世纪拉丁语praemissa 的复数形式意为“前面提到的事物”, 用于法律文件并总是以复数形式出现,古法语和中古英语中都从拉丁语中借用了这个词及其用法。中古英语中有一种更特殊的法律方面的意义,“法律文件开头指明并根据转让的财产,如通过赠送”,在中世纪英语和后来的现代英语中也是以复数形式使用。因此当它的意思被扩展为“连同其土地及设施一所房子或一幢建筑”时仍保留这一用法,该用法最初记载于1730年前。〔ax〕Ax, a common nonstandard variant of ask, is often identified as an especially salient feature of African American Vernacular English. While it is true that the form is frequent in the speech of African Americans, it used to be common in the speech of white Americans as well, especially in New England. This should not be surprising since ax is a very old word in English, having been used in England for over 1,000 years. In Old English we find both āscian and ācsian, and in Middle English both asken and axen. Moreover, the forms with cs or x had no stigma associated with them. Chaucer used asken and axen interchangeably, as in the lines "I wol aske, if it hir will be/To be my wyf" and "Men axed hym, what sholde bifalle,” both from The Canterbury Tales. The forms in x arose from the forms in sk by a linguistic process called metathesis, in which two sounds are reversed. The x thus represents (ks), the flipped version of (sk). Metathesis is a common linguistic process around the world and does not arise from a defect in speaking. Nevertheless, ax has become stigmatized as substandard—a fate that has befallen other words, like ain't, that were once perfectly acceptable in literate circles. ask 的一般非标准变体 ax 常被认为是美国黑人英语极为显著的特色。尽管美国黑人在交谈中的确使用ax这种形式,但美国白人也在口语中普遍使用它,尤其是新英格兰的白人。不必对此表示惊奇,因为 ax 是个很古老的英语词汇,在英语中至少使用了1000年以上。古英语中有 āscian 和 ācsian, ,中古英语中有 asken 和 axen 。而且,带 cs 或 x 的形式同不好的含义无关。乔叟在下文中交替使用 asken 和 axen :"I wol aske, if it hir will be/To be my wyf(我问道,这是真是幻/将成为我的妻子)”和"Men axed hym, what sholde bifalle(人们问他,会降临什么)”,这两句话都出自 《坎特伯利故事集》 。带 sk 的形式经由 换位 的语言过程产生带 x 的形式,换位就是将两个音位置颠倒。因此 x 表示(ks)的发音,即(sk)的翻转发音。换位是世界通用的语言过程并且不会造成交谈中的欠缺。但 ax 已被记作非标准用法──同样降临在曾一度被知识界完全接受的其它单词(如 ain't )的命运 〔collapse〕To break down suddenly in strength or health and thereby cease to function:崩溃:力量或健康突然停顿并因此陷于瘫痪:〔blatant〕 Certain contexts may admit either word depending on what is meant:a violation of international law might be eitherblatant or flagrant. But writers who refer tothe blatant torturing of animals or the flagrant liberal bias of the media have implied something other than what they presumably intended. In the first case, the writer is probably more troubled by the enormity of the mistreatment of animals than by the failure to conceal it,so thatflagrant would have been the better choice. In the second case, by contrast, the writer probably wants to draw attention to a moral failing in the media's unapologetic refusal to hide its bias,rather than to the iniquity of the bias itself,an implication that would have been conveyed more successfully byblatant. Blatant should not be used to mean simply "obvious,”as inthe blatant danger of such an approach. 某些语境下两个词都可以用,但意思不同:对国际法律的违反既可能是blatant(公然的) 也可能是 flagrant(无耻的)。 但是提到the blatant torturing of animals(肆无忌惮地虐待动物) 或者 the flagrant liberal bias of the media(媒体公然的、不严谨的偏见) 的作者已经暗示了他们本来意图以外的意思。 在第一种情况下,作者可能对大量虐待动物的行为所困扰而不是为隐藏这种行为的失败而困扰,因此flagrant 应该是更好的选择。 相反地,在第二种情况下,作者可能是要着重指出新闻媒介对其偏见一概否认的这种道德上弱点,而不是针对偏见本身的不公正性,这种含义若由blatant来表达的话会更加正确。 Blatant 不应仅仅表示“明显的”,就象在the blatant danger of such an approach(这种方法明显的危险性)中。 〔modern〕The wordmodern, first recorded in 1585 in the sense "of present or recent times,” has traveled through the centuriesdesignating things that inevitably must become old-fashionedas the word itself goes on to the next modern thing.We have now invented the wordpostmodern, as if we could finally fixmodern in time, but evenpostmodern (first recorded in 1949) will seem fusty in the end, perhaps sooner thanmodern will. Going back to Late Latinmodernus, "modern,” which is derived frommodo in the sense "just now,” the English wordmodern (first recorded at the beginning of the 16th century) was not originally concerned with anything that could be later considered old-fashioned. It simply meant "being at this time, now existing,” an obsolete sense today.Beginning in the later 16th century, however, we see the word contrasted with the wordancient and also used of technology in a way that is clearly related to our own modern way of using the word.Modern was being applied specifically to what pertained to present times and also to what was new and not old-fashioned.Thus in the 19th and 20th centuries the word could be used to designate a movement in art,which is now being followed by postmodernism.单词modern 首次于1585年以“现在的或最近的时代”的意义被记载, 它已经历了数个世纪,表明必然会变得过时的事物,就象这个词本身也会继续走向更加现代。现在我们已发明了单词postmodern, 仿佛我们终于能及时固定住modern 的了, 但即使是postmodern (首次于1949年记载)最终也会显得过时, 也许比modern 更快。 可追溯至近代拉丁词modernus “现代的”, 源自表示“刚才”意思的modo , 英语单词modern (首先在16世纪初被记载)原本与后来被认为过时的事物没有任何联系。 它只意味着“现时的,现存的”,今天已废弃了的一个意思。然而从16世纪晚期我们看到这个词成为ancient 的反义词并且用于科技, 其意义与我们现在使用的意义明显相关。Modern 当时特指现时的事物, 也指新的且不过时的事物。因此在19世纪和20世纪这个词能被用来表示艺术上的一个运动,现在尾随其后的是后现代主义〔Kazbek〕An extinct volcano, 5,042.3 m (16,532 ft) high, of southern European U.S.S.R. in the central Caucasus. Towering above a nearby pass, it is the subject of many legends.卡兹别克山:苏联欧洲部分南部的一座死火山,海拔5,042.3米(合16,532英尺),位于高加索中部。高耸于附近一条通道之上,因此而成为许多传奇故事的主题〔unruly〕"Fox, as the less proud and intractable of the refractory pair, was preferred" (Macaulay).“福克斯是这两个脾气倔强人中较少傲气和较为容易控制的一个,因此被看中了” (麦考利)。〔pile〕The surface so formed.绒面:因此形成的表面〔injustice〕"Private wrongs . . . are an infringement or privation of the private or civil rights belonging to individuals . . . and are thereupon frequently termed civil injuries" (William Blackstone).“个人犯的错误…是违反法规行为或对私有的(东西的)剥夺或个人的民权…因此经常被称为民事伤害” (威廉·布拉克斯通)。〔so〕He failed to appear, so we went on without him.他没有出现,因此我们不管他继续走〔Philistine〕It has never been good to be a Philistine.Samson, Saul, and David in the Bible helped bring the Philistines into prominence because they were such prominent opponents.Even though the Philistines have long since disappeared,their name has lived on in the Old Testament.The English name for them,Philistines, which goes back through Late Latin and Greek to Hebrew, is first found in Middle English,wherePhilistiens, the ancestor of our word, is recorded in a work composed before 1325. Beginning in the 17th centuryphilistine was used as a common noun usually in the plural to refer to various groups considered the enemy,such as literary critics.In Germany in the same centuryit is said that in a memorial at Jena for a student who had been killed in a town-gown quarrel,the minister preached a sermon from the text "Philister über dir Simson! [The Philistines be upon thee, Samson!],”the words of Delilah to Samson after she attempted to render him powerless before his Philistine enemies.From this usage it is said that German students came to usePhilister, the German equivalent of Philistine, to denote nonstudents and hence uncultured or materialistic people.Both usages were picked up in English in the early 19th century.做非利士人从来没有好处。《圣经》中的参孙、索尔和大卫使非利士人出名是因为他们是很优秀的对手。尽管非利士人已消失很久了,他们的名字却仍存在于《旧约》当中。他们的英文名称Philistines 可由晚期拉丁语和希腊语追溯到希伯来语, 是在中世纪英语中首先发现的,其中我们所用词的前身Philistines 记载在一部1325年前的著作中。 17世纪以来,Philistine 被用作普通名词并且常以复数形式出现, 意指被认为是敌人的各种团体,如文学批评家。在同一世纪的德国,据说在耶拿举行的纪念一名在市民和大学生争执中被杀的学生的纪念会上,牧师从“[非利士人比你强,参孙!]”中选取了一段做布道,就是迪莱勒在试图使参孙在他的非利士手面前变得软弱无力后说的那些话。这段话的用法中可见德国学生开始使用philister 作为 philistine 的德语替代语, 意指不是学生因此也就是没有文化以及不务实的人。这两种用法在19世纪早期的英语中均能找到〔Sharp〕American biologist who shared a 1993 Nobel prize in medicine for discovering that some genes are not continuous but instead contain sequences, known as introns, that do not function as codes for the formation of a protein.夏普,飞利浦·亚伦:美国生物学家,发现某些基因并不是连续性的,而是含有序列,即基因内区,在蛋白质的形成中并没有发挥代码的作用;他因此与人分享1993年的诺贝尔奖〔trivial〕 Trivial refers principally to what is so insignificant as to be utterly commonplace or unremarkable: Trivial 主要指那些极其无关紧要的因此完全不值得注意或是十分平凡的东西: 〔nonassessable〕Of or relating to capital stock for which owners cannot be assessed additional funds to cover any liabilities of the firm and therefore cannot lose any more than their original investments.除投资额外不承担其他费用(责任的):属于或关于股票的,股东不能被估定有额外的投资而去承担公司的任何义务,因此损失不可能多于他们的最初投资〔behalf〕Traditionally,in behalf of and on behalf of have distinct senses. In behalf of means "for the benefit of,” as inWe raised money in behalf of the earthquake victims. On behalf of means "as the agent of; on the part of,” as inThe guardian signed the contract on behalf of the minor child. The two senses are quite close, however,and are often confused, even by reputable writers.传统上in behalf of 和 on behalf of 有着不同的意思。 In behalf of 意为“为了…的利益”, 如我们为地震受灾者筹款。 On behalf of表示“作为…的代理人;代表…”, 如监护人代表那个小孩签了合同。 但这两种意思相当接近,因此经常被弄混,连一些名作家也时常混用〔liable〕Liable, apt, and likely are often used interchangeably in constructions with following infinitives, as inJohn is liable to lose, John is apt to lose, and John is likely to lose. The three words are distinct in meaning.A widely repeated rule holdsthatliable should only be used if the subject would be adversely affected by the outcome expressed by the infinitive. The rule therefore permitsJohn is liable to fall out of his chair if he doesn't sit up straight but notThe chair is liable to be slippery, though constructions of the latter type have long been common in reputable writing.Apt usually suggests that the subject has a natural tendency enhancing the probability of an outcome, and that the speaker is in some way apprehensive about the outcome.Thusapt is more naturally used in a sentence like The fuel pump is apt to give out at any minute than in Even the clearest instructions are apt to be misinterpreted by those idiots (since the instructions are not at fault)or inThe fuel pump is apt to give you no problems for the life of the car (since there is no reason that the speaker should regard such an outcome as unfortunate).Likely is more general than either liable or apt. It ascribes no particular property to the subject that enhances the probability of the outcome:whileJohn is apt to lose the election may suggest that the loss will result from something John does or fails to do, John is likely to lose the election does not. Nor does it suggest anything about the desirability of the outcome from the point of view of either the speaker or the subject.A football coach who saysWe are apt to win may be suspected of sarcasm,and one who saysWe are liable to win may be suspected of having bet on the opposition;onlyWe are likely to win is consistent with the expression of an unambivalent expectation of victory. See Usage Note at likely Liable,apt 和 likely 在如下不定式结构中经常可以互换, 例如 John is liable to lose,John is apt to lose 和 John is likely to lose 。 这三个词的意思是有区别的。一条公认的语法规则认为,只有当主语受不定式所表示的动作或结果的不利影响时,才使用liable 。 因此这条规则允许说如果约翰不坐直身子的话,他很容易从椅子上掉下来的 , 但不允许说椅子可能很滑 , 尽管在规范的写作中,后一种类型的句型已经很普遍了。Apt 通常表示主语有增加某种结果的可能性的自然倾向, 而且说话者对此结果多少有些忧虑。因此,apt 用在句子 燃料泵可能随时停止运转 中,比用在 即使是最明了的指令也有可能被那些白痴误解 中更自然 (因为错的不是指令),也比用在燃料可能不会对你的车的使用寿命带来什么问题 中更合适 (因为说话者没有理由认为这样一个结果很不幸)。Likely 比 liable 或 apt 更具概括性。 它并不说明增加了一个结果的可能性的主语是否具有何特性:句子约翰在选举中可能会失败 可能暗示失败归因于约翰所做的或没能做的某件事, 而句子约翰在选举中有可能失败 则没有这种暗示。 另外,它也没有关于说话者或主语是否喜欢某一结果的暗示。如果一位足球教练说We are apt to win , 他可能带有讽刺意味,但如果他说We are liable to win , 他的意思是他认为他们可能会输;只有说We are likely to win ,才明确表示有希望获胜 参见 likely〔Zeuxis〕Greek artist who was among the first Athenians to use shading, thereby achieving a degree of realism hitherto unknown in Greek painting.宙克西斯:希腊画家,首批使用明暗法的雅典人之一,因此实现了迄今在希腊绘画艺术中仍不为人知的现实主义手法〔wilderness〕Deer comes from the Old English word dēor, meaning "beast.” Clearly the word has narrowed in meaning and lost its general sense.But another word in English,wilderness, may point to this general sense of Old English dēor. The etymology ofwilderness is variously given, but one etymology traces the-der- of wilderness back to dēor and wild- back to Old English wilde, "wild.” Der- may thus carry on dēor in its general sense, reminding us that wild beasts might be the only inhabitants of a wilderness.Wilderness, though it may have existed in Old English, is first found in 13th-century Middle English.Deer 来自于古英语中意为“野兽”的一词 deor 。 很明显这个词的词义缩小了,失去了它较笼统的意义。但英语中的另一个词wilderness, 大概会指出古英语中 deor 的笼统意义。 wilderness 的词源很多, 但一种说法顺着wilderness 中的 -der- 找到 deor ,顺着 wild- 中找到古英语中的 wilde “野蛮的”。 Der- 大概因此具有笼统意义上的 deor 的意义, 提醒我们野兽大概是荒野处的唯一居民。Wilderness 尽管在古英语中已存在, 但是在13世纪中世纪英语中首次出现的〔penthouse〕The wordpenthouse and the structure it denotes have both come a long way. The word goes back to Latinappendere, "to cause to be suspended.”In Medieval Latinappendere developed the sense "to belong, depend,” a sense that passed intoapendre, the Old French development ofappendere. Fromapent, the past participle of apendre, came the derivative apentiz, "low building behind or beside a house,” and the Anglo-Norman plural form pentiz. The form without thea- was then borrowed into Middle English, giving uspentis (first recorded about 1300), which was applied to sheds or lean-tos added on to buildings.Because these structures often had sloping roofs,the word was connected with the French wordpente, "slope,” and the second part of the word changed tohouse, which could mean simply "a building for human use.”The use of the term with reference to fancy penthouse apartments developed from the application of the word to a structure built on the roof to cover such things as a stairway or an elevator shaft.Penthouse then came to mean an apartment built on a rooftop and finally the top floor of an apartment building.单词penthouse 及其所代表的结构都经过了长期的演变。 此词可追溯至拉丁语appendere , 意为“使悬浮”。在中世纪拉丁语中,appendere 的意思演变为“附属,依靠”, 是词形变为apendre 的意义, 由古法语appendere 发展而来。 从apendre 的过去分词 apent 产生出意为“房屋旁边或后面低矮的建筑”的派生词 apentiz 及盎格鲁-诺尔曼复数形式 pentiz 。 没有a- 的形式被借用到中世纪英语, 变成pentis (首次记载于1300年), 用作加在建筑上的小棚或单倾斜面的小屋。因为这些结构常有斜屋顶,因此该词与法语词pente “斜面”有关, 且此词的第二部分变成house , 只简单地意为“住人的建筑”。该词与使人想象楼顶房屋有关的使用源自需要用一个词来表示建在屋顶上用来遮挡楼梯或电梯通道的建筑。Penthouse 于是逐渐意为建在屋顶上的房间, 最终意为一个公寓楼的顶层〔can〕since it requires the pupil to distinguish explicitly between what is possible and what is allowed,a difference not always apparent to younger children.And even in later life,observance of the distinction is often advisable in the interests of clarity.Thus, the sentenceStudents can take no more than three courses allows the possibility that a student who is unusually capable may take more, whereasStudents may take no more than three courses does not. · The use ofcan to express permission is better tolerated in negative questions, as inCan't I have the car tonight? probably because the alternative contractionmayn't is felt to be awkward. 由于这要求学生清楚地区分可能的和得到许可的两者之间的差异,而这对小孩子们常常是不太明显的。并且在其今后的生活中,为明确起见,体会这种差异常常是很可取的。因此,句子学生们可以选修不超过三门的课程 给能力超常的学生学更多的课程提供了可能性, 然而学生们只能选修不超过三门的课程 则不能提供这种可能性。 can 的用法更可用于否定疑问句中表示许可, 如 我今晚不能使用这车吗? , 或许是由于可替代的缩写mayn't 感觉起来有些笨拙的缘故 〔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〔accompany〕 However,by is quite commonly used in sentences of the second type, and the usage is grammatically defensible.The phrase introduced withby normally represents the subject of a related active sentence; thus, the sentenceThe salmon was accompanied by a delicious watercress salad is the unexceptional passive of the sentence A delicious watercress salad accompanied the salmon. By the same token,with can be used with persons when they are the instruments of an act of accompanying performed by someone else. We can sayThe Secret Service accompanied the candidate with six burly bodyguards, or we can use the passiveThe candidate was accompanied with six burly bodyguards (by the Secret Service). The choice between the two prepositions really depends on the intended sense.Although the traditional rule may serve as a guide to which sense is likely to feel the most natural,it should not be taken as a categorical stricture.但是by 在第二种形式的句子中也常用, 而且这种用法在语法上是可行的。由by 引导的短语一般表示一相关主动句中的主语; 因此句型伴有可口的水田芥菜色拉的鲑鱼 就是 用可口的水田芥菜色拉来搭配鲑鱼 这类句型的必然被动语态。 同样,当某些人是其他人所安排的陪同活动中的工具的时候,with 也可用于人。 我们可以说特工处派了六个强壮的保镖护随候选人, 或者我们可以用被动态用六个强壮的保镖护随候选人(是由秘密机关安排的)。 事实上是基于使用意图而在这两个介词之间进行选择的。虽然以传统的语法规则为导引可使人感到含义上极为自然,但不能就此认为这是绝对的限制〔posh〕"Oh yes, Mater, we had a posh time of it down there.”So inPunch for September 25, 1918, do we find the first recorded instance of that mysterious wordposh, meaning "smart and fashionable,”although in a 1903 book by P.G. Wodehouse,Tales of St. Austin's, there is a mention of a waistcoat that was "push.” The latter may be a different word,but in either case the dates of occurrence are importantbecause they are part of the objection to derivingposh from the initials of "Port Out, Starboard Home.” This was the cooler, and thus more expensive, side of ships traveling between England and India in the mid-19th century,and the acronymPOSH was supposedly stamped on the tickets of first-class passengers traveling on that side of ships owned by the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company. No evidence is definitely known to exist for this theory, however.TheOxford English Dictionary Supplement may have found a possible source or sources for posh. Another wordposh was 19th- and early 20th-century British slang for "money,” specifically "a halfpenny, cash of small value.”This word is borrowed from the common Romany wordpåšh, "half,” which was used in combinations such aspåšhera, "halfpenny.” Posh, also meaning "a dandy,” is recorded in two dictionaries of slang published in 1890 and 1902,although this particularposh may be still another word. This word or these words, however, are much more likely to be the source ofposh than "Port Out, Starboard Home,” although the latter source certainly has caught the public's etymological fancy.“哦是的,妈妈,我们在那里过着豪华的生活。”因此在1918年9月25日的punch 上, 我们看到了那个神秘单词posh 的首次记录, 意为“豪华的,时髦的,”虽然早在1903年P·G·伍德豪斯的名为圣·奥斯汀传说 的作品中就提及了意为"push"的马夹这个词。 后者也可能是另外一个不同的词,但在任何一种情况下两者被使用的时间都很重要,因为它们都反对posh 这个词源于"Port Out,Starboard Home。” 这是意指19世纪中期往来于英格兰及印度的船只中较凉爽、因而票价也就较为昂贵的一侧,而POSH 这个首字缩拼词据说就印在半岛——东方蒸汽船航运公司所拥有的船只上较为凉爽的一侧头等舱的票上。 然而对于这一说法并没有确凿的证据来加以证明。牛津英语词典增补本 也许为 posh 找到了一个或多个可能的词源。 另一个词posh 则是19世纪和20世纪初英国人用来表示“钱”的俚语, 尤指“半便士,小面值钱币。”这个词源于吉卜赛常用词på歨 ,意为“一半”, 用在诸如意为“半便士”的复合词på歨era 中。 Posh 也有“花花公子”之意, 这一用法记录于1890年及1902年出版的两本俚语词典中,尽管这个特有的posh 也有可能是另一个词。 然而这个词及上文提到的那些词比"Port Out,Starboard Home"更有可能是posh 这个词的词源, 虽然后者早被人们确认为这个词的词源 |
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