单词 | 如何 |
释义 | 〔tellurion〕An apparatus that shows how the movement of Earth on its axis and around the sun causes day and night and the seasons.地球仪:显示地球如何绕它的轴转动并围绕太阳运动而产生白天、黑夜和季节的仪器〔black〕Use of the capitalized form has the advantage of acknowledging the parallel with other ethnic groups and nationalities,such asItalian and Sioux. It can be argued thatblack is different from these other terms because it was derived from an adjective rather than from a proper name.However, a precedent exists for the capitalization of adjectives used to denote specific groups,as in theReds and the Whites (of the Russian Civil War) or the Greens (the European political party). The capitalization ofBlack does raise ancillary problems for the treatment of the term white. Orthographic evenhandedness would seem to require the use of the uppercase formWhite, but this form might be taken to imply that whites constitute a single ethnic group,an issue that is certainly debatable.On the other hand, the use of the lowercase formwhite in the same context as the uppercase form Black will obviously raise questions as to how and why the writer has distinguished between the two groups.There is no entirely happy solution to this problem.In all likelihood, uncertainty as to the mode of styling ofwhite has dissuaded many publications from adopting the capitalized form Black. See Usage Note at color 大写字母的好处在于对于其他种族和民族平等关系的承认,如意大利人 和 苏人。 有人可以争辩说black 与其他词不同, 因为他是由一个形容词而不是专有名词派生而成的。但是,大写形容词意指一组人已有前例,如Reds 和 Whites (俄国内战中)或 Greens (欧洲政党)。 大写的Black 确实引起了该如何对待 White 一词的有关问题。 正字法的公正要求使用White 的大写形式White, 但这种形式可能被认为暗示白人组成了单独的种族,这是会引起争论的问题。另一方面,在有black 大写形式White出现的相同语境中使用 White 的小写形式white, 显然会引起如何及为什么作者要对这两组人区别对待的问题。这一问题尚无令人满意的解决办法。White 书写方式的不确定性很可能已经使许多出版物不再采用大写形式的 Black 参见 color〔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〔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〔Adler〕American philosopher and educator whose numerous published works includeHow to Read a Book (1940) and The Conditions of Philosophy (1965). 阿德勒,莫蒂默·杰罗姆:(生于 1902) 美国哲学家及教育家,其大量已出版的作品包括《如何阅读一本书》 (1940年)以及 《哲学的条件》 (1965年) 〔deploy〕"Samuel Beckett's friends suspected that he was a genius, yet no one knew . . . how his abilities would be deployed"(Richard Ellmann)“萨缪尔贝克特的朋友认为他是个天才,但是没有人知道…他的能力是如何施展的”(理查德·埃尔曼)〔breathe〕an artist who knows how to breathe life into a portrait.懂得如何把生命注入画像中的艺术家〔however〕To whatever degree or extent:任何都:无论程度、广度如何:〔problem〕math problems; the problem of how to hem a skirt evenly.数学问题;关于如何给裙子镶平整的边的问题〔deconstruction〕A philosophical movement and theory of literary criticism that questions traditional assumptions about certainty, identity, and truth, asserts that words can only refer to other words, and attempts to demonstrate how statements about any text subvert their own meanings:解构,拆析:哲学运动和文学评论理论对传统的关于事实、象征和真理的设想提出疑问,断言词组只能指代其它词组,并试图表明文本的表述是如何推翻它本身的意义的:〔spiel〕"I made my spiel about how I could add to this company"(Carl Icahn)“我对自己将如何为这个公司作贡献作了冗长的论述”(卡尔·伊卡恩)〔appreciate〕"As students so far from home, we have learned to appreciate those of life's pleasures that are not readily available at home" (Sports Illustrated). “作为远离家乡的学子,我们已懂得如何欣赏那些在国内难以获得的生活中的乐趣” (运动图解)。〔bear〕"Man performs, engenders, so much more than he can or should have to bear. That's how he finds that he can bear anything" (William Faulkner). “人类所做的和引起的事情远远比他能够或必须承受的要多得多。那就是他如何发现了他能够忍受一切” (威廉·福克纳)。〔brunette〕Brunette was for a long time used to denote a woman having a dark complexion; now it is used chiefly in reference to hair color.The general practice is to use the formbrunette to refer only to women, withbrunet as a less frequently used variant that can be applied as well to men and mixed groups. The distinction, like the one betweenblonde and blond, has been regarded as carrying sexist implications.In this case, however, it is difficult to see how the problem can be easily resolved.It is unlikely thatbrunette could be pressed into service as a neutral term, since the suffix-ette is too closely associated with marked feminine gender. Brunet is theoretically available for both sexes but is rarely applied to men, whose corresponding coloration is typically described simply as "brown.”It would, of course, be possible to usebrown for the hair color of both sexes, if only that word could be redeemed from the associations of drabnessthat led to the adoption of the substitutebrunette in the first place. See Usage Note at blond ,-ette Brunette 过去很长一段时间用来指肤色黝黑的女人; 现今多用于指头发的颜色。通常brunette 只指女人, 而不如其常用的变体brunet 可用于指男人和男女都有的群体。 两词的区别正如blonde 和 blond 的区别, 被看成带有性别的含意。即使如此也很难看出如何轻易地解决两词之间区别的这一难题。brunette 不可能被看成一个中性词, 因为后缀-ette 与女性紧密联系。 Brunet 从道理上来说适用于男人和女人,但很少用于指男人。 男人相应的肤色仅用brown表述即可。当然,brown 也可适用于指男女两性的头发颜色, 只要此词不再与卖淫联系在一起。正是由于这一联系brunette 才首先被用作替代词 参见 blond,-ette〔Beauvoir〕French writer, existentialist, and feminist whose works includeThe Second Sex (1949) and The Coming of Age (1970), a study of how different cultures view old age. 博瓦尔,西蒙尼·德:(1908-1986) 法国作家、存在主义者和女权主义者,其作品有《第二性》 (1949年)和对不同文化如何看待年老的研究 《老年的到来》 (1970年) 〔show〕showed that the hypothesis was wrong; a film that showed how to tune a piano.证实假设是错误的;示范如何给钢琴定音的影片〔Alger〕American writer of inspirational adventure books, such asRagged Dick (1867), featuring impoverished boys who through hard work and virtue achieve great wealth and respect. 阿尔杰,霍拉萧:(1832-1899) 美国作家,其作品为鼓舞人心的历险小说,如《衣衫褴褛的狄克》 (1867),描述了贫穷的孩子如何因为努力工作和正直善良而获得巨大财富和人们的尊敬 〔syntax〕The study of the rules whereby words or other elements of sentence structure are combined to form grammatical sentences.语法,句法:研究词或其它句了成分如何联合起来形成合乎语法的句子规则的学科〔sloppy〕"I do not see how the sloppiest reasoner can evade that" (H.G. Wells).“我不明白最散漫的推理者如何逃避这一点” (H·G·威尔斯)。〔copacetic〕We know very little about the origin of the wordcopacetic, meaning "excellent, first-rate.” Is its origin to be found in Italian, in the speech of southern Black people, in the Creole French dialect of Louisiana, or in Hebrew?John O'Hara, who used the word inAppointment in Samarra, later wrote thatcopacetic was "a Harlem and gangster corruption of an Italian word.” O'Hara went on to say, "I don't know how to spell the Italian,but it's something like copacetti.” His uncertainty about how to spell the Italian is paralleled by uncertainty about how to spellcopacetic itself. Copacetic has been recorded with the spellings copasetic, copasetty, copesetic, copisettic, and kopasettee. The spelling is now more or less fixed, however, ascopacetic or copasetic, even though the origin of the word has not been determined.The Harlem connection mentioned by O'Hara would seem more likely than the Italian,sincecopacetic was used by Black jazz musicians and is said to have been Southern slang in the late 19th century. Ifcopacetic is Creole French in origin, it would also have a Southern homeland.According to this explanation,copacetic came from the Creole French word coupersètique, which meant "able to be coped with,” "able to cope with anything and everything,” "in good form,”and also "having a healthy appetite or passion for life or love.”Those who support the Hebrew or Yiddish origin ofcopacetic do not necessarily deny the Southern connections of the word. One explanation has it that Jewish storekeepers used the Hebrew phrasekol bĕṣedeq, "all with justice,”when asked if things were O.K. Black children who were in the store as customers or employees heard this phrase ascopacetic. No explanation of the origin ofcopacetic, including the ones discussed here, has won the approval of scholars, as is clearly shown by the etymology ofcopacetic in the first volume of the Dictionary of American Regional English, published in 1985: "Etym unknown.” 我们对copacetic 这个词的词源所知甚少,其意为“极好的、一流的”。 它是起源于意大利语、南方黑人口语、路易斯安那州的克里奥耳人的法语方言还是希伯来语?约翰·奥哈拉在撒马拉的约会 中用到这个词, 他后来写到copacetic 是“变成哈莱姆黑人居住区和强盗土语的意大利词”。 奥哈拉还说,“我不知道原来的意大利词是如何拼写的,但是有点象copacetti"。与他不敢肯定如何拼写这个意大利词一样,他对copacetic 一词本身的拼法也不敢肯定。 Copacetic 曾经被拼写成 copasetic, copasetty, copesetic, copisettic 以及 kopasettee。 现在它的拼法多少已经固定成copacetic 或 copasetic, 尽管这个词的词源仍未被确定。奥哈拉所提及的它与哈莱姆黑人居住区的关系看上去比它和意大利语的关系更有可能,因为黑人爵士歌手曾用过copacetic 这个词,并且据说在19世纪晚期它曾是南方的俚语。 如果copacetic 在词源上是克里奥耳人的法语, 那么它也是从南方来的。根据这一解释,copacetic 来自克里奥耳人法语中 coupersetique 一词, 表示“有能力与人竞争的”、“有能力处理任何事情及一切事情的”、“以好的方式的”,还表示“对生活或爱情有正常的欲望或激情的”。那些认为copacetic 来自希伯来语或意第绪语的人并不一定否认这个词与南方的关系。 一种解释认为,犹太店主们在被询问是否一切都好时用了希伯来语中的短语kol bĕṣedeq 即“一切太平”之意, 在店里作工或买东西的黑人儿童将这个短语听成了copacetic。 在关于copacetic 词源的解释中,包括以上讨论的这些,没有一种得到学者们的认可, 这一点我们可以在美国方言英语辞典 (1985年出版)第一册关于 copacetic 一词的词源解释中清楚地看到:“词源不知” 〔conundrum〕"the conundrum, thus far unanswered, of achieving full employment without inflation"(Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.)“如何既不引起通货膨胀又能实现全民就业这个尚未解决的难题”(小阿瑟M.施莱辛格)〔Carnegie〕American educator known for his self-improvement bookHow to Win Friends and Influence People (1936). 卡内基,戴尔:(1888-1955) 美国教育家,因著有一本自我修养的书《如何赢得朋友及影响人民》 (1936年)而闻名 〔cute〕Cute is a good example of how a shortened form of a word can take on a life of its own, developing a sense that dissociates it from the longer word from which it was derived.Cute was originally a shortened form of acute in the sense "keenly perceptive or discerning, shrewd.” In this sensecute is first recorded in a dictionary published in 1731. Probablycute came to be used as a term of approbation for things demonstrating acuteness, and so it went on to develop its own sense of "attractive, fetching,”first recorded with reference to "gals" in 1838.Cute 一词是词的缩略形式如何能获得自身意义的一个很好例子, 它发展了一种使其从可以推源的长词中脱离出来的意思。Cute 原先是 acute 一词的缩略形式,意为“洞察力或识别力极其敏锐的”。 在这个意义上,cute 最早被记录于1731年出版的一本词典中。 Cute 可能逐渐被用作描述显示敏锐性事物的褒义词, 由此它继续发展了自身的意思“漂亮的、迷人的”,该意思于1838年被首次记载在有关“加仑”的记录中〔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 〔uninstructed〕Not provided with directives on how to vote or proceed:未得指示的:对如何选举或进行没有提供指导的:〔turbocharge〕"How to use tax breaks to turbocharge investment returns"(Kathy Kristof)“如何利用税务减免增加投资回报”(凯斯·克里斯托弗)〔utilize〕A number of critics have remarked thatutilize is an unnecessary substitute for use. It is true that many occurrences ofutilize could be replaced by use with no loss to anything but pretentiousness, for example, in sentences such asBarbara utilized (prefer used ) questionable methods in her analysis or We hope that many commuters will continue to utilize (prefer use ) mass transit after the bridge has reopened. Bututilize can mean "to find a profitable or practical use for.” Thus the sentenceThe teachers were unable to use the new computers might mean only that the teachers were unable to turn the computers on, whereasThe teachers were unable to utilize the new computers suggests that the teachers could not find ways to employ the computers in instruction. 一些批评家认为utilize 只是 use 的一个不必要的替换词。 在许多情况下utilize 可以被 use 替代,除了矫饰的风格被去掉之外意思上没有任何减损, 例如:Barbara utilized ( used 更可取) questionable methods in her analysis(芭芭拉在她的分析中用了一些有争议的方法) 或者 We hope that many commuters will continue to utilize ( use 更可取) mass transit after the bridge has reopened(我们希望许多乘公共汽车上下班者在桥重新开通之后仍旧使用公共交通)。 但是utilize 可指“为…找到一种有益的或实用的用途”。 因而下面这句话The teachers were unable to use the new computers(老师们不会使用新电脑) ,有可能指只有这些老师不会打开计算机, 而The teachers were unable to utilize the new computers(老师不会运用新计算机) 暗示了那些老师在指导时不知道如何利用电脑 〔state〕What is the current status of the arms-reduction negotiations? 削减武器的谈判最近形势如何? 〔rambunctious〕The origins oframbunctious are not clearly established, a situation that may be better understood after looking at the evidence.The development that is generally accepted is from the wordrobustious, derived fromrobust and first recorded in a work written before 1548, torumbustious, first recorded in 1778, to rambunctious, first recorded in 1830, all three words having more or less the same meaning.But how didrobustious lead to rumbustious ? It has been suggested that the wordrumble played a part in this, although the wordrumbustion, meaning "the alcoholic beverage rum,” might also have been involved. The first form in whichrambunctious is recorded is rumbunctious, showing howrumbustious was involved in the alteration of robustious to rambunctious, but how the sound indicated bys became that indicated by nc or why the first u became a is a mystery. Rambunctious 的词源并没有十分清楚地确定, 看一下证据就能更好地理解这一点。通常认为它的发展过程是源于robustious 这个词, 它来自robust 并最早记载于1548年以前的一篇作品中, 至于rumbustious 则首次见载于1778年, rumbunctious 的最早的文字记载是在1830年, 这三个词的意思大致相同。但是robustious 怎样演变到 rumbustious 的呢? 有人认为,rumble 这个词起了一定的作用, 尽管rumbustion 意为“含酒精饮料甜酒,”但可能也参与了其演变。 Rambunctious 有记载的最早形式是 rumbunctious , 这表明了rumbustious 这个词如何参与了从 robustious 到 rambunctious 的演变, 但s 所代表的声音是如何变成 nc 所代表的声音的或为什么第一个 u 变成了 a 仍然还是谜 〔Odyssey〕The younger of the two surviving ancient Greek epic poems, traditionally ascribed to Homer but containing much orally transmitted material composed over several centuries, and concerning the adventures and ordeals of the Greek warrior Odysseus after the fall of Troy as he struggles to return home and reestablish himself as king of Ithaca.奥德赛:古希腊两本仅存史诗中较新的一部,始于荷马记述但也合并了历代口耳相传的故事内容,描写希腊战士奥德赛在特洛伊城陷后如何挣扎奋斗以返回家园并夺回伊萨基王位所经历的冒险与考验〔scarce〕The phrasescarce excerpt, if it ever should occur to one, is an excellent example of how two intimately related words can diverge from one another in form while passing from one language to another over the centuries.Both words can be traced back to the Latin wordexcerpo (past participle stem excerpt- ), meaning "to pick out,” "to pick out mentally,” and "to select a passage for quotation.”This is clearly the ultimate source of our nounexcerpt (first recorded before 1638) and verb (first recorded around 1536), a past participle usage already being recorded in the 15th century. A more tangled path leads to our wordscarce. It is assumed that side by side with Latinexcerpere existed the Vulgar Latin form .excarpere. .Excarpsus, an adjective formed with the past participle of .excarpere in Vulgar Latin, meant "narrow, cramped,” and from this Vulgar Latin form came the Old French wordéchars, "insufficient, cramped,” and "stingy.” The Old French word, which existed in a variety of forms in Old French,includingscars and the chiefly Old North French form escarse, was borrowed into Middle English asscarse, being first recorded in a manuscript written around 1300.如果人们能够想到scarce excerpt 这个词语, 是一个说明两个关系密切的词语如何历经几个世纪,在一种语言转化到另一种语言的同时从一种形式转化到另一种形式的极佳例子。两个词可追溯到拉丁词excerpo (过去分词词根为 excerpt- ), 意为“选出”、“在思想上进行选择”和“为了引用而选择一个段落”。很清楚,名词excerpt (第一次记录于1638年前)和动词(首次记录于约1536年)及过去分词用法的最终词源,在15世纪时就已经被记录下来。 词语scarce 的变化更为复杂。 据猜测与拉丁文中excerpere 同时存在的有拉丁俗语形式 excarpere。 Excarpsus在拉丁俗语中是由 excarpere 的过去分词形成的,意为“狭窄的、受限制的”, 从这一拉丁俗语形式形成了古法语词echars ,意为“不足的、受限制的”及“吝啬的”。 这些在古法语中以多种形式存在的古法语词,包括scars 和北部古法语的主要形式 escarse , 被引入中世纪英语中成为scarse , 在1300年左右第一次被记载在一手稿本中〔begin〕Initiate applies to the act of taking the first steps in a process,without reference to what follows: Initiate 指在一过程中采取的第一步行动,而不考虑之后如何: 〔swing〕"He stood with wavering hands, unable for a moment to begin" (H.G. Wells).“他摆动着双手站在那里,一时间不知该如何开始” (H·G·威尔士)〔recipe〕A set of directions with a list of ingredients for making or preparing something, especially food.调制器:带有原料表的有关如何制做或准备某物,尤指食品的一系列指导〔tact〕 Tact implies fine discernment of what is appropriate and the ability to speak or act without giving offense: Tact 暗示对如何得体的细致入微的觉察和不冒犯地说话或行动的能力: 〔affect〕Affect 1 and effect have no senses in common. As a verb affect 1 is most commonly used in the sense of "to influence" (how smoking affects health). Affect 1 和 effect 没有共同之处。 作为动词affect 1 常用于表示“影响”(吸烟如何影响健康)。〔shy〕"I really don't know how to write a check,” she said, with a demure sidelong glance. “我真的不清楚如何填写支票”,她假装害羞地斜瞥了一眼说道 〔equation〕"The world was full of equations . . . there must be an answer for everything, if only you knew how to set forth the questions"(Anne Tyler)“世界充满了复杂的事物;假使你知道如何提出问题的话,那么也许事事就会有答案了”(安妮·泰勒)〔parameter〕"all the parameters of shelter—where people will live, what mode of housing they will choose, and how they will pay for it"(New York)“住宿的所有限制因素——人们住在哪里、他们将选择什么样的住房式样以及他们如何付房钱”(纽约)〔victory〕"If [a man] has a talent and learns somehow to use the whole of it, he has gloriously succeeded,and won a satisfaction and a triumph few men ever know" (Thomas Wolfe). “如果 具有才干并学会了如何充分利用它, 他已经大大的成功了,并获得了只有极少数人才知道的满意和成功” (托马斯·沃尔夫) |
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