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释义 〔footbag〕Any of the games in which such a bag is used.腿袋游戏:任一种须用到腿袋的游戏〔oyez〕Hearing the cry "Oyez, oyez, oyez,” in a courtroommay have puzzled more than one auditor,especially if pronounced "O yes.” (Many people have thought that in fact it is likeO yes. ) This cry serves to remind us that up until the 18th century,speaking English in a British court of law was not requiredand one could instead use Law French,a form of French that evolved after the Norman Conquest, when Anglo-Norman became the language of the official class in England.Oyez descends from the Anglo-Norman oyez, the plural imperative form ofoyer, "to hear"; thusoyez means "hear ye" and was used as a call for silence and attention. Although it would have been much heard in Medieval England,it is first recorded as an English word fairly late in the Middle English period,in a work composed around 1425.在审判室里听到"Oyez,oyez,oyez"的声音,被迷惑的不仅仅是一个听者,尤其是当它的发音为"O yes"时。(许多人本认为事实上它象Oyes。 ) 这叫声用来提醒我们一直用到18世纪,当时不要求在英国法庭上讲英语,且人们可用法国法律,这是在诺曼底征服之后,当盎格鲁-诺曼语言成为英格兰官方阶级语言时发展起来的一种法语形式。Oyez 源于盎格鲁-诺曼语言 oyez, 是oyer 的复数祈使动词,意思是“听”; oyez 并被用来作为要求安静和注意的号令。 虽然这个词在中世纪的英格兰听得较多,但它第一次作为英语单词被记录下来是在中古英语时期的后期 ,出现于1425年左右创作的一本作品上〔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” 〔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〔whatever〕She applied whatever strength she had left to the task.她将所有剩下的精力都用到这项任务上〔reasoning〕Evidence or arguments used in thinking or argumentation.理由:在思考辩论中用到的证据或论据〔able〕 It should be avoided when such an ascription is unwarranted, as with passive constructions involving forms of the verbbe; thus it is inconsistent to sayThe problem was able to be solved through the method she had learned about in business school, since this sentence ascribes no capacity or ability to the problem itself.In such cases,can or could can usually be substituted: The problem could be solved . . . By contrast, passives withget ascribe a more active role to their subjects, and here theable to construction can be used: 当这种起因并非必要时,则被动态中用到动词be应避免使用这词组, 因此这问题可用她在商业学校中学到的方法来解决 的说法是矛盾的, 其原因是这个句子并未将某种能力归因于问题本身。在这种情况下,通常可使用can 或 could 来替代: 这问题可以被解决… 。相反,带get 的被动态表示一个更为能动的主语, 这样able to 结构就可以用为: 〔tintinnabulum〕We may have little occasion to use the wordtintinnabulum, "a small, tinkling bell,” but it nonetheless teaches us something important about the formation of words.The English word, first used in 1597,was adopted from Latin,in whichtintinnābulum, meaning "a bell,” was derived from the verbtintinnāre, "to make a sound such as a ringing or jangling.” Tintinnāre was in turn derived from tinnīre, "to ring or clang.” Tinnīre is formed by a process called onomatopeia, or the formation of words that imitate what they denote.In the case oftinnīre we can hear the resemblance betweentinn- and a jingle or a ring. The verbtintinnāre was created from tinnīre by a process known as reduplication, in this case meaning thattin- duplicates tinn-. Tintinn- does indeed suggest a jingling, ringing sound.And a tintinnabulum makes such a sound.我们可能很少有机会用到tintinnabulum “一个小的叮铛响的铃”这个词, 但它能够告诉我们一些关于词的构成的一些重要情况。首次使用这个英语词是在1597年,它来源于拉丁文。在拉丁文中,tintinnabulum 的意思是“钟”, 它是从动词tinnare (“发出鸣响或叮铛这样的声音”)衍生而来。 Tintinnare 是从 tinnire (“鸣响或发出铛铛声”)演化而来。 Tinnire 是通过所谓的拟声构词法形成, 也就是词语模仿其所指的东西的构词法。在tinnire 这一实例中, 我们可以听出tinn- 与叮铛或鸣响之间的类似。 动词tintinnare 通过叠词构词法由 tinnire 而来, 就是说tin- 与 tinn-重叠。 Tintinn 的确让人想起这种声音。小铃铛正是发出这样一种声音〔recitative〕A style used in operas, oratorios, and cantatas in which the text is declaimed in the rhythm of natural speech with slight melodic variation.宣叙调:歌剧、清唱剧和大合唱中用到的一种风格,其特点是台词是以有节奏地自然地叙说而出现的,其旋律变化很小〔pistole〕Any of several gold coins used in various European countries until the late 19th century.皮斯托尔:欧洲某些国家一直用到19世纪末的旧金币的名称〔reagent〕A substance used in a chemical reaction to detect, measure, examine, or produce other substances.试剂:在化学反应中用到的一种物质,其作用是探测、测量、检查或产生其它物质〔pass〕The spare tire was nearly bald but would pass until we bought a new one.备用胎几乎磨光了,但还可凑和着用到我们买一个新的为止〔unique〕Over the course of the centuryunique has become the paradigmatic example of the class of terms that do not allow comparison or modification by an adverb of degree such as very, somewhat, or quite. Thus, most grammarians believe that it is incorrect to say that something isvery unique or more unique than something else, though phrases such asnearly unique and almost unique are acceptable. In the most recent survey the sentenceHer designs are quite unique in today's fashion scene was unacceptable to 80 percent of the Usage Panel. · Critical objections to the comparison and degree modification of absolute terms date to the 18th centuryand have been applied to a wide group of adjectives includingequal, fatal, omnipotent, parallel, perfect, and unanimous. According to the standard argument, such words denote properties that a thing either does or does not have but cannot have to a qualifiable degree.Thus ifunique is properly used to mean "without equal or equivalent,” something either is unique or it isn't, and phrases such asvery unique and more unique can only betray a weakening of the sense to mean something like "unusual" or "distinctive.” It is true that comparison and modification ofunique are often associated with the style favored by copywriters, as in the advertisement announcing thatOmaha's most unique restaurant is now even more unique or in the claim that a new automobile is So unique, it's patented. But modification ofunique is also found in the work of reputable writers, where it may lack any connotations of hyperbole.A painting is described asthe most unique of Beckman's self-portraits, and a travel writer states thatChicago is no less unique an American city than New York or San Francisco. The relative acceptability of these usages reflects the semantic subtlety ofunique itself. If we were to useunique only according to the strictest criteria of logic, after all, we might freely apply the term to anything in the worldsince nothing is wholly equivalent to anything else.Clearly, then, when we say that a restaurant or painting is unique,we mean that it is worthy of inclusion in a class by itself according to certain implicit but generally accepted criteria.Thus a legitimately unique painting might be one that realizes an unparalleled aesthetic vision,but not one that is rendered only in pigments whose names begin with the lettero; and a legitimately unique restaurant might be one that serves 18th-century French cuisine according to the original recipes,not one that has been installed in a converted sardine cannery.Given this understanding, it is not inherently impossible to think of uniqueness as a matter of degree,in the sense that one painting or restaurant may be more or less worthy of inclusion in a class by itself than some other. ·What is troubling about the copywriters' use ofunique is not that the word has become a synonym for unusual. Rather, it is the copywriters who are using the word in conformity with strict logic.Uniqueness is claimed for a restaurant in virtue of some trivial properties of its decor or menu,or for a resort hotel that simply happens to have a singularly picturesque view of the bay.Though it may be true that such properties render these thingslogically unique, they do not constitute legitimate grounds for putting the things into a class by themselves according to the criteria ordinarily invoked when things are sorted into classes.In fact, the abuse ofunique can be cloying even when no modification or comparison is involved; when we read an advertisement for a line of sportswear that featuresa unique selection of colors, we may suspect that the distinctive properties of the color selection are not so remarkable as the advertiser would have us believe. But it is not surprising that these uses ofunique should lend themselves to promiscuous modification and comparison; for once it is granted that uniqueness can be claimed for any product or service that is somehow distinctive from all its competitors,it is inevitable that an increase in uniqueness will be seen in every minor innovation.See Usage Note at equal ,infinite ,parallel ,perfect 在本世纪整个过程中unique 已成为不能由程度副词,例 very、somewhat 或 quite, 比较或修饰的一类术语的例证。 因此,多数语法学家认为说某事是very unique 或 more unique than 是不正确的, 虽然短语例如nearly unique 和 almost unique 是可接受的。 在最近的调查中,句子Her designs are quite unique in today's fashion scene (她的设计在现今流行样式的场面中是很独特的) 对用法专题使用小组的百分之八十成员是不可接受的。 对纯粹术语的比较和程度修饰的主要异议可追述到18世纪,并已广泛用到许多形容词中,包括equal, fatal, omnipotent, parallel, perfect 和 unanimous。 根据标准论据,这些单词表示一事有或没有但不能有可修饰的程度的性质。于是如果unique 适当地用于表示“没有相等或相当的”,则某事是唯一的或不是唯一的, 而短语像very unique 和 more unique 仅能表露出说明某事像“不寻常的”或“独特的”的意义的减弱。 的确,unique 的比较和修饰常与撰稿人喜欢的文体相联系, 如在广告中称Omaha's most unique restaurant is now even more unique(奥马哈城的最独特的餐馆现在甚至是更加独特) 或声称新汽车是 So unique, it's patented(如此独特,它取得了专利权)。 但是unique 的修饰也在著名作家的作品中发现, 那里可能缺乏夸张法的任何涵义。描述一张油画为the most unique of Beckman's self-portraits(最独特的贝克曼的自画像), 一位旅游作家叙述Chicago is no less unique an American city than New York or San Francisco(芝加哥比纽约或旧金山是不逊独特的美国城市)。 这些用法的相对可接受性反映unique 自身语义的巧妙。 如果我们仅按照逻辑的严格标准使用unique , 则我们终于会自由地把此术语使用于世界上的任何事,因为没有完全等同于另一事的事。于是,显然当我们说餐馆或油画是独特的时,我们意味着根据某种隐含的但可普遍接受的判据它是值得包含在一个等级内的。于是合理独特的油画可能是实现空前未有的审美型的,而不是仅给予名字以字母O开始的颜料; 合理独特的餐馆可能根据原来的食谱提供18世纪法国菜肴的餐馆,而不是配备转换的沙丁鱼罐头食品的餐馆。按这样了解,将独特性视为程度问题不是本来就不可能的,在这个意义上一张油画或一个餐馆或多或少可能是极好的有价值的内涵物而不是其他。关于撰稿人使用unique 的困惑不是此单词已成为 unusual 的同义词。 相反地,正是撰稿人使用此单词与严密的逻辑相一致。对餐馆声称独特性是由于它的布置或菜单的某些不重要的性质,或者对于人们常去的旅馆仅因为有海湾的独一无二地别致的景象。虽然这样的性质使得这些事logically 独特的可能是真实的, 但是当事情进行了分类,根据平常实行的判据把这些事情自身放到一类,他们不组成正常的基础。事实上unique 的滥用会使人发腻,即使在没有涉及修饰或比较的时候; 当我们读运动服装的unique selection of colors(颜色的独特选择) 的一行广告时, 我们会怀疑颜色选择的独特性质并非广告商希望我们所认为的那么明显。但不必惊讶于unique 的这些用法应当适用于杂乱的修饰和比较; 就这一次可以承认,独特性能用来指任何产品或服务,它们与所有的竞争者相比较有某种程度的特色,在每一小的创新中可以看到独特性的增加是必然会发生的 参见 equal,infinite,parallel,perfect〔bibliography〕A list of writings used or considered by an author in preparing a particular work.作者参考书目:某一作者在准备某一著作时用到或参考的作品目录〔parallel〕In its mathematical usageparallel is an absolute term— two lines either do or do not intersect—and as such does not admit of qualification as to degree.Some grammarians have arguedthat this restriction should apply as well to nontechnical uses of the word.According to this logic,one may not sayThe two roads have been made more parallel, except perhaps as a loose way of saying what is rendered more precisely by expressions such asmore nearly parallel. Like the analogous objection that has been made to the comparison ofequal, the point betrays a misconception about the relation between mathematical concepts and their ordinary-language equivalents.Applied to objects in the world,parallel can only denote a rough approximation to a geometric ideal. A pair of rails or parked cars cannot be truly parallel in the mathematician's sense of the termbut only more or less so,just as a road or shelf cannot be truly straight in the geometric sensebut nonetheless may be described as very straight or relatively straight.The grammarians' compunctions make even less sense when applied to metaphorical uses ofparallel, as inThe difficulties faced by the Republicans are quite parallel to those that confronted the Democrats four years ago, in which the intended meaning has nothing to do with the possibility of intersectionbut instead suggests the structural correspondence of two distinct situations.In this sense, parallelism is clearly a matter of degreeand the wordparallel can be modified accordingly. See Usage Note at equal ,perfect ,unique 在数学用法中,parallel 是一个绝对的表达法—— 两条线要么相交,要么就不相交——它既没有限定性也没有程度差别。一些语法学家曾提出,这种限制也应该适用于该词在非科技方面的用法,按照这种逻辑,人们不能说这两条路已被修得更加平行了, 除非作为用例如更接近于平行 这样的表达方法更精确地表示的东西的不够精确的说出方法。 象对equal 的比较所做的类似反对一样, 这个观点使数学概念与普通用语中等价词之间的关系引起误解。当运用到世间的实物时,parellel 仅能指与几何理想状态大致接近的状况。 一对铁轨或停放的车辆不可能按数学家对于这个术语的理解来真正地相互并行,而不过是大致平行而已,正如公路和架子不可能是真正几何意义上的笔直,但仍可被描绘成很直的或相对而言的笔直。在用到parallel 的比喻用法时,语法学家的不安就更显得意义不大了, 例如:共和党人所面临的重重困难与四年前民主党人遇到的困难十分相似, 在这句话中,该词的引申意义与相交的可能性毫无关系,然而它暗指了两种不同情况结构上的一致。在此意义上,相似性明显是程度的问题,相应地,parallel 一词也能被其它词限定修饰了。 参见 equal,perfect,unique
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