| 单词 | 那么 |
| 释义 | 〔ugly〕Don't be ugly to your grandparents.不要对你的祖父祖母那么粗鲁〔ugly〕The standard sense of the adjectiveugly becomes figurative in the common expression an ugly temper. Regional American speech shares this figurative sense and makes it even more specific.In New Englandugly as applied to animals, especially large farm animals such as cows and horses, means "balky, hard to manage.”In the South, on the other hand,ugly with the specific sense of "rude" is used of persons: Don't be ugly, son. Interestingly, the wordclever (senses 4 through 6) follows the same regional pattern as ugly : in New England the specialized senses refer to animals; in the South, to persons.形容词ugly 的标准的意思在的表达 坏脾气 中变得借喻性了。 美国的地区性语言中都有这种比喻性意义并且使它更加具体化。在新英格兰ugly 被用于动物， 尤其是大型的家畜，如奶牛和马，其意思是“不好，很难控制”。在南部，另一方面，ugly 被用于人的具体意思为“粗鲁的”： 孩子，不要那么粗鲁。 有意思的是，单词clever （释义4到6）有着和 ugly 一样地方性形式： 在新英格兰，特指的意思用于动物；在南方用于人〔convince〕 If the distinction is accepted, thenconvince should not be used with an infinitive: 如果这一区别被接受的话，那么convince 就不应和不定式连用： 〔foolish〕It would be absurd for us both to drive, since we're headed for the same destination.既然我们要去的是同一个地方，那么我们俩人都开车是荒谬的。〔such〕such beautiful flowers; such a funny character.如此美丽的花朵；那么滑稽的性格〔Boolean〕Of or relating to a logical combinatorial system treating variables, such as propositions and computer logic elements, through the operators AND, OR, NOT, IF, THEN, and EXCEPT:布尔逻辑的：通过和，或，非，如果，那么和除非等运算符号处理命题和计算机逻辑要素等变元的逻辑组合体系的，或与其有关的：〔milquetoast〕An indication of the effect on the English language of popular culture such as that found in comic strips is the adoption of names from the strips as English words.Casper Milquetoast, created by Harold Webster in 1924, was a timid and retiring man,whose name was, of course, created from the name of a timid food.The first instance ofmilquetoast as a common noun is found in the mid-1930's. Milquetoast thus joins the ranks of other such words, includingsad sack, from a blundering army private invented by George Baker in 1942,andWimpy, from J. Wellington Wimpy in the Popeye comic strip, which became a trade name for a hamburger.If we look to the related world of the animated cartoon,we must of course acknowledgeMickey Mouse, which has become a slang term for something that is easy, insignificant, small-time, worthless, or petty. 如果我们要在戏剧漫画中找到流行文化对英语语言的影响，那么漫画中的人物的名字被接受为英语单词可以算是例证了，1924年赫拉德·韦伯斯特所创造的卡斯珀·米尔克吐斯特是一个胆小如鼠的人，他的名字当然是从一种非常柔软的食品而得来。Milquetoast 作为一个普通名词的第一例子于20世纪30年代中期被发现。 这样milquetoast 就加入了一类词， 这类词包括sad sack ， 一个由乔治·贝克于1942年发明指代愚蠢的陆军士兵的词汇，和Wimpy ，一个从滑稽漫画 突眼 中的丁·惠灵顿·温皮而得来的词， 它现在已成为汉堡包的商标。如果我们再看看相关的动画世界，我们当然得承认米奇老鼠 现在已成为指代容易的、不重要的、没有价值的或琐碎的东西的一个俚语词 〔mesmerism〕When the members of an audience sit mesmerized by a speaker,their reactions do not take the form of dancing, sleeping, or falling into convulsions.But if Franz Anton Mesmer were addressing the audience,such behavior could be expected.Mesmer, a visionary 18th-century physician,believed cures could be effected by having patients do thingssuch as sit with their feet in a fountain of magnetized waterwhile holding cables attached to magnetized trees.Mesmer then came to believe that magnetic powers resided in himself,and during highly fashionable curative sessions in Parishe caused his patients to have reactions ranging from sleeping or dancing to convulsions.These reactions were actually brought about by hypnotic powers that Mesmer was unaware he possessed.One of his pupils, named Puységur, then used the termmesmerism (first recorded in English in 1802) for Mesmer's practices. The related wordmesmerize (first recorded in English in 1829), having shed its reference to the hypnotic doctor, lives on in the sense "to enthrall.”当一群观众被一位演讲者深深吸引时，他们的反应方式不会是舞蹈、睡眠或哄堂大笑。但是如果换了弗兰茨·奥顿·梅斯梅尔来给这群听众作演讲的话，那么这些行为是有可能发生的。梅斯梅尔，这位18世纪眼光远大的医师，认为可以通过诸如以下方法来治疗疾病，即让病人把脚放在有磁性的水中，同时手执与磁力场相连接的电线。此后，梅斯梅尔又认为他自己体内就存在着磁力，并且他在巴黎推行他的治疗方法的过程中，他又使他的病人们作出了睡眠、舞蹈直至抽搐等各种反应。这些反应实际上是他所拥有的催眠力导致的，但他自己却不知道自己拥有这样的力量。后来，梅斯梅尔的一个叫做皮勒塞格尔的学生采用了mesmerism （在英语中始见于1802年）这一字眼来给梅斯梅尔的治疗方法命名。 另一相关词汇mesmerize （在英语中始见于1829年）则摒弃了与这位催眠医师的关系， 现在这个词意是“迷惑住”〔different〕As a result, a simple noun phrase followingdifferent than is often construed as elliptical for a clause, which allows for a subtle distinction in meaning between the two constructions. 那么，接在different than 后的简单名词可以解释为是完整句子的省略。 两种结构在意思上有些细微的差别。 〔so〕Apparently; well, then. Used in expressing astonishment, disapproval, or sarcasm:似乎，那么：明显地；那么。用来表示惊讶、不同意或者嘲讽：〔object〕Her parents expostulated with her on the foolhardiness of her behavior. See also Synonyms at intention 她的父亲劝告她行为举止不要那么鲁莽 参见同义词 intention〔hooker〕In hisPersonal Memoirs Ulysses S. Grant described Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker as "a dangerous man . . . not subordinate to his superiors.” Hooker had his faults, of course.He may indeed have been insubordinate;undoubtedly he was an erratic leader.But there is one thing of which he is often accused that "Fighting Joe" Hooker certainly did not do:he did not give his name to prostitutes.According to a popular story,the men under Hooker's command during the Civil War were a particularly wild bunch.When his troops were on leave,we are told, they spent much of their time in brothels.For this reason, as the story goes,prostitutes came to be known ashookers. It is not difficult to understand how such a theory might have originated.The major general's name differs from the wordhooker only in the capital letter that begins it. And it is true that Hooker's men were at times ill-disciplined (although it seems that liquor, not women, was the main source of their difficulties with the provost marshal).However attractive this theory may be,it cannot be true.The wordhooker, with the sense "prostitute,” is in fact older than the Civil War. It appeared in the second edition (although not in the first) of John Russell Bartlett'sDictionary of Americanisms, published in 1859.Bartlett definedhooker as "a strumpet, a sailor's trull.” He also said that the word was derived from Corlear's Hook,a district in New York City,but this was only a guess.There is no evidence that the term originated in New York.Norman Ellsworth Eliason has traced this use ofhooker back to 1845 in North Carolina. He reported the usage inTarheel Talk; an Historical Study of the English Language in North Carolina to 1860, published in 1956. The fact that we have no earlier written evidence does not mean thathooker was never used to mean "prostitute" before 1845. The history ofhooker is, quite simply, murky; we do not know when or where it was first used,but we can be very certain that it did not begin with Joseph Hooker.Also, we have no firm evidence that it came from Corlear's Hook.Scholarly evidence or lack thereof notwithstanding,the late Bruce Catton, the Civil War historian, did not go so far as to exonerate completely the Union general.Although "the term ‘hooker’ did not originate during the Civil War,”wrote Catton, "it certainly became popular then.During these war years, Washington developed a large [red-light district] somewhere south of Constitution Avenue.This became known as Hooker's Division in tribute to the proclivities of General Joseph Hookerand the name has stuck ever since.”If the termhooker was derived neither from Joseph Hooker nor from Corlear's Hook, what is its derivation?It is most likely that thishooker is, etymologically, simply "one who hooks.” The term portrays a prostitute as a person who hooks, or snares, clients.尤利西斯·S·格兰特在他的个人回忆录 中把陆军少将约瑟夫·胡克描写成“一个危险人物…从不服从于他的顶头上司”。 胡克当然有他的缺点。他也许曾是一个难以屈服的人；但他无疑是一个怪癖的军官。但是“好战的乔”，胡克却因为一件他肯定没有干过的事情而屡遭指责；他从不对妓女透露他的姓名。根据一个流行故事，内战中胡克的手下有一伙特别狂野的人们。当他的队伍即将离开时，据说他们总在妓院里消磨时日。故事还说正因为如此，妓女开始被叫做hookers。 我们不难理解这样一个故事的起源的推测。这个将军的名字和hooker 只差开头的一个大写字母。 而且胡克的手下在当时确实纪律涣散（尽管看来是酒而非女人才导致了他们与宪兵司令之间的矛盾）。不管这个故事多么诱人，它不可能是真实的。事实上hooker 一词作为“妓女”的意思比内战的历史还要早。 它出现于约翰·罗素·巴特利特编纂的美国俗语词典 的第二版（尽管第一版中没有）， 出版于1859年。巴特利特把hooker 定义为“一个妓女，水手的妓女”。 他还说这个词来源于科利尔的胡克，纽约市的一个地区，但这只是一个猜想。没有证据证明这一说法源于纽约。诺曼·爱尔斯华斯·艾利森把hooker 的用法追溯到1845年的北卡罗来纳州。 他在1956年出版的北卡罗来纳州闲话； 1860年前北卡罗来纳英语历史研究 中说明了这一用法。 缺乏早期书面证据这一事实并不意味着在1845年之前hooker 没有被用作“妓女”一义。 很简单，hooker 的历史隐晦难知； 我们不知道它在何时何地被首次使用，但我们可以肯定它并不始于约瑟夫·胡克。而且我们没有确凿证据证明它来源于科利尔的胡克。不管有无学术性的证据，已故的内战历史学家布鲁斯·卡通并没有做到为联邦将军彻底开脱的地步。尽管“‘hooker’这一词语并不是来源于内战，”卡通写道，“在那之后它肯定流行了起来。在战争年代，华盛顿在宪法大街南部某个地方发展了很大的［红灯区］。人们把这里称作胡克的辖区，作为对约瑟夫·胡克将军怪癖的献礼，这个名字从此便生根发芽”。如果hooker 这一词语既不是源于约瑟夫·胡克也不来自于科利尔的胡克， 那么它的词源究竟是什么呢?从词源学上来说hooker 很有可能仅仅是“引…上钩的人”。 这一词语把妓女描绘成一个勾引或引诱客人的人〔all〕To the degree expected.那么，如此：达到所期望的程度地〔costly〕"Although human life is priceless,we always act as if something had an even greater price than life. . . . But what is that something?” (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry). “尽管人的生命是珍贵的，但我们做事时却好象总有什么东西比生命更重要…那么这个东西是什么呢？” （安东尼·德·圣爱克修佩瑞）〔triggerman〕"Where is the moral justification . . . in offering the platoon survivors—the actual triggermen—immunity?”(Nelson DeMille)“给予这个排的幸存者——真正的枪手们豁免，那么公理何在?”(纳尔逊·德米耶)〔equilateralism〕A political theory holding that since the United States and the Soviet Union are equal in strength, Europe should distance itself equally, and as far as possible, from both.均衡主义：一种政治理论，认为既然美国和苏联力量一样强大，那么欧洲就应该离两者一样远，而且越远越好〔subject〕"Well, honor is the subject of my story" (Shakespeare).“那么好吧，荣誉是我的故事的主题 （莎士比亚）。〔minimal〕Under the strict interpretation ofminimal, this sentence should mean only "Alcohol has an unpleasant effect when I have eaten nothing.”If the looser interpretation is allowed, however,the sentence can also mean “ . . . when I have eaten a bit.”Presented with the sentence, 29 percent of the Usage Panel said that it could have only the "eaten nothing" (that is, the strict) interpretation;34 percent said that it could have only the "eaten a bit" (that is, the looser) interpretation;and 37 percent said that it could have either meaning.Thus the looser sense ofminimal is accepted by 71 percent of the Panel and must be considered acceptable in nontechnical use. · In an analogous shift,the verbminimize is often used to mean "to reduce,” an extension of its strict etymological sense of "to reduce to the smallest possible level.”This looser usage is the result of the imprecision that usually attaches to the use of the verb in most nontechnical contexts.When a manager announces thatThe company wants to minimize the risk of accidents to line workers, we naturally interpret the manager as meaning that the risk is to be reduced to the smallest level consistent with considerations of efficiency and cost,not that risks are to be reduced to the lowest level logically possible.Even when used with allowable imprecision, however, the verbminimize should carry some implication that the relevant quantity is reduced as much as could reasonably be expected in the circumstances.Thusminimize retains at least an approximately superlative sense and so is inconsistent with modification by adverbs such asgreatly or considerably, which imply that the verb is being used as a simple synonym forlessen or reduce. 若句中的minimal 的意思比较严格， 那么这一句就只能理解为“当我什么没吃时喝酒会搞得我很难受。”但是如果比较宽泛的词义得到承认，那么这一句同时也有“…当我吃过一点东西时”这层意思。百分之二十九的用法专题使用小组成员认为这一词只能当“什么都不吃”（即严格意义上的词义）来讲；百分之三十四的成员说它只有“吃过一点”（即宽泛一些的）词义；百分之三十七的成员说两种含义都可适用。所以minimal 宽泛的含义被用法专题使用小组的百分之七十一的成员接受。 与其相类似的是，动词minimize 经常被用来指“减少”， 是其“减少到最可能小的水平”的严格意义上的延伸。这一较宽泛的含义是非技术性文章使用这一动词的不精确性而带来的结果。当一个经理宣称公司试图将生产线上工人面临出事故的风险降至最低， 我们自然会认为经理的意思是工厂的事故风险将被降至一个同时又考虑效率和成本的最小程度，而不是逻辑上可以达到的最低程度。即使在可以允许不精确的程度内使用时，动词mininize 也应有一层隐含的意思， 即其相对数量已被减少到了情况所期望的合理的程度。这样，minimize 至少仍然保留着一种大致为最高级的意思， 因而它与这些副词如greatly 或 considerably 不能搭配使用， 因为这些副词暗示着这一动词被当成了lessen 或 reduce 简单同义词而使用 〔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” 〔so〕So you think you've got troubles?那么你感到你有麻烦了?〔mean〕The opinions of the critics meant nothing to him. She meant so much to me.对他来说，批评家们的意见没有任何意义。她对我来说那么重要〔then〕If traffic is heavy, then allow extra time.如果拥挤，那么允许超时〔medium〕The etymologically plural formmedia is often used as a singular to refer to a particular means of communication,as inThis is the most exciting new media since television. This usage is widely regarded as incorrect;medium is preferred. A stronger case can be made in defense of the use ofmedia as a collective term, as inThe media has not shown much interest in covering the issue. As with the analogous wordsdata and agenda, the originally plural form has begun to acquire a sense that departs from that of the singular: used as a collective term,media denotes an industry or community. Thus the example sentence given here would not be appropriately paraphrased asNo medium has shown much interest in covering the issue, which suggests that the disinclination abides in the means of communication itselfrather than in its practitioners.Ifmedia follows the pattern of data and agenda, this singular use may become entirely acceptable someday.But despite its utility,many people still regard it as a grammatical error.语源复数形式media 常用作单数， 用来指传播手段中的某一种，例如在下面这是自电视出现以来最激动人心的新式传媒 的句子中。 许多人都认为这一用法是不正确的；他们还是喜欢用medium 这一单数形式。 我们能提出更为有力的例子来为media 作为集合名词的用法进行辩护， 如下面的句子：大众传媒对于报道这一事件没有表现出多大兴趣 。 正如类似于原为复数形式的其他两个词data 和 agenda 已经开始具有其单数形式的含义： 用作集合名词的media 现在则可以指传播工业或共同体。 这样的话，我们刚才给出的例句就不能改成如下形式：没有传媒对报道这一事件表现出很大兴趣 ， 因为这样改动后，这句话所表示的是传播工具本身的不愿意，而不是业者的不愿意。如果media 也象 data 和 agenda 那样， 那么它作为单数形式的用法总有一天会被完全接受的。但是不管它的实用性大小，许多人仍将其视为一个语法错误〔alleged〕Analleged burglar is someone who has been accused of being a burglar but against whom no charges have been proved. Analleged incident is an event that is said to have taken place but has not yet been verified. In their zeal to protect the rights of the accused,newspapers and law enforcement officials sometimes misusealleged. A man arrested for murder may be only analleged murderer, for example, but he is a real, not analleged, suspect in that his status as a suspect is not in doubt. Similarly, if the money from a safe is known to have been stolen and not merely mislaid,then we may safely speak of a theft without having to qualify our description withalleged. 一个alleged（有嫌疑的） 强盗是指被指控为强盗但并未得到证实的人。 alleged（据称的） 的事件是一件据说发生过但还未被证实的事。 出于保护被指控者权力的热情，报界和执法官员有时误用alleged 这个词。 比如说，一个因谋杀而被捕的人，可能只是个alleged（有嫌疑的） 谋杀犯， 但当他是真正的而不是alleged（据称的） 嫌疑犯时，那么他身为嫌疑犯的处境就是毫无疑问的。 与此相似，如果放在保险箱里的钱已知是被人偷走而不仅仅是放错了，那么我们应该可以毫不犹豫地把它说成盗窃案而不用加alleged 这个词来限定我们的描述 〔ironic〕though some Panelists noted that this particular usage might be acceptable if Susie had in fact moved to California in order to find a husband,in which case the story could be taken as exemplifying the folly of supposing that we can know what fate has in store for us).By contrast,73 percent accepted the sentence 虽然一些成员注意到如果苏茜搬到加利福尼亚的目的确是为寻找一位丈夫的话，那么这一句的用法还是可以接受的，因为这个故事可视为代表了这样一种愚行，认为我们能够知道命运为我们保留着什么）。与此形成对照的是，百分之七十三的成员接受了下面这句话 〔buckshee〕"If they deposit these shares, too, in the scheme, they will get further buckshee shares on a one-for-one basis"(Economist)“如果按照计划，他们将这些股票存积起来，那么在一对一的基础上他们将会得到更多的额外股”(经济学家)〔that〕didn't take what he said that seriously.别那么认真地接受他的活〔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)〔kind〕If they are functioning as adjectives, however,the plural demonstrative and plural verb should be acceptable: 然而，如果它们的功能象形容词，那么复数指示代词和复数动词是能够接受的： 〔rictus〕"his mouth gaping in a kind of rictus of startled alarm"(Richard Adams)“他的嘴张得有惊跳的闹钟那么大”(理查德·亚当斯)〔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〔turn〕"Then turn your forces from this paltry siege/And stir them up against a mightier task"(Shakespeare)“那么把你的军队调离这足取的围攻/而鼓动他们去完成更艰巨的任务”(莎士比亚)〔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〔stodgy〕"Why is the middle-class so stodgy—so utterly without a sense of humor!”(Katherine Mansfield)See Synonyms at dull “为什么中产资级那么古板——丝毫没有幽默感！”(凯瑟琳·曼斯菲尔德) 参见 dull〔zine〕I often contributed cartoons and essays to other people's 'zines, so why didn't I just buckle down and start my own?(Pagan Kennedy)“我经常为另类人群的地下杂志画漫画和写散文，那么我何不自己办这样一份杂志”(帕根·肯尼迪)〔rise〕The bread dough should rise to double its original size.生面团发起之后应该有它原来体积的两倍那么大〔pathetic〕"If when the chips are down, the world's most powerful nation . . . acts like a pitiful, helpless giant, the forces of totalitarianism and anarchy will threaten free nations and free institutions throughout the world" (Richard M. Nixon). “如果当情况危急时，世界上最强大的国家…象一个可怜的无助的巨人，那么集权主义和独裁势力将会威胁到全世界的自由国家和组织机构” （理查德·M·尼克松）。 〔rather〕This use ofhad shows an unbroken line of usage running back to Middle English, and traditional criticisms of these constructions are unfounded. ·Before an unmodified noun onlyrather a is used: It was rather a disaster. When the noun is preceded by an adjective, however, bothrather a and a rather are found: It was rather a boring party. It was a rather boring party. Whena rather is used in this construction, rather can be construed as qualifying only the adjective, whereas withrather a it can be construed as qualifying either the adjective or the entire noun phrase. Thusa rather long ordeal can mean only "an ordeal that is rather long,” whereasrather a long ordeal can also mean roughly "a long process that is something of an ordeal.” Rather a is the only possible choice when the adjective itself does not permit modification: The horse was rather a long shot (not The horse was a rather long shot ). See Usage Note at better 1should Had 的这种使用方法可以一直追溯到中古英语， 但历史上并没有对此方法批评的记载。在一个没有修饰词的名词前，一般只使用rather a ： 真是一场灾难。 但当名词前有形容词时，rather a 和 a rather 就都能使用了： It was rather a boring party 。It was a rather a boring party 。 在这种搭配中，如果使用a rather ， rather 只是用来修饰这个形容词； 如果使用rather a， 那么同时修饰形容词和名词，即可认为修饰形容词也可以为修饰名词词组。 因此a rather long ordeal 的意思仅指布道很长， 而rather a long ordeal 则可概略地指一个“像布道似的漫长过程。” 如果形容词本身没有引申义，那么就只能使用rather a ： The horse was rather a long shot （而不是 The horse was a rather long shot ) 参见 better1should〔group〕Grouptakes a plural verb when the persons or things that constitute it are considered individually: 当组成该群的人或物体被单独看待，那么Group后面跟动词复数： 〔decide〕"If two laws conflict with each other, the courts must decide on the operation of each" (John Marshall). “如果两条法律相互之间有冲突，那么法院必须跟据每条法律的实施情况来做出选择” （约翰·马歇尔）。 |
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