| 单词 | 非技术性 |
| 释义 | 〔demean〕professionals who feel demeaned by unskilled work.感觉受到非技术性的侮辱的专业人员〔infinite〕Infinite is sometimes grouped with absolute terms such asunique, absolute, and omnipotent, since in its strict mathematical sense it allows no degree modification or comparison;one quantity cannot be more infinite than another (though technically one infinite set can be larger than another).Unlike other absolute terms, however,infinite also does not permit modification by adverbs such as nearly and almost; mathematically, infinity is not approached by degrees.In nontechnical usage, of course,infinite is often used metaphorically to refer simply to an unimaginably large degree or amount, and here the comparison of the word is unexceptionable: Infinite 有时被一些表示绝对意义的词修饰， 如unique ， absolute 和 omnipotent ， 由于在其严格的数学意义上它不允许表示程度的修饰或比较，一个数不可能比另一个数“更加无穷大”（虽然以技术上讲一个无穷集可以比另一个集更大）。但是，与其它表示绝对意义的词不同，infinite 也不能用 nearly 和 almost 这一类副词来修饰； 以数学上讲，无穷大是不能逐步接近的。当然，在非技术性的用法中，infinite 常常隐喻地仅指明一个难以想象的大程度或数量， 在这种用法下，仍然不能使用比较： 〔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 |
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