| 单词 | 可以看到 |
| 释义 | 〔surly〕The fact that the wordsurly means "churlish" nicely indicates its fall in status. Churlish derives from the word churl, which in its Old English form ceorl meant "a man without rank, a member of the lowest rank of freemen,” as well as "peasant" in general. In Old Englishceorl may have been a term of contempt; it certainly became one in Middle English,wherecherl meant "base fellow, boor,” with churlish descending in meaning accordingly. Surly, on the other hand, started its life at the top of the scale but fell just as far. Looking at instances of this word in Middle English and Early Modern English,we see thatsurly was only one spelling for this word, another spelling beingsirly, which makes it clear that it came from the word sir, the term of honor for a knight or for a person of rank or importance in general. Thussirly, the form under which the early spellings of the word are entered in the Oxford English Dictionary, first meant "lordly.” Surly, entered as a separate word in the OED and first recorded in 1566, meant perhaps "lordly, majestic,” in its earliest use,subsequently being used in the sense "masterful, imperious, arrogant.” As the gloss "arrogant" makes clear, the wordsirly could have a negative sense, and it is this area of meaning that is responsible for the current "churlish" sense of the word.surly 意为“粗野的”事实生动地说明了这个词的地位下降。 Churlish 是 churl 的派生词，其古英文形式 ceorl 的意思是“没有爵位的男人，或者是自由民中最低等级的男人”，大概象“农民”一样。 古英语中ceorl 可能含有贬意； 中古英语中肯定是贬意，其cherl 的意思是“卑贱的人，粗野的人”，相应地 churlish 的意思也下降了。 另一方面，Surly 开始是个高尚的字，后来地位同样下降。 从中古英语和早期现代英语中的实例，我们可以看到，surly 的拼法只有一个， 另一个是sirly ，它清楚地表明这个字来自 sir （给于骑士或有等级或有身份的人的尊称）。 因此，sirly 这个字的最初形式记载在 牛津英语词典 中，开始的意思为（有威严的，高傲的）。 Surly 作为另一个字最初于1566年记录在 OED 中， 最初的意思是“老爷的、尊贵的”，以后的意思为“老爷般的、命令式的、傲慢的”。“傲慢”这个字条清楚地说明sirly 可能有过否定的意思， 也正是在这层意义上，它和目前“粗野的”意义有关〔right〕the right side of the dress; made sure that the right side of the fabric was visible.衣服的正面；保证织物的正面可以看到〔level〕Smooth describes a surface on which the absence of even slight irregularities can be established by sight or touch: Smooth 指的是在一个表面上没有任何可以看到或触摸到的不规则的东西： 〔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〔die〕could see the remains of two aircraft that had died in the attack.可以看到在袭击中毁坏的两架飞机〔presume〕"We can see individuals, but we can't see providence; we have to postulate it" (Aldous Huxley). “我们不得不认为我们可以看到个体却看不到远见；我们必须承认它” （阿尔道斯·赫胥黎）。 〔latent〕A fingerprint that is not apparent to the eye but can be made sufficiently visible, as by dusting or fuming, for use in identification.指纹：不能清楚地通过肉眼看到指纹，但经过有效的技术处理，如撒粉或熏制，就可以看到的，用于辨明身份〔topography〕In the topography of the economy, several depressed areas are revealed.在对经济状况描绘的剖析图上，可以看到几个低落的领域〔paradise〕Perhaps the supreme example of the semantic process known as melioration is the wordparadise. In tracing this word from its origins to its present status,we see an elevation, or melioration, of meaning that raises the word to new heights.The history begins with the Avestan (the eastern dialect of Old Iranian) wordpairi-daēza-, "enclosure,” made up ofpairi, "around,” and daēza-, "wall.” The Greek military leader and historian Xenophon, who served with Greek mercenaries in Persia,first used the Greek wordparadeisos adopted from the Avestan wordto refer to the Persian kings' and nobles' parks or pleasure grounds.This Greek word extended to mean "garden" or "orchard" was an obvious choice for translators of the Bible into Greekto use both for the Garden of Eden and the Abode of the Blessed, or heaven.The Greek word was adopted into Late Latin and was used much as we might expect in its biblical senses in ecclesiastical Latin (Late Latinparadīsus ). The Old English wordparadis taken from Latin is found, but our word probably really established itself in Middle English (first recorded before 1200),derived both from Latin and from Old French, which had adopted the word from Latin.paradise. 这个词也许能作为词义进化最典型的例子， 从它的起源到现在的地位，我们可以看到词义的进化或改进把这个词带到了一个新的高度。这个历史过程从意为“领地，圈地”的阿维斯陀语（古伊朗人西部方言）pairi-daeza-, 开始， 由意为“环形的”pairi, 和意为“墙”的 daeza-, 组成。 曾随希腊雇佣军到波斯服役的希腊军事将领和历史学家色诺芬，首先使用了希腊语词paradeisos, ， 该词采用了阿维斯陀词，指波斯国王和贵族们的花园或游乐场，这个希腊词衍生到表示“花园”或“果园”，显然是译者在把《圣经》翻译成希腊文时所做出的选择，以用来表明伊甸园和天国或天堂，有这两种含义的希腊词被引入后期的拉丁语中且当它们在教会拉丁文（后期拉丁语paradisus )中意为《圣经》方面的意义时被更广泛地使用， 古英语paradis 一词来自拉丁文， 但我们用的这个词可能在中古英语（首次记录在1200年前）中真正确立了起来，人们发现它源于拉丁文和从拉丁文中采纳了这个词的古法语〔lobster〕A lobster and a locust may share a common source for their name,that is, the Latin wordlocusta, which was used for the locustand also for a crustacean that was probably a kind of lobster.We can see thatlocusta would be the source of locust, but it looks like an unlikely candidate as the source oflobster. It is thought, however, that Old Englishloppestre, the ancestor of lobster, was formed from locusta and the suffix-estre used to make agent nouns (our -ster ). The change from Latinlocusta to Old English loppestre may have been influenced by Old English loppe, meaning "spider.” 龙虾和蝗虫的名字可能源于同一出处，即拉丁词Locusta ， 它用于指蝗虫，也用于表示可能是一种龙虾的甲壳类动物。我们可以看到，Locusta 可能是 locusa 的来源， 但不象是lobster 的来源。 但是，lobster 在古英语里的前身 loppestre 被认为是由 locusta 形成的， 后缀-estre 用于组成代理者的名词（现在的 -soer ）。 从拉丁文locusta 到古英语 loppstre 的变化可能受古英语 loppe 的影响（意为“蜘蛛”） |
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