| 词组 | rather |
| 释义 | rather 1. See had rather. 2. Rather is used both as a mild intensifier and as a mild de-emphasizer. The intensifier: • He considers Pappy rather small potatoes —Harry S. Truman, diary, 10 Aug. 1945 The de-emphasizer: • ... led a rather lonely but not altogether unhappy childhood —Current Biography, November 1965 In this respect rather operates much like quite (which see). The use of rather in its diluting or softening function has drawn a smattering of criticism objecting to its use with words (usually adjectives) that are "warm" (Fowler 1926) or "strong, affirmative" (Copperud 1970). In spite of the comment in Copperud 1964, 1970, 1980, Fowler 1926, 1965, Follett 1966, and Janis 1984, we cannot find much basis for their objections; examples of the sort they bring forth are hard to find in our files. Here are a few of our examples: • ... in the late 1950's there came a rather dramatic swing in another direction —William G. Moulton, NEA Jour., January 1965 • Delhi has had a problem with some rather ferocious monkeys —Peter Thomson, quoted in Sports Illustrated, 15 July 1968 • ... and an occasional quarrel... was rather fun — Edward Seidensticker, Low City, High City, 1983 • ... would have looked down their aristocratic noses to see rather middle class men and women drinking sherry ... in their rooms —Suzanne Wilding, Town & Country, June 1976 • I read a little Samuel Pepys, rather like it —Renata Adler, Pitch Dark, 1983 • The other stories in this volume are rather more cheerful—Times Literary Supp., 16 Apr. 1970 • I was becoming rather cross by this time —Graham Greene, Travels with My Aunt, 1969 • You write rather well and if you are interested I think I can get you a job as a cub reporter —Groucho Marx, undated letter to Goodman Ace, in The Groucho Letters, 1967 These examples are typical of our file on rather in its use as a softening qualifier, and they seem fully acceptable to us. It is hard to see what the problem is supposed to be. 3. Rather a. Phythian 1979 and Partridge 1942 offer some remarks on the proper employment of rather a before a noun. The concern here does not seem to be the old objection to quite a, some critics claiming it was improper for an adverb to qualify a noun, but to the retention of the word order with the adverb before the article when an adjective intervenes between rather a and the noun. Both Partridge and Phythian accept rather a with no adjective: • ... it was rather a relief when the narcotics testimony ended —Richard Dougherty, Atlantic, February 1972 They prescribe a rather when an adjective intervenes: • ... inside a rather larger plastic fish tank —Charles Baptist-Smith, Observer Mag., 3 Feb. 1974 But we find that some writers retain the inverted order: • ... the French could make rather a good counterargument —Stephen E. Ambrose, Johns Hopkins Mag., April 1966 • It was rather an unbelievable example of using excessive means —Hannah Arendt, N. Y. Rev. of Books, 18 Nov. 1971 • He is rather a worried participant in the custom — Richard Poirier, A World Elsewhere, 1966 The writers who keep the inverted order rather a in front of an adjective probably do so because they feel that the form is slightly more emphatic: "rather a good counter-argument" being felt to be stronger than "a rather good counter-argument." This, then, is not a matter of right and wrong; both orders are completely respectable. We suggest you make your choice with discretion; most of our examples follow the prescribed word order. |
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英语用法大全包含2888条英语用法指南，基本涵盖了全部常用英文词汇及语法点的翻译及用法，是英语学习的有利工具。