| 词组 | astronomical |
| 释义 | astronomical Copperud 1970, 1980 records three of his authorities as finding astronomical "overused and inappropriate to convey the idea of a large number." He further notes that all dictionaries recognize the use as standard. The OED Supplement shows the sense as early as 1899, but it seems not to have become established until the middle of the 1930s: • The odds against a poor person becoming a millionaire are of astronomical magnitude —George Bernard Shaw, preface to Too True to Be Good, 1934 (OED Supplement) • Figures like that are too astronomical —Sinclair Lewis, It Can't Happen Here, 1935 • ... an income reaching astronomical proportions — Manchester Guardian Weekly, 12 Mar. 1937 • ... continued astronomical expenditures for arms would mean eventual bankruptcy for all nations — Time, 6 Mar. 1939 The sense has become firmly established since then. Curiously, Follett 1966 approved astronomical for distances, but not other uses. We do have a few examples with distance: • The distance between the library and the bedroom is astronomical —Arthur Koestler, Partisan Rev., Summer 1944 While it is hard to see why this use is inappropriate, the view that astronomical is overused may have more merit. Here are just a few examples of other astronomical things: • ... glamorous resorts bearing astronomical pricetags —Abby Rand, Harper's Bazaar, November 1979 • ... the price ... will be astronomical, but about $ 1,000 less astronomical than it was last year —Carrie Donovan, N.Y. Times Mag., 20 Apr. 1980 • ... the federal debt would become so astronomical that the credit of the federal government would be shaken —Frederick Lewis Allen, The Big Change, 1952 • ... the uncontrolled sale of astronomical amounts of ammunition —Farley Mowat, People of the Deer, 1952 • ... an astronomical rise in the total number of paperbacks —Reveille, 20 Mar. 1968 • The rate of VD in the United States has reached astronomical proportions —David R. Reuben, M.D., McCall's, March 1971 • ... inflation that has raised modern-art prices to astronomical heights —Janet Flanner, New Yorker, 16 Mar. 1957 • ... to overcome the astronomical unemployment — Don Bohning, Saturday Rev., 11 Dec. 1976 If you agree that astronomical is overused, a wide range of alternatives—vast, huge, immense, enormous, and their synonyms and near-synonyms—is available. |
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