| 词组 | downplay |
| 释义 | downplay Copperud 1980 terms this verb "journalese," and William Safire publicly apologized in his New York Times column of 24 July 1983 for using it. New York journalists seem a bit diffident about using compound words of which adverbs form the first part (see, for instance, upcoming). Downplay is a relatively new verb, evidently going back no farther than 1954. Its main use does seem to be in journalism: almost all of our evidence comes from newspapers and magazines. Thirty years in the business seems to have established it for general use. Here is a cross-section of our evidence: • Actor Stewart happily downplays his boyish charm —Time, 2 Aug. 1954 • ... he will downplay the need for economic and social reform —Newsweek, 30 Mar. 1964 • White doggedly downplays this kind of talk —Wilfrid Sheed, N.Y. Times Book Rev., 21 Nov. 1976 • ... the UN downplayed the problem — Wall Street Jour., 10 July 1973 • ... a two-week field training exercise which will downplay his role as the Prince of Wales —The Canadian (Charlottetown, P.E.I.), 8 May 1975 • ... downplays any territorial competitiveness — David McQuay, Sunday Denver Post, 23 Sept. 1984 • He downplays others' labor without substituting a convincing personal struggle or achievement of his own —Garry Wills, Harper's, January 1972 • As president of the show, McDevitt modestly downplays his role —Suzanne Wilding, Town & Country, May 1980 |
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