| 词组 | endless |
| 释义 | endless Some objections have been made to the common use of endless as a synonym of innumerable. The original criticism, as expressed by Weseen 1928, seems to have been based on logic: "endless instances" should be revised to "an endless list of instances," apparently because the instances themselves cannot logically be said to have no end, but the "list" or number of them can (hyperbolically speaking). Later critics, such as Partridge 1942 and Evans 1957, have taken an entirely different approach, focusing their relatively mild disapproval on the exaggerated quality of the "innumerable" endless rather than its lack of logic. Of course, that same exaggerated quality is apparent in Weseen's suggested correction, "an endless list," and, for that matter, in innumerable. This seems to be a case in which the original reason for disliking the sense has been forgotten or disregarded, but because the sense has gained a certain notoriety a new reason for disliking it has been devised, and a (minor) controversy persists. Even so, we do not think you have to worry about this sense of endless. Most critics pay it no attention, and its use in reputable writing continues to be common and unremarkable: • ... greedy demand for endless encores —John Browning, TV. Y. Times, 4 Apr. 1971 • ... dreary chronicle of her endless public appearances —Times Literary Supp., 21 Aug. 1971 • Endless books on Ireland —Daphne du Maurier, Ladies' Home Jour., September 1971 • ... the endless, wittily devious ways of women's organizations —Katherine Anne Porter, The Never-Ending Wrong, 1977 • ... on endless fact-finding missions —Sports Illustrated, 21 June 1982 |
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