| 词组 | feature |
| 释义 | feature 1. Back in the 1920s there was much negative comment in usage circles and in various handbooks on the propriety offeature as a verb in advertising and journalism. Bernstein 1971 thinks the fact that it is a verb formed by functional shift from a noun may have triggered the hostile reaction. Noticeable popularity at the time was probably at least as important a cause: "overused and hackneyed" is the verdict of Hyde 1926. Fowler 1926 saw it as a repulsive Americanism that he feared would make its way into popular British use. (It did.) Because it was mentioned in handbooks then, it is still in handbooks, though now chiefly to explain that it is in standard use (as it had been since about 1888). Here are a few typical examples: • The exhibition will feature first editions and related manuscripts —Erica Jong, Barnard Alumnae, Winter 1971 • When my husband and I dine in a restaurant that features a buffet —Amy Vanderbilt, Ladies' Home Jour., August 1971 • The film ... evolved into a series, featuring Mickey Rooney as Andy Hardy —Current Biography, September 1965 2. Strunk & White 1959 (and subsequent editions) also considers feature hackneyed, but it differs from most in disliking the older noun use as well as the verb. The example of disapproved use (which may go back to the original Strunk circa 1929) is interesting: • A feature of the entertainment especially worthy of mention was the singing of Miss A. The advice given is this: "Better use the same number of words to tell what Miss A. sang and how she sang it." This advice seems a bit naive; it is distinctly possible that the example is a minor masterpiece of tact. If Miss A. happens to have more friends than talent, it may be better not to tell what she sang and how she sang it. We may have the same politic avoidance of judgment in this example: • A feature of the program was a panel discussion in which visitors from other institutions shared the benefits of their own, related experience —Calvin H. Plimpton, Amherst College Bulletin, November 1967 3. Shaw 1975, 1987 and Trimmer & McCrimmon 1988 worry about a verb sense of feature meaning "imagine, fancy." Shaw thinks it informal and dialectal, Trimmer & McCrimmon slang. • "A necktie!" he exclaimed indignantly. "Can you feature wearing a necktie out here?" —Kenneth M. Dodson, Away All Boats, 1954 • "And these are my two little country bumpkins. They already want to go home. Can you feature it?" —Jean Stafford, The Mountain Lion, 1947 • "So you can feature what she said about Wurssun," Jonas said. "Less than nothing...." —Anne Tyler, Southern Rev., April 1965 This seems to be chiefly an oral use, going back at least to the era of World War II and perhaps less common now than formerly. These examples do not sound especially slangy, though all record imagined speech. |
| 随便看 |
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。