| 词组 | almost |
| 释义 | almost 1. See most, almost. 2. Copperud 1970, 1980 tells us that almost as an adjective modifying a noun is standard and well established, but that in the U.S. this use is likely to be considered a mistake. Who considers it a mistake now we do not know, but around the turn of the century there seems to have been some controversy about it. Vizetelly 1906 considers that the adjective use "has not received the sanction of general usage." Hall 1917 reports the textbooks of three rhetoricians—A. S. Hill, Quackenbos, Genung—as condemning the construction, but he cites examples of its use by Thackeray, Hawthorne, Coleridge and others. Evidence in the Merriam-Webster files shows the adjective use to be standard, but not especially frequent. Here is a sampling, including many American sources: • At Barking, in the almost solitude of which so large a portion of my life was passed —Jeremy Bentham, "Reminiscences of Childhood," 1843 • The contrast between Harding's zest for physical exercise and his almost torpor when in repose — Mark Sullivan, Our Times, vol. 6, 1935 • ... the car skidded, plowing sideways to an almost stop —Ernest Hemingway, "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber," in The Short Stories, 1938 • ... a potential, an almost Prime Minister —Times Literary Supp., 12 Feb. 1938 • There was a flash of almost admiration —Christopher Morley, The Man Who Made Friends with Himself, 1949 • ... a little fellow whom only an almost miracle can set on his feet —Henry Seidel Canby, Saturday Rev., 13 Sept. 1952 • ... the present limits and the future possibilities of the almost science of economics —Robert Lekach-man, New Republic, 10 Aug. 1953 • So the U.S. embraces an almost imperialism — Michael Harrington, American Power in the Twentieth Century, 1967 The adjective is sometimes hyphenated to its noun: • ... the blond with the almost-beard —Ned Hoopes, Media & Methods, November 1968 • ... and an almost-doctorate from Harvard —Business Week, 22 July 1972 Almost also has some uses as an adverb that look much like adjective uses: • Almost everybody should be happy —Forbes, 1 Dec. 1970 • ... he was almost a virgin —David J. Pittman, Trans-Action, March-April 1971 • ... the students, almost all of whom live at home — James B. Conant, Slums and Suburbs, 1961 • ... how young an animal—a baby almost —Stephen Jay Gould, Natural History, December 1983 3. The use of almost before never (and other negatives such as no and nothing) comes in for passing mention in Harper 1975, 1985 and Copperud 1980. Harper believes that some people still object to this combination, but the issue is an old one, dating back to the 18th century, and seems to draw little attention now. Copperud and Jespersen 1917 both mention James Boswell, who was prevailed upon to change such sentences as "I suppose there is almost no language" to "we scarcely know of a language" by the argument that almost no or almost nothing was not English. Boswell apparently had his doubts, but revised all the same. Jespersen adduces examples from British, Scottish, and American English to demonstrate that the construction was not especially rare. Among the English writers Jespersen quotes are Bacon, Cowper, and Jane Austen: • ...she has found almost nothing —Jane Austen, Mansfield Park, 1814 The same phrase occurs in Ford Madox Ford: • ... if he wants to find Louis Treize stuff ... for almost nothing —The Last Post, 1928 Jespersen cites Henry James, too: • He himself was almost never bored —The American, 1877 These are a couple of more recent examples from our files: • ... has accomplished almost nothing —Joseph P. Lyford, Center Mag., May 1968 • ... you could almost never get him in so far that he couldn't get out and beat you —R. C. Padden, Harper's, February 1971 It is hard to imagine anyone objecting to them. 4. Copperud 1970, 1980 and Johnson 1982 object to almost before comparatives like more, less, and better on the grounds that it violates logic. Although both seem to feel the construction is common, we have no examples of it in the Merriam-Webster files. It may be chiefly or exclusively an oral use. |
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