| 词组 | alternative |
| 释义 | alternative Harper 1975, in a question to its usage panel about dilemma, uses the phrase "one of two equal alternatives." Panelist Hey wood Hale Broun took this notice (excised from the 1985 edition): "This is a tautology, since these alternatives, like the horns of a dilemma, come only in pairs." Do alternatives come only in pairs? The writing of recent usage commentators suggests that they do not: • ... two or more alternatives —Longman 1984 • ... the number of alternatives should be definite — Bryson 1984 • ... anyone who doesn't like the other alternatives — Reader's Digest 1983 • ... choice between two unpleasant alternatives — Freeman 1983 • ... involving two equally unsatisfactory alternatives —Kilpatrick 1984 Copperud 1970, 1980 says "The idea that alternative may apply to a choice between two and no more is a pedantry." Howard 1980 and Gowers in Fowler 1965 call it "a fetish." Most other recent commentators, however, take note of the existence of a "traditionalist" or "purist" position—a position that insists on restriction to two. The development of this "traditionalist" position is curious indeed, for it involves the overlooking of the original objection to the use of the noun in favor of what was then essentially a side issue, brought in to reinforce the original objection. To trace this development, we must go back to 1870. The earliest commentary on alternative that we have found is that of Gould 1870. Here is what he says: This word means a choice—one choice—between two things. Yet popular usage has so corrupted it, that it is now commonly applied to the things themselves, and not to the choice between them; as thus, "You may take either alternative"; "I was forced to choose between two alternatives." And, indeed, some people go so far as to say "several alternatives were presented to him." Nevertheless, if the primary meaning is respected, there can be but one alternative in any one case. Two alternatives is a contradiction in terms. Why would Gould emphasize one choice, rather than two things? The reason seems to lie in dictionary definitions. Gould was a vociferous proponent of Joseph Worcester's Dictionary in the late 19th-century war between the dictionaries of Webster and Worcester. The definition of alternative in Worcester's 1860 edition reads "The choice given of two things." A quotation from 18th-century poet Edward Young is added. Worcester's definition was taken directly from Samuel Johnson's Dictionary of 1755: "The choice given of two things; so that if one be rejected, the other must be taken," with the same quotation from Young. Each of these lexicographers had a reason for the definition. Johnson had to depend on Young's usage for his definition—Young was apparently the earliest literary figure in English to use the term (the OED shows only a 1624 letter earlier). Worcester had to depend on Johnson— although he unfortunately pruned off the helpful second half of Johnson's definition—because in his position as the chief competitor of Webster's successors, he could not use Webster's definition. Webster in 1828 had noticed the application of the term to the thing to be chosen: "That which may be chosen or omitted; a choice of two things, so that if one is taken, the other must be left. Thus when two things offer a choice of one only, the two things are called alternatives." Noah thus recognized two uses—the choice and the thing chosen; if Worcester recognized them, he presumably felt he could not admit it lest he be accused of plagiarizing his former employer. To return to Gould: his objection, then, depended entirely upon Johnson's definition via Worcester. Ayres 1881 agreed with Gould's view. But they had no foundation for their objection—the extension of meaning to the thing or things to be chosen had taken place long before. The OED cites Sterne's Tristram Shandy (1760): • There was no alternative in my Uncle Toby's wardrobe. This citation is, as the OED points out, ambiguous; it might but probably does not mean "choice." There are other early uses, however: • ... forced to take the other alternative —Henry Fielding, Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon, 1755 • ... while another alternative remains —Jane Austen, Lady Susan, 1814 (OED) • Poor Rip was at last reduced almost to despair; and his only alternative, to escape from the labor of the farm and clamor of his wife, was to take gun in hand and stroll away into the woods —Washington Irving, "Rip Van Winkle," 1820 • Between these alternatives there is no middle ground —William Cranch (cited in Webster 1828) The OED (A appeared in 1884) defines four senses (as do most modern dictionaries) and notes that except for Johnson's sense, the others were unknown to dictionaries until "very recently." Hodgson 1889, while following the current objection to the application to the thing or course chosen, brings in etymology; after a disquisition upon Latin alter and its derivatives and congeners, he cites with approbation a definition from Whatley's Synonyms (1851): "a choice between two courses" (the italics are Hodgson's). In his emphasis on two, Hodgson joins Noah Webster, who concluded his definition with In strictness, then, the word can not be applied to more than two things, and when one thing only is offered for choice, it is said there is no alternative. Evidence in the OED shows that if the word had not been extended to a choice of more than two in Noah's time—and his "in strictness" suggests that indeed it already had—it would soon be. The OED's earliest citation for extension to three is from the logician John Stuart Mill: • The alternative seemed to be either death, or to be permanently supported by other people, or a radical change in the economical arrangements —Principles of Political Economy, 1848 The editors also quote Gladstone in 1857 extending the number to four. Hodgson supplies evidence of three alternatives from 1853 and 1857. Our files have this from a letter of Henry Adams to his brother: • ... and if your three alternatives are right, I acknowledge I'm wrong —22 Apr. 1859 The traditionalists after Hodgson tend to follow the etymological argument and ignore the original, although Vizetelly 1906 quotes Gould, and some of his later pronouncements mention that theme. But both schools of objectors were too late: the horse was long out of the barn before they arrived to lock the door. All four senses given in the OED are in current reputable use—even Fowler 1926 examines them minutely without objecting to any. Harper 1975, 1985 draws attention to "a certain imperative connotation" that alternative carries but choice does not. They say that a person faced with three alternatives must choose one of the three. This is not quite right, for it applies only part of the time. In a use like this: • The three basic funeral alternatives are ... —Home-making: Skills for Everyday Living, 1981 (school text) the imperative notion obtains, enforced by a death in the family. But in other instances: • ... I feel bound to offer you the alternative of coming alone, or coming with Edy some other Sunday, or letting us send a trap to Witley to bring you both to lunch or tea next Sunday week, -or, in short, anything you please —George Bernard Shaw, letter to Ellen Terry, 20 Apr. 1899 none of the alternatives need be taken—indeed, Miss Terry never made the suggested vacation visit. The subtle imperative that alternative contains but choice does not is the one first put down by Samuel Johnson—if you take one, you must forgo the other or others. Choice does not necessarily carry the same implication. While the history of this objection is rather complex, the actual status of the word in usage is not. The extension of alternative from a choice between two to the things or courses to be chosen and then to a choice of more than two has been long established in reputable usage. |
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