| 词组 | amend, emend |
| 释义 | amend, emend When was the last time you needed to use the verb emencP. Our evidence suggests that writers usually feel little need for this bookish and technical word. Yet a number of usage commentators feel the need to distinguish the seldom-used emend from the much more common amend. Kilpatrick 1984, for instance, objects to the use of amend meaning "to make emendations." His assertion about use is wrong, however, as Chambers 1985 and Shaw 1975 show. In fact, amend has been used in the sense of "make emendations" since Caxton in the 15th century. But it has a wider use as well, which Kilpatrick recognizes: • ... the Commission hopes to amend its rules — Forbes, 15 May 1967 • Laws that are not repealed are amended and amended and amended like a child's knickers — George Bernard Shaw, The Intelligent Woman's Guide To Socialism and Capitalism, 1928 Then there are these uses: • ... I honestly thought Goldwater would also amend the error of his ways —Karl Hess, quoted in Playboy, July 1976 • ... inflamed with a desire to amend the lives of themselves and others —C. S. Peirce, reprinted in Encore, March 1947 • Afterwards he amended his discourtesy, and I forgot the offence —Rudyard Kipling, Kim, 1901 • ... these, like the other faults of the book, are too well diffused throughout to be amended —T. S. Eliot, Preface to 1928 edition of The Sacred Wood These two uses are quite a bit more common than the "make emendations" sense. Here are a few examples of the last: • The new seal followed exactly the old one in design, except that "F.D. IND. IMP." was amended to "FIDEI DEF" —82d Annual Report of the Controller of the Royal Mint, 1951, 1953 • The translation was amended here and there by his own pen —Lucien Price, Dialogues of Alfred North Whitehead, 1954 • Arthur Wilmart's translation has been shortened and amended —Saturday Rev., 29 Jan. 1955 Emend is much the less common word and is usually applied only to the correction of a text: • The decision to keep the original arrangement of the poems, but print the final corrected text, emended only in some instances —Times Literary Supp., 19 Feb. 1971 It is rarely used with a somewhat broader application: • Not especially gifted with literary originality, the Roman Paul borrowed Plato's image and emended it to suit his needs —Henry Silverstein, Accent, Winter 1947 • ... the more serious objection that my criterion, as it stands, allows meaning to any indicative statement whatsoever. To meet this, I shall emend it as follows —Alfred Jules Ayer, Language, Truth and Logic, 2d ed., 1946 In summary, amend is the more common word, sometimes applied to the emendation of text but much more often used in extended and figurative senses. Emend is much less often used, is usually applied to the correction of text, and is rare in extended use. |
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