| 词组 | saving, savings |
| 释义 | saving, savings Savings has several familiar uses. It occurs as a mass noun, plural in construction, with the sense "money put by (as in a bank)": • Savings have a deflationary effect, since they cut down the amount of spending for consumer goods —Albert H. Sayer et al., Economics in Our Democracy, 1950 It is also used in this sense as an attributive adjective in such terms as savings account and savings bank: • ... fulfill the function of deposit and savings banks through their numerous branches —George J. Henry, Forbes, 1 Dec. 1970 These uses are straightforward and uncontroversial. The problems for savings arise when it is used as a singular noun with the sense "an act or instance of economizing" or "reduction in cost." We first recorded this use in the 1940s, and we have encountered it with increasing frequency in the decades since: • ... resulting in an actual cash savings on your taxes —N.Y. Herald Tribune Book Rev., 15 Dec. 1946 • ... would represent a savings of 183,000 miles a year —Buffalo Courier Express, 24 Apr. 1963 • ... a savings which can be passed on to you —advt, N.Y. Times Mag, 27 Sept. 1964 • ... up to a 25 minute time savings on each inbound trip —John D. Caplan, Annual Report, General Motors Corp., 1971 • ... buy one now at a $275 savings —radio advt., 16 May 1974 • A savings of space becomes a savings in money — Steve Lambert, Apple Computer Publication, July 1984 A few usage commentators (notably Bernstein 1965 and Safire 1986) are emphatic in disapproving this use of savings, and the usage panelists of Heritage 1969, 1982 and of Harper 1975, 1985 reject it in writing. Nevertheless, it is extremely common and has clearly established itself as idiomatic in American English. If you feel inclined to avoid it, you can always use saving instead: • ... a saving of approximately $60,000,000 a year — Current Biography, January 1965 • ... can be purchased at a saving of up to 60% — Caleb Pirtle III, Southern Living, November 1971 A related concern is the use of savings in daylight savings time. The original term, and the usual term in writing, is daylight saving time, but daylight savings time (or often just daylight savings) is very common in speech, and it does occasionally make its way into print: • ... upheld the validity of the Massachusetts daylight-savings time law —George W. Hervey & Reign S. Hadsell, Inspection & Control of Weights & Measures in the USA, May 1942 • He called this idea Daylight Savings Time —Joseph M. Oxenhorn et al., Pathways in Science (textbook), 1982 Usage commentators who take up this subject regard daylight savings time as an error. |
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