| 词组 | scarify |
| 释义 | scarify Scarify is really two words, the older of which, first attested in 1541, has the basic meaning "to make scratches or cuts in." It has several literal applications: • Some seeds ... may need special treatment, such as scarifying ... to make them more penetrable to water —C. H. Wadleigh, in The Yearbook of Agriculture 1957: Soil • ... burning over or scarifying the ground, then planting seedlings —John J. Putnam, National Geographic, April 1974 • Men and women have been beautifying, scarifying and mutilating their bodies ... since the dawn of time —Matilda Traherne, Times Literary Supp., 7 Mar. 1980 And it is sometimes used figuratively: • ... this is the Nixon ... that Garry Wills (in his fascinating book) scarifies as a human being —William F. Buckley, Jr., National Rev., 26 Jan. 1971 The newer scarify, with a meaning somewhere between "scare" and "terrify," was first recorded almost 200 years ago: • ... I have little doubt but the Weomen and Children would be scarified out of part of their senses —A. Thomas, Newfoundland Jour., 1794 (OED Supplement) But the next evidence of its use dates from the end of the 19th century, and it is only in the past 50 years or so that this new scarify has begun to appear commonly in print. It is an inconspicuous word in some ways, because it occurs most often in the form of the present participle, scarifying, used as an adjective in contexts which sometimes fail to make its meaning clear. Our files contain enough clear-cut examples, however, to show that the newer scarify is now in widespread, standard use. Here are some of those examples: • ... vivid snapshots of the Paris barricades ... and a few scarifying pictures of both sides' firing squads — Times Literary Supp., 30 Sept. 1965 • ... with two bullet holes in his car and a scarifying tale to go with them —Peter Goldman, Newsweek, 15 July 1968 • ... the disquieting life style of rock groups and audiences—the hair, the costumes, the volume, scarifying hints of sexual liberation —Benjamin DeMott, N.Y. Times Mag., 25 Aug. 1968 • ... dire, scarifying illustrations of what can happen to kids who have the habit —Arthur Knight, Saturday Rev., 2 Oct. 1971 • It is scarifying in the opposite way from a nightmare —Paul Theroux, N.Y. Times Book Rev., 16 Nov. 1975 • Read as a cautionary tale, it's pretty scarifying — Katha Pollitt, N.Y. Times Book Rev., 21 May 1978 Most current usage commentators have said nothing about the new scarify, probably because they have not noticed it yet. Exceptions are Reader's Digest 1983 and the Oxford American Dictionary, both of which flatly reject it, saying in effect that there is no scare in scarify. Whether they like it or not, however, the scare is there, and it is probably there to stay. Several contemporary dictionaries now enter the new scarify, treating it as a standard homograph of the older word. |
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