| 词组 | beseech |
| 释义 | beseech Beseech and seek are related words. At one time both seech and seek were in use; seek prevailed in the simple verb, but seech prevailed in the compound. The past and past tense, then, should be sought in both cases. But beseeched has been around since the 16th century. Shakespeare used beseeched but not besought; on the other hand Wyatt, Spenser, Sidney, Milton, and Pope used besought but not beseeched. In the 19th century beseeched was considered incorrect, according to the OED (1885), and Richard Grant White in 1870 opined that no good writer at that time used beseeched for besought. But beseeched did not vanish from use, and it has been staging a comeback in the 20th century. Copperud 1970 records some difference of opinion among his authorities: Flesch 1964 plumps for beseeched, while the rest favor besought. Lamberts 1972 feels that beseeched is usual and that besought is found only in special contexts. Copperud 1970, however, finds that observable usage is "all but invariably" besought. Our evidence doesn't favor either side. While we have more citations for besought, they cover a span of about 140 years; our smaller number of beseeched citations cover a span of about 60 years. We have a few more citations for beseeched than for besought from the past 25 years. A few typical examples of each follow: • ... his hostess beseeched him to sing —Christopher Sykes, Evelyn Waugh: a Biography, 1975 • ... as for years they had beseeched us to understand —William F. Buckley, Jr., speech, 29 Sept. 1968 • ... Nixon was beseeched by Republican leaders everywhere to urge ... —Richard H. Rovere, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 1956 • ... unpretentious, altogether delightful, and fren-ziedly besought Italian restaurant —Jay Jacobs, Gourmet, May 1980 • He besought us to lie doggo, collect the weekly stipend, and thank our lucky stars —S. J. Perelman, Holiday, October 1957 • President Truman has been besought by many reputable newspapers ... to veto ... —Harold L. Ickes, New Republic, 24 Oct. 1949 Both forms are still in completely respectable use. You can use beseeched, like Shakespeare, or besought, like Spenser, Milton, and Pope. |
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