| 词组 | spell out |
| 释义 | spell out This phrasal verb has been commonly used since the 1940s in the sense "to make plain." Its newness and its popularity have occasionally attracted some relatively mild criticism: • Only the man possessed of "savvy" and "know-how" "spells out" when he explains, "briefs" when he supplies facts and "pinpoints" when he determines something exactly —Thomas Pyles, N.Y. Times Mag., 15 June 1958 Bernstein 1958, 1965 considered spell out to be overused, and he also found it to be redundant in such constructions as "spell out the details." Complaints about overuse are no longer heard, but the charge of redundancy has been repeated in Heritage 1969 and Harper 1975, 1985. The assumption is that spell out by itself strongly implies an explanation or enumeration of details. Our evidence shows, however, that it is usually far less suggestive of details than of clear presentation. To "spell out the details" or "spell out in detail" is simply to explain the details in a clear and unmistakable way. • ... elsewhere in these five amendments this principle is spelled out in detail —Dwight Macdonald, New Yorker, 11 July 1953 • ... never spelled out their legal theories in any detail —Jon M. Van Dyke, Center Mag., July/August 1971 • ... the contract should spell out full details of the loan —Sylvia Porter, Ladies' Home Jour., August 1971 |
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