| 词组 | goes without saying |
| 释义 | goes without saying It is surprising to learn that this common idiomatic phrase is hardly more than a hundred years old. A translation of the French cela va sans dire, it was first recorded in 1878, and it was still enough of a novelty some 16 years later for Lewis Carroll to feel a bit self-conscious about using it: • To say I am well "goes without saying" with me — Lewis Carroll, letter, 21 Aug. 1894 By 1926, however, it was well enough established for H. W. Fowler to regard it with a somewhat grudging acceptance, despite its Gallic origins. Fowler's approval of goes without saying might have marked the beginning and end of its career as a usage topic, except that a few recent critics have seen fit to fault it on logical grounds, pointing out that if something truly goes without saying there is, of course, no need to say it. Such literal-minded criticism of an idiomatic phrase is itself illogical, however, and it has not caught on widely among current commentators. Goes without saying continues in common and reputable use: • They have, it goes without saying, an excellent case against the Left —Wilfrid Sheed, The Good Word and Other Words, 1978 • It goes without saying that the language-exposure of an Anglo-Saxon villager was not like this —Strang 1970 See also needless to say. |
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