| 词组 | hairbrained |
| 释义 | hairbrained Most often this word is spelled harebrained, and that is how usage writers tell you to spell it. Heritage 1982 sums up the prevailing attitude: "Though hairbrained has a long history, this spelling is not established usage." Their statement makes one wonder just what the "long history" of hairbrained may be. Going to the OED, we see that a third of the citations quoted at harebrained and related terms are for the hair-spelling and that both spellings are attested from the 16th century onward. Hairbrained has continued to the present day as an infrequent but regular variant. • The hair brained escapades of the poet —The Bookman, April 1927 • ... he'll pull some hair brained deal —James Jones, From Here to Eternity, 1951 • ... their hairbrained folly —Christopher Lasch, N. Y. Times Book Rev., 25 Jan. 1976 While the Heritage statement about the "long history" is certainly true, whether hairbrained is an established usage or not is a matter of opinion. Our opinion based on the evidence is that it is established. |
| 随便看 |
英语用法大全包含2888条英语用法指南，基本涵盖了全部常用英文词汇及语法点的翻译及用法，是英语学习的有利工具。