| 词组 | unexceptionable, unexceptional |
| 释义 | unexceptionable, unexceptional Commentators beginning with Fowler have made the following distinction: unexceptionable means "not open to objection or criticism," as in "a man of unexceptionable character"; unexceptional means "not out of the ordinary; not exceptional," as in "The appetizer was excellent but the rest of the meal was unexceptional." The use of unexceptional to mean "not open to objection or criticism; unexceptionable" is regarded by all as incorrect. The first recorded use of unexceptional was in 1775, when Madame D'Arblay (Fanny Burney) wrote "She bears an unexceptional character." The meaning of unexceptional here, as defined in the OED, is "unexceptionable." The OED includes two other citations for this sense of unexceptional, one from 1806 and one from 1877, when it was used by W. S. Gilbert in Foggerty's Fairy. The OED treats this sense as standard. The "not out of the ordinary" sense of unexceptional is not, strangely enough, entered in the OED or its Supplements. Since the OED does show, however, that the adjective exceptional was first used at about the middle of the 19th century, it seems safe to conclude that unexceptional was not used to mean "not exceptional" until some time after that. In other words, the "incorrect" sense of unexceptional is more than 75 years older than its "correct" sense. In current usage, however, unexceptional nearly always means what the critics say it should mean: • ... his thoughts... are realistically stated, but unexceptional —Henry J. Steck, Library Jour., 15 Jan. 1966 • ... moments and details in routine days of mostly unexceptional lives —Robert Kiely, N.Y. Times Book Rev., 1 July 1979 • ... make unexceptional pizza all but irresistible — Gwen Kinkead, Fortune, 26 July 1982 • ... unexceptional intellect, limited education and incompatible social background —Robert Craft, N. Y. Times Book Rev., 29 Apr. 1984 The stigmatized sense of the word—that is, its original sense—is now extremely rare: • ... it was only the unexceptional work of the aircraft and engine manufacturers ... which enabled the Expedition to take place that spring — World Today, September 1934 • Although they were both in good health and of unexceptional figure, Tony and Brenda were on a diet — Evelyn Waugh, A Handful of Dust, 1934 The exact meaning of unexceptional in the Evelyn Waugh quotation is questionable, but the context seems to call for "not open to criticism" rather than "not exceptional." Unexceptionable is an older word, first attested in 1664. Typical current usage is illustrated by the following citations: • ... can be stipulated in terms rational men should find unexceptionable —Harry S. Ashmore, Center Mag., May 1968 • ... is an entirely legitimate and unexceptionable principle —Charles Yost, Saturday Rev., 3 Apr. 1976 • And Engel's principal thesis ... is, if unoriginal, unexceptionable —Benjamin DeMott, N.Y. Times Book Rev., 10 Oct. 1976 Although unexceptionable can sometimes be a highly complimentary word, it is normally a term of lukewarm praise. Unexceptional, on the other hand, is normally a term of lukewarm criticism. The use of unexceptional in its original sense as a synonym for unexceptionable has been almost entirely superseded by its use as the negative of exceptional. The distinction favored by the critics is in this case observed by almost all writers. See also exceptionable, exceptional. |
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