| 词组 | usage |
| 释义 | usage It is inevitable, we suppose, that a number of usage commentators comment on the word usage. What they say, by and large, is that usage should not be employed simply as a synonym of use in contexts like "the use/usage of public lands" and "increased use/ usage of electricity." This issue seems to have originated with Gowers 1954, whose comments are typical: Usage does not mean use; it means either a manner of use (e.g. rough usage) or a habitual practice creating a standard (e.g. modern English usage). A look in almost any dictionary shows, however, that usage does indeed mean "act of using or being used; use; employment." Evidence in the OED establishes that usage has had this sense since the 14th century. It has occurred in the works of such writers as Geoffrey Chaucer, Joseph Priestley, and Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Here are some 20th-century examples from our own files: • ... his blue eyes dimmed with time and usage — Claude G. Bowers, The Young Jefferson 1743-1789, 1945 • The book you sent back for more signs and marks of usage, having now been through another campaign, looks to me in as ideal a condition for your purposes as you could expect —Robert Frost, letter, 4 Aug. 1953 • Usage of the "Cyclopedia" reveals few serious gaps —Wayne Hartwell, Saturday Rev., 20 Mar. 1954 • ... ending credit card usage altogether —Guy Hal-verson, Christian Science Monitor, 10 Apr. 1980 • ... a squat, ladder-back chair whose short legs had the look of being worn away through long usage — Peter Taylor, The Old Forest and Other Stories, 1985 It is accurate to say that use is more common than usage in this sense, but it is not at all accurate to say that usage in this sense is therefore an error. Usage meaning "use" is standard English. |
| 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。