| 词组 | incident |
| 释义 | incident Harper 1975, 1985 and Copperud 1970, 1980 are disturbed by the use of incident as an all-purpose word for some unpleasant or potentially dangerous occurrence—Copperud and Gowers in Fowler 1965 call it a euphemism. The basis of their concern is found in the assertion that incident means only "a minor or unimportant occurrence." But the assertion is without foundation and suggests that dictionaries have not been "perused with attention" (to use a line from Dr. Johnson). Here are three examples of actual use: • There were frequent border incidents leading to armed clashes —Current Biography, November 1967 • The students were earlier declared ineligible following a weekend incident involving alcoholic beverages —Ouray County (Colo.) Plaindealer, 8 Mar. 1973 • Whenever an incident occurred in the neighborhood, he was one of the first to be suspected —C. Knight Aldrich, Psychology Today, March 1971 The sense displayed in these examples has been established since before World War I in reference to discrete occurrences of serious diplomatic import, and in the period since World War I has spread to other areas. The OED Supplement has numerous examples from 1913 on. When Gowers says that it is often used as a euphemism for affray, its value becomes apparent—it suggests an unfortunate occurrence while avoiding the need to specify its character, which may not always be immediately certain. The sense is impeccably standard. Its potential for being used euphemistically should not be overlooked, however. Here, for instance, is Thomas H. Middleton reporting on the jargon of the nuclear power people: • A nuclear accident isn't called an accident; it's an "abnormal occurrence" or an "incident." —Saturday Rev., 1 May 1976 |
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