| 词组 | bulk |
| 释义 | bulk Bryson 1984 notes that "a few authorities"— among them Copperud 1970, Longman 1984, Phythian 1979, Janis 1984, Shaw 1975—object to the use of the bulk of when it means "the greater part of, the majority of and would restrict it to contexts involving volume and mass. He discounts this criticism noting that Gowers in Fowler 1965 says the usage is more than 200 years old (the OED cites it from Addison in 1711) and that Bernstein 1965 thinks no other word conveys quite the same idea of generalized and unquantified assessment. "So use it as you will," he recommends. Such criticism as there is tends to be somewhat diffuse: it is not clear whether the objection is to the use of bulk with things that are abstract and have no physical quantity, or to its use with count nouns. Our most recent evidence shows these facts: The bulk of is used with plural count nouns that may be thought of as a mass: • But in the bulk of Connolly's writings such thoughtful, sharp-eyed perceptions are the exception —Hilton Kramer, N.Y. Times Book Rev., 19 Feb. 1984 • A word isn't given legitimate status by a vote ... but by a subtle consensus—by its being used by the bulk of literate people —Thomas H. Middleton, Saturday Rev., 8 Feb. 1975 • ... even behind the Iron Curtain, where the bulk of the citizens dread war as much as we do —Donald R. Morris, Houston Post, 14 Sept. 1984 The bulk of is equally often used with mass nouns, to many of which no physical dimensions can be assigned: • ... units which were doing the bulk of the fighting — Times Literary Supp., 22 Oct. 1971 • According to the vast bulk of evidence —Thomas H. Middleton, Saturday Rev., August 1978 • ... does the bulk of the work himself —Newgate Callendar, N.Y. Times Book Rev., 24 Apr. 1983 • ... the bulk of the precinct is wretchedly ugly —Dan Greenburg, Playboy, June 1980 All of these uses are perfectly standard. "So use it as you will"—to quote Bryson once more. |
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