| 词组 | via |
| 释义 | via The English preposition via was taken directly from Latin in the late 18th century. It was used to mean "by way of; by a route passing through," as in "We traveled from Boston to Philadelphia via New York City." It continued to be used only in this way throughout the 19th century and into the 20th, during which time it was, according to available evidence, invariably printed in italics, an indication that those who used it still regarded it primarily as a Latin word. In the 1920s and 30s, however, changes began to occur: via began to appear in regular roman rather than in italic type, its use became more widespread, and it began to take on extended meanings. All of these changes indicate that via was working its way into the mainstream of English. It was being used increasingly by people who were not conscious of—or who were indifferent to—its Latin roots. Before long those who were conscious of its Latin roots took unfavorable notice of the new trend. The use of via to indicate the means of travel rather than the route taken, as in "We went to Chicago via train," was called "wrong, very wrong, misleadingly wrong" by Partridge 1942. Via was also being used to mean "by means of or "through the medium of in contexts having nothing to do with travel: • ... advertising via the screen —Harper's, March 1935 • ... to sugar-coat music for them via story-telling is to imply that music is a bitter pill —Saturday Rev., 25 Dec. 1939 Despite the protests of the few, these new uses of via caught on quickly with the many. Their popularity remains unabated today. Many modern commentators presumably find them inoffensive, since they make no mention of via in their books, but voices of criticism are still often raised (as in Bernstein 1965, Copperud 1970, 1980, Nickles 1974, and Bryson 1984). If you use via in any but its original sense, you still run the risk of ruffling a few feathers, but you will be in good company: • ... a deer can't move anywhere in this community without having its whereabouts flashed via the grapevine —E. B. White, New Yorker, 24 Dec. 1955 • I want to thank the officials and judges of the American Book Awards via whom this honor has come to me —John Updike, quoted in Publishers Weekly, 14 May 1982 • ... he was never able to rid himself of the thought that suicide via jumping from the nineteenth floor was a religious act —Norman Mailer, Harper's, March 1971 |
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