| 词组 | way |
| 释义 | way I The noun way has a sense that means approximately "manner, method." Woolley & Scott 1926 notice and disapprove uses of this sense in which what they think are necessary parts of the structure of the sentence are omitted. Here are a couple of examples to which we have added in brackets the parts Woolley & Scott would prefer to be included: • I never write [in] that way —John O'Hara, letter, 11 Oct. 1956 • The way [in which] the virtue of the purest is corrupted here is wonderful —Henry Adams, letter, 9 Feb. 1859 The objection seems to be to the use of the noun as if it were an adverb. But worse than that, way—as the way— can be used in constructions in which even more words are left out: • How do girls learn to smile [in] the way [in which or that] they do? —G. A. Birmingham, Found Money, 1923 Woolley & Scott recognize this use of way as a conjunction; their preferred revision replaces the way with as. The OED includes the adverbial uses Woolley & Scott object to; they date back as far as the 14th century. But coverage of the conjunction appears to be missing. The OED Supplement adds a conjunction, but it is Irish, and it means approximately "so that": • ... adroitly donning his wet hat the way he could raise it for politeness —Flann O'Brien, At Swim-Two-Birds, 1939 The Irish use can be found in Webster's Third also, but the only connection it bears to the use in the G. A. Birmingham example is that both are conjunctions (Webster's Third does not recognize the latter use though it recognizes a third conjunctional use that we will come to below). Here are a few more examples later than Birmingham: • ... makes orange juice the way Helen wants it — James Thurber, letter, 6 Oct. 1937 • Her dialogue reads the way a conversation overheard in a restaurant sounds —Jane O'Reilly, N. Y. Times Book Rev., 1 Apr. 1973 • ... I'm not making lasagna or Caesar salads the way I used to, but I'm stir-frying up a storm —And More by Andy Rooney, 1982 • His mother had been a scrubwoman, and he wasn't going to let these ladies suffer the way she had —Tip O'Neill with William Novak, Man of the House, 1987 Perhaps you noticed the fact that you could easily use the disputed conjunction like in place of the way in these examples. Perrin & Ebbitt 1972 noticed it; they say that this use of the way provides an escape from the choice between like and as. James Thurber used this escape route many times in his writing. The usage surveys of Leonard in 1932 and Crisp in 1971 both found no objection to this use of the way in American English; the people surveyed considered it established. Mittins 1970 and Longman 1984, however, report resistance to it in Great Britain. We do not know how common the construction is in British English. The way is used in a couple of other meanings. It can mean "in view of the manner in which"—the other sense to be found in Webster's Third: • ... he was nervous being around them the way they carried their rifles —Garrison Keillor, Lake Wobegon Days, 1985 It can also mean "how," especially in fixed phrases: • That's the way the cookie crumbles —Goodman Act, Saturday Rev., 16 Oct. 1976 • This is the way it goes with writers: they resent you to the degree that they depend on you —Jay Mclnerney, Bright Lights, Big City, 1984 If you are an American, you can feel safe using conjunctive the way in any of these three senses in writing of a casual tone; you may also find it a useful way to get around the like and as controversy. The dictionaries will eventually catch up with you and Thurber and the rest. II Way was first used as an adverb way back in the 13th century. An aphetic form of away— that is, a form created by the dropping of a short, unaccented vowel—it was used only occasionally until the 1800s. The now familiar use of way to mean "by a long distance or great amount; far"—as an intensifier, actually—was first recorded in 1849. This use quickly became established in American English and was eventually adopted by the British as well. It continues to be extremely common both in speech and writing: • ... in his place—and that's way, way down —William H. Whyte, Jr., Saturday Rev., 21 Nov. 1953 • ... is above cost, but abroad it goes for from thirty-five to fifty cents, which is way below —Dwight Macdonald, New Yorker, 3 Dec. 1955 • ... are way off base —Robert Shaplen, New Yorker, 27 Feb. 1954 • ... are way ahead of the faculties of almost all other nations —Kingman Brewster, Jr., Yale University: Report of President 1967-68 • ... falls way short of what might have been done — William Bundy, Saturday Rev., 10 June 1978 • ... the market ... was way down —William F. Buckley, Jr., New Yorker, 31 Jan. 1983 • ... moved way beyond any claims —Christopher Butler, After The Wake, 1980 The similar use of way to mean "all the way" also originated in the 19th century. It occurs primarily in American English: • ... was new way back in 1880 —Lewis Mumford, New Yorker, 26 Sept. 1953 • ... way out near the end of a scarcely travelled byroad —Robert M. Coates, New Yorker, 20 Oct. 1951 Usage commentators in the early 20th century tended to view the adverbial way with disfavor, but in recent decades it has won general acceptance. It was formerly written with an apostrophe, 'way, but such styling is no longer very common. See also ways. |
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