| 词组 | whatever |
| 释义 | whatever 1. Our evidence suggests that few people nowadays have occasion to write such a sentence as "Whatever did you mean by that?" However, if you do find yourself writing such a sentence, you may wonder whether or not you should insert a space between the what and the ever. Fowler 1926 was certain that the space should be there, and the OED also indicates that whatever is "more properly written as two words" in such contexts. The reasoning behind that opinion is straightforward: the ever was originally an intensive adverb added to such a sentence as "What did you mean by that?" in order to emphasize the bewilderment of the questioner (compare the adverbial phrase in the world in "What in the world did you mean by that?"). Those who favor keeping what and ever separate in such sentences believe that the ever is still properly regarded as a distinct word. The tendency to make the two words into one is strong, however, if only because the single word whatever is so common in its other, uncontroversial uses ("do whatever you want," "use whatever means are necessary," "no help whatever," etc.). The OED shows that whatever was being treated by some writers as an interrogative pronoun synonymous with what as far back as the 14th century. Current practice is hard to determine because this use of whatever (or of what ever) rarely occurs in writing, being limited entirely to questions that are far more likely to be spoken than written. The issue is, therefore, almost entirely academic. Nevertheless, a few recent commentators have expressed a strong preference for the two-word treatment (most do not address the subject), while almost all dictionaries now recognize the interrogative whatever as standard. These general observations also hold true for such analogous terms as however ("However will we get there?"), whenever ("Whenever will they leave?"), and wherever ("Wherever did you put it?"). 2. Fowler 1926 also warned against following whatever with that, as in "He dismisses whatever arguments that have been made against him." In such a sentence, whatever is being used as a synonym for any. There is some historical precedent for such usage, and we suspect that its occurrence in speech may be fairly common, but our evidence shows that it is extremely rare in edited writing. We think you would be well advised to omit that. 3. In recent decades, whatever has come to be widely used in the sense "whatever else might be mentioned; whatnot." This use of whatever occurs at the end of a series and is usually preceded by or: • ... you drive along in comfort until you find your buffalo or rhinoceros or whatever —Alan Moore-head, New Yorker, 8 June 1957 • ... their current stocks of beer, toothpaste, or whatever —A. J. Liebling, New Yorker, 12 Jan. 1957 • ... we are always asking: Can I marry the girl I love? Can I sell my house? or whatever —W. H. Auden, Columbia Forum, Winter 1970 Sometimes the or is dropped: • ... to provide baby-sitting, housekeeping, whatever —Gail Sheehy, McCall's, March 1971 • ... a play, a film, a series of paintings, whatever — Henry Bromell, Change, November 1971 This use of whatever has an obvious informal quality, and its popularity might be expected to raise a few hackles, but it has so far attracted little criticism. Howard 1980, in fact, finds that "the new use evidently fills a need, and can, on occasions, be charming as well as useful." |
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