| 词组 | when, where |
| 释义 | when, where A substantial number of recent usage books and schoolbooks object to the use of is when or is where in framing definitions, which use is often described as childish or immature. Bryant 1962 finds the objection to be founded on the theory that it is improper to have a clause introduced by where or when follow the verb be. The usual argument runs that such clauses are adverbial and either a noun construction is needed after be or a verb (such as occur) that can take an adverb clause. (For another usage problem that is argued similarly, see reason is because) Bryant's cited studies show, however, that when and where clauses are commonly used after be in standard writing: • Midnight ... is when the hydrogen war starts — Thomas K. Finletter, New Republic, 21 Feb. 1955 • Experiences were many. Perhaps the most exciting was when the driving, sleety snowstorms came on winter nights —Willa Cather, The Old Beauty, 1948 (in Bryant) • Another exception is when you are writing for a specific market —Clement Wood, Poets' Handbook, 1940 • He wanted the tree to be where he could enjoy it — New Yorker, 21 Dec. 1957 (in Bryant) • And that is where you come in —John O'Hara, letter, 23 June 1959 • ... Harlem was where the action was —Ishmael Reed, N. Y. Times Book Rev., 29 Aug. 1976 • This is where I say that I don't believe in scientists —James Thurber, letter, 6 Oct. 1937 • ... it's not smug to point out that anguish is where some artists need to live —Stanley Kauffmann, Saturday Rev., 1 Nov. 1975 Recent commentators do not object to standard uses like these, even though they fall into the area covered by the general rule. Their objection is to definitions. These are harder to find in print, but they turn up once in a while: • Cop-out is when you duck an issue and refuse to face up to your thing —Ruth Nathan, Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio), 22 Dec. 1968 • What is humor? Humor is when you laugh —Earl Rovit, American Scholar, Spring 1967 • Home is where you check your hat —New Yorker, 26 Oct. 1957 (in Bryant) This issue appears to have had its origin in Goold Brown 1851, in which both the general principle and its specific application to definitions were laid down: • Note VI.—The adverb when, while, or where, is not fit to follow the verb is in a definition, or to introduce a clause taken substantively; because it expresses identity, not of being, but of time or place Early 20th-century handbooks—MacCracken & Sandi-son 1917, Ball 1923, Woolley & Scott 1926, Jensen 1935, for instance—carried a version of Goold Brown's general rule, but the objected-to constructions were almost always definitions. As we have already noted, few recent commentators bother with the general principle at all, which is just as well—there never has been any factual basis for it. Leonard 1929 tells us that the is when, is where definition was freely utilized throughout the 18th century, and he gives short examples from the grammarians Greenwood (who originally published in 1711) and Lowth (who originally published in 1762). The evidence provided by Goold Brown bears out Leonard's observation. It includes a list of forty or so definitions drawn from grammar books, the bulk of which were originally published in the 18th century. Here are two of Goold Brown's examples: • A Solecism is when the rules of Syntax are transgressed —Alexander Adam, Latin and English Grammar, 1772 • A Proper Diphthong is where both the Vowels are sounded together; as oi in Voice —A. Fischer, Grammar, 1753 It might be noted that Goold Brown's examples contain many more definitions with is when than with is where. The 18th-century grammarians and their 19th-century imitators clearly found nothing wrong with is when and is where definitions. On the contrary, they must have thought them effective. But things seem to have changed after Goold Brown. A modern grammarian would not be caught dead writing such a definition, even though Bryant demonstrates that the is when definition sometimes can be both more compendious and more understandable than one framed to avoid is when. The dearth of printed examples leads her to conclude that is when definitions are knowingly avoided in writing, although they are common in speech. It may be that they sound too unsophisticated (or "childish," as the commentators would say) for written use. Our most recent examples are from speech, like this one: • I've always said that power is when people think you have power —Tip O'Neill with William Novak, Man of the House, 1987 For whatever reason, it is no longer possible for grammarians and lexicographers to use the handy and understandable is when definition. This was regretted years ago by one of our colleagues during work on a dictionary intended for the elementary grades. You, too, will probably want to avoid is when definitions in your writing. The other is where, is when constructions are normal and standard. Where and when have been heading clauses used as nouns since Old English. Do not be afraid of either when it sounds right. For another branch of this tree, see where 2. |
| 随便看 |
|
英语用法大全包含2888条英语用法指南，基本涵盖了全部常用英文词汇及语法点的翻译及用法，是英语学习的有利工具。