| 词组 | -wise |
| 释义 | -wise Despite its recent notoriety, -wise is no Johnny-come-lately combining form. It has been quietly used for centuries to mean "in the manner of (as in crabwise and fanwise) and "in the position or direction of (as in slantwise and clockwise). These uses of -wise are not controversial, but they have given birth to a controversial offspring. Since at least the late 1930s, -wise has been used to mean "with regard to; in respect of." Presumably this new use developed mainly from the "in the manner of sense of-wise, which has often been tacked onto nouns to form convenient nonce words: • ... his hands clasped Buddha-wise before him — Celestine Sibley, Saturday Evening Post, 27 Dec. 1958 Such adaptability is also one of the most noteworthy features of -wise meaning "with regard to." Our earliest evidence for the new sense of -wise is from 1938, when Fortune magazine was using it in the word percentagewise: • ... industrial sales remained more or less level percentagewise —Fortune, February 1938 • Percentagewise, the overhead costs plus profits for manufacturing industries went up —Fortune, March 1938 Other uses soon followed, in Fortune and elsewhere: • Vacationwise, the most exceptional characteristic of these prosperous people is that they can come and go pretty much as they like —Fortune, January 1939 • ... morale-wise it was a great victory —Time, 29 May 1944 • Mapwise, Arno looks like an old physiology picture of an amoeba —National Geographic, September 1945 • ... this kind of nationalist boasting is highly important propaganda-wise —John Gunther, Behind the Curtain, 1949 • ... to hold the party together and to make it effective election-wise —John Steinbeck, New Republic, 5 Jan. 1953 The rapid success of the new -wise is easily explained: it provided a simpler and shorter way to say things. Its use quickly became popular among many writers, including a fair number in the field of business, where its conciseness may have been felt to suggest a brisk, efficient, and businesslike manner: • ... to put that firm in a favorable competitive position, not only pricewise but also volumewise and qualitywise —Carl E. Borklund, Manual for Technicians, 1951 • Most expenses were higher dollarwise than in 1951 —Annual Report, Jewel Tea Co., 1952 • Earnings-wise, the C. & O. is not exceptional among U.S. railroads —Time, 15 Mar. 1954 The new -wise began to come in for criticism during the late 1950s, after it had been in use for about 20 years, and commentators have been nearly universal in their deprecation of it since. Although its use has never been limited to a single group, it has come to be widely identified—and derided—as a characteristic of businessmen's jargon. Many writers have made fun of its use: • I too think Fortune is in good shape organization-wise though understaffed as always good-writer-wise —Archibald MacLeish, letter, 20 July 1938 • This has been the summer of the great discontent and widespread confusion, weatherwise, healthwise, and otherwisewise —E. B. White, letter, 4 Sept. 1959 • Gentle, nonaggressive and stoned out of his mind, he'd struck Kate as slightly off balance yin-and-yang-wise—Cyra McFadden, The Serial, 1977 Nevertheless, it continues to be in fairly common use, especially in speech. It has established itself as a homely and workmanlike combining form, not much favored by those who aim for elegance and gracefulness in their writing. It continues to be used almost exclusively for the formation of nonce words. |
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