| 词组 | likely |
| 释义 | likely The use of likely as an adverb has drawn some negative comment in the 20th century. Bierce 1909 appears to have been the first to object. Although he finds likely perhaps a better choice than probably in "He will likely be elected," he revises the sentence to make likely an adjective: "He is likely to be elected." Sometime in the 1920s Bierce's reservations about the adverb were modified by others. The American Dialect Dictionary cites a stricture that the adverb likely must be accompanied by a qualifying adverb such as very, most, or quite, dating it simply "1920s cent. N.Y." Krapp 1927 also mentions such an opinion, although not subscribing to it. Fowler 1926 asserts the stricture absolutely, but he is referring to British usage; he allows that American usage may be different. Theodore Bernstein, however, censured the unmodified likely in three books (1962, 1965, 1977) and in numerous issues of Winners & Sinners, though we may suspect that he was finding it in the New York Times so often because it was in fact an established usage. The usage panels of Harper 1985 and Heritage 1969, 1982 side with Bernstein, and so do a few other commentators, such as Bremner 1980 and Janis 1984. Others— Copperud 1964, Flesch 1964, Reader's Digest 1983— demur. No proponent of the qualifier explains what it adds to the sentence. Only Bernstein goes beyond simple assertion to say that idiom requires it. What about the evidence? The OED shows the unmodified likely from 1380 to 1895, but the two late 19th-century citations are from Scotland and the north of England. Editor Henry Bradley marks the unqualified adverb as rare except in Scotland and in dialect. Gowers in Fowler 1965 notes spoken use in Scotland and Ireland. We have examples from Scotland, Ireland, and New Zealand in our files. The OED Supplement says the unqualified adverb is frequent in North America. If the OED citations are representative, it would appear that the unqualified adverb began to drop out of use in mainstream British English in the 19th century while it continued to be used in areas remote from the influence of London—Scotland, Ireland, North America (both the U.S. and Canada), and later New Zealand. Our evidence shows the unmodified likely used chiefly in what some handbooks call "general English"—the everyday language of the press and of most periodicals. We have little literary evidence other than use in fictitious speech, and no evidence of use in the most elevated style. Here are some typical examples: • A six-room apartment is not a house, and if you cook onions in one end of it, you'll likely smell them in the other —New Yorker, 29 Mar. 1952 • Canada likely will emphasize in the next few days that... — The Gazette (Montreal), 15 Apr. 1953 • The independents' future likely depends on just one thing—wresting away more of the market —Wall Street Jour., 19 May 1955 • Currants for Christmas puddings will likely be dearer this year —Sunday Post (Glasgow), 15 Aug. 1954 • The music, likely English, is first known in a manuscript of 1746 —William L. Purcell, American Record Guide, December 1962 • ... an expense which few card promoters would likely bear —Newsweek, 13 Nov. 1967 • Mr. Lowenstein, whose district likely never will win recognition for its wheat farms —N.Y. Times, 31 Jan. 1969 • ... a novel means of spacecraft propulsion based upon the extraction of energy from the electromagnetic field of the solar wind. He claims that it is conceptually possible to sail upwind by coupling the energy extracted to an appropriate engine, likely an ion engine —Charles P. Sonett, Science, 8 Dec. 1972 • ... and that money in turn will likely buy less — Carnegie Quarterly, Winter 1975 • ... the Soviets likely would decide to purchase grain in the future from non-US sources —Jonathan Harsch, Christian Science Monitor, 7 May 1980 • The painting was likely finished in the winter of 1795 —Michael Olmert, Smithsonian, February 1982 • ... it is not a scientific exercise professionals will likely cite —Peter G. Veit, Natural History, August 1983 • ... has been the most contentious issue between the U.S. and China for 35 years, and will likely remain so —Kurt Andersen, Time, 1 May 1984 • But Ruthton women likely hadn't gone to college — Andrew H. Malcolm, N.Y. Times Mag., 23 Mar. 1986 To sum up, the use of likely as an adverb without a qualifier such as more, most, very, or quite is well established in standard general use in North America. It is an old use, dating back to the 14th century. The strictures on it seem to have developed because it dropped out of mainstream literary use in England during the 19th century. See also liable 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。