| 词组 | loath, loathe, loth |
| 释义 | loath, loathe, loth Copperud 1970, 1980 points out that loath is an adjective, loathe a verb; so do several others. Bernstein 1977 begins, "A reputable newspaper contained this sentence: 'But, curiously, in an institution loathe to make decisions, they are ready to judge a President.' That is a gaffe that is not uncommon." Reader's Digest 1983 terms the spelling loathe for the adjective an error. Few dictionaries record the spelling: the OED notes loathe as a 17th century variant; Webster's Third allows it as a secondary (also) variant, as do its derivative dictionaries (Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, for instance) and Longman 1984, which advises sticking to loath for the adjective, loathe for the verb. If people would follow this advice, the language would no doubt be tidier; unfortunately they do not. The reason seems to be pronunciation: many people rhyme the adjective with the verb, voicing the th, and some of them use the spelling loathe which represents their pronunciation. There appears to be no confusion; all of our citations using the loathe spelling for the adjective, from 1924 to 1984, are unambiguous (as is Bernstein's example)—no one is likely to be misled. A recent example: • ... eager specialists who impressed me not only because they seemed to know what they were about but because they were articulate and not loathe ... to let me learn —Laurence Urdang, Datamation, March 1984 The spelling loth is more common in British usage than American; American usage of loth was more common in the past than it is at present. Things will be neater if you use loath (or loth) for the adjective, loathe for the verb. But if loathe represents your pronunciation of the adjective, you need not be afraid to use it. It is a legitimate variant. |
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