| 词组 | mad |
| 释义 | mad 1. The use of mad to mean "angry" was criticized in 1781 by the Reverend John Witherspoon (reprinted in Mathews 1931), who said "In this instance mad is only a metaphor for angry.... It is not found in any accurate writer, nor used by any good speaker" except for rhetorical effect. He was uncertain of its geographical province, discussing it under the heading of Americanisms but saying it was "perhaps an English vulgarism." The issue resurfaced a century later when an Englishman named Richard A. Proctor blamed the usage on Americans, who had "manifestly impaired the language." In rebuttal, Ayres 1881 quoted from Shakespeare and the Bible to show that the "angry" meaning had a proper English pedigree; however, the notion that it is an Americanism recurs from time to time in later commentators. Several of Ayres's contemporaries found the usage unexceptionable, and though the 1881 edition of Worcester called it "colloquial," the rest of his comment was neutral rather than hostile. Such leniency was dispelled in the early 1900s as Vizetelly 1906, Bierce 1909, MacCracken & Sandison 1917, Baker 1927, and Jensen 1935, among others, raised their pens in unanimous protest. A common complaint labeled the usage a "careless colloquialism"; the proper, formal meaning was held to be "insane" or "crazy." One or two commentators claimed that although the "angry" use had formerly been proper, it had become unacceptable. More recent commentators hold a wider variety of opinions. Nicholson 1957 calls the usage "slang"; Guth 1985 calls it "informal"; some, such as Macmillan 1982 and Bell & Cohn 1981, reiterate the colloquial angry/ formal insane distinction; and Flesch 1964, Bernstein 1971, and Reader's Digest 1983 all find the use of mad to mean "angry" perfectly acceptable. Copperud 1980 goes so far as to say that the objection "is now a nearly forgotten pedantry." Some people obviously have longer memories than others. As Ayres and even some of the detractors have pointed out, the "angry" sense can be found in earlier British usage, including Shakespeare and the Bible. Evidence dating from the resurgence of the criticism to the present shows the "angry" sense of mad being used on several levels. There is evidence for a certain amount— though not a great deal—of literary use. More common use is found in general nonfiction, in fictional narrative and dialogue, in informal writing such as correspondence, and of course in speech: • I am sometimes so mad with myself when I think over it all —Anthony Trollope, The Last Chronicle ofBarset, 1867 (OED) • Being mad that he did not answer, and more at his laughing so —William Butler Yeats, The Green Helmet, 1910 • The veterans formulated their own rules such as ( 1 ) to discuss their most intimate problems, (2) never to get mad and (3) to confine the discussions to the meeting-period —Nathan Blackman, Psychiatric Quarterly, January 1948 • Both the Moroccans and the Spanish are mad at France— Ti me, 1 Feb. 1954 • They do not much mind if Papandreou makes those important people mad —Jane Kramer, New Yorker, .24 May 1982 • "Marjorie," he pleaded, "what's the matter? Are you mad? ..." —Booth Tarkington, Penrod, 1914 • I was so mad the way father was talking that I thought I could shoot the man —Liam O'Flaherty, The Informer, 1925 • "I've got a mean disposition. Attempted assassinations make me mad." —Dashiell Hammett, Red Harvest, 1929 • "I was mad," he said. "I have a pretty bad temper...." —John Steinbeck, The Moon Is Down, 1942 • "Your dying-Jesus grin," Jane called it, when she was mad at me —Christopher Isherwood, in New World Writing, 1952 • ... they get mad and stay that way about six hours and then everything is dandy again —Flannery O'Connor, letter, 5 Oct. 1957 • I want the North to be mad. —William H. Seward, quoted by Henry Adams, letter, 29 Dec. 1860 • He used to call me "boy." That made me mad — Senator Burton K. Wheeler, quoted in Studs Terkel, Hard Times, 1970 2. Mad can be followed by the prepositions about, at, for, on, with, and occasionally over. People who are angry are mad at or less often mad with people or things; they are also sometimes mad about things. People who are carried away by enthusiasm are mad about, mad for, or, if they are British, mad on something or someone. People who are frantic or wild are mad with something. • ... the farmers' union, mad at the administration because of low agricultural prices —Tad Szulc, Saturday Rev., 29 Apr. 1978 • This boy is not calling me up to find out if I am mad with him —Flannery O'Connor, letter, 1 Aug. 1957 • Mad about the prices, mad about the sloppy workmanship and mad at myself for being so dumb about cars —Vivian Gerber, quoted in Progressive Woman, October 1972 • Patently, she's mad about him —Archibald Mac-Leish, Botteghe Oscure, Quaderno XI, 1953 • My family are nearly all gone, and I'm not mad about the few that are left —Sir John Gielgud, quoted in People, 19 Oct. 1981 • My friend, Mrs. Fraser, is mad for such a house — Jane Austen, Mansfield Park, 1814 • Jim, mad for the sea after his first taste of salt water, acquired a small schooner yacht —John Dos Passos, Chosen Country, 1951 • ... middle-class Robbie and working-class Kevin, who are both mad on cars —Times Literary Supp., 3 Dec. 1971 • ... a stupid cocotte who has begun by driving him mad with jealousy —Edmund Wilson, Axel's Castle, 1931 • ... he made his first appearance in Paris, which promptly went mad over him —Deems Taylor, Music to My Ears, 1949 3. Like mad, stigmatized as slang by Shaw 1975 and Freeman 1983, appears with some frequency in general publications as well as in speech: • Big city department stores are decentralizing like mad, and supermarkets spring up overnight in the wilderness, their cash registers tinkling an obbligato to the bullfrog chorus from the surrounding swamps —Weare Holbrook, Atlantic, December 1954 • Anyway, the executive strode through the rain with his head erect and his brain executiving like mad — Ralph Knight, Saturday Evening Post, 25 Dec. 1954 • ... people rush around like mad —Herman Wouk, Marjorie Morningstar, 1955 • ... "the kids' program," advises Bob Kingsbury, "is expanding like mad." —Dun's, October 1971 • Made by his wife Rose, they were covered in plush stuffed with excelsior, and sold like mad —Catherine Calvert, Town & Country, December 1982 |
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