| 词组 | materialize |
| 释义 | materialize Several common uses of this verb have been the object of critical commentary throughout much of the 20th century. In its oldest sense, materialize is a transitive verb meaning " to give material form to," as in "materialize an idea by writing it down." That sense dates back to 1710. The 19th century saw the development of several additional senses, including "to make materialistic," "to cause (a spirit) to appear in bodily form," and "to assume bodily form," as in "The ghost materialized." None of these senses have been disputed. But two other senses from the 19th century have not fared as well—"to make an appearance; appear suddenly": • Some fifteen or twenty hounds that suddenly materialized among the bee-hives —Miss Murfree, The Prophet of the Great Smoky Mountain, 1885 (OED) and "to come into existence; develop into something tangible": • Year after year passed and these promises failed to materialise —Blackwell's Mag., May 1891 (OED) These uses have been treated as standard in dictionaries since 1905, when the OED entry for materialize was first published. They have been treated as standard in Merriam-Webster dictionaries since the publication of Webster 1909. They have been criticized by usage commentators at least since MacCracken & Sandison 1917. The commentators have tended to regard materialize as an unnecessary, pretentious, or (at best) overused substitute for such plain verbs as appear and happen. A few would allow it in such a context as "The promised money never materialized," inasmuch as money does have actual, material existence; but its use of something lacking material substance, as in "No new accusations have materialized," is routinely disparaged. Evans 1957, for example, finds that it is "incorrect and often borders on the silly." Yet, materialize is a common verb in its disputed senses, and its use is by no means limited to careless or pretentious writers. In its "appear" sense, it is especially useful in describing an appearance that is made suddenly, as if by magic: • An instant later, a silk hat materialized in the air beside me —J. D. Salinger, New Yorker, 19 Nov. 1955 • A man on a bicycle suddenly materialized in front of our car —Saturday Rev., 19 Feb. 1966 • ... an LBJ staffer materialized to get Sam into his formal attire —Larry L. King, Harper's, April 1970 • ... I reached absently for one only to have Mrs. Foster materialize at my elbow —Jay Jacobs, Gourmet, August 1973 • The drinks ... materialized on glass tables —John Updike, Bech Is Back, 1982 • ... several Israeli Army jeeps quickly materialized a month ago when students demonstrated —Trudy Rubin, Christian Science Monitor, 16 Jan. 1980 The sense "come into existence" also has distinct qualities. It usually occurs in negative constructions ("failed to materialize"), describing something that was hoped for or anticipated but did not happen or appear: • It is heart-warming also to know that you had plans for me at Fortune even if they never did materialize —Archibald MacLeish, letter, September 1938 • The rain didn't materialize—instead we had a beautiful day —E. B. White, letter, 27 Aug. 1940 • The expected rally in Emerson failed to materialize —Malcolm Cowley, The Literary Situation, 1954 • ... a research fellowship would have been possible.... The fact that none ever materialised was a source of lasting disappointment —K. M. Elisabeth Murray, Caught in the Web of Words, 1977 • ... outfielders signed to expensive contracts last winter in order to lead the Yankees into a heralded new era of speed and contact hitting, were hesitantly and awkwardly moved in and out of the lineup, but the speedball attack never materialized —Roger Angell, New Yorker, 29 Nov. 1982 • ... a large sum of money that had been promised by an Eastern benefactor did not materialize —Garrison Keillor, Lake Wobegon Days, 1985 The old prejudice against these uses of materialize lingers on, but their place in standard English is nonetheless established, and has been for many decades. |
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