| 词组 | minimal |
| 释义 | minimal Why is there a problem about minimal? There seem to be two reasons: increase in use of the word in recent years, and dictionary definitions that fail to explain that use any too clearly. As a result the commentators are concerned, because they do not know how to gauge the usage that they see. Gowers in Fowler 1965 thinks minimal is supposed to be limited in meaning to "least possible" and is vexed when he finds it used otherwise; Shaw 1975, 1987 seems to share Gowers's view. Janis 1984 and Bolinger 1980 are conscious of ambiguity in some uses of the word. Bolinger gives this example from a sociologist: • The channels are organized so that minimal accuracy is maintained. Bolinger recognizes that the writer cannot have meant "least possible"; he suspects that "at least some" was the intended meaning. But both interpretations are possible. The real problem here, we think, is the sociologist's failure to signal clearly the meaning he intended. The sense deduced by Bolinger is in widespread use, but in most cases, as we think you will see from the examples, the sense is clearly signaled. Contributing to all this uncertainty is a tendency of dictionary definers to try to cram everything into one definition—the definitions in the OED, Webster's Second, and Webster's Third all suffer from this weakness. Such treatment is perhaps inevitable when evidence of the divergence of meaning is not plentiful, but in fact evidence has been quite plentiful for quite a long time. It would thus appear that we lexicographers could have been more diligent—and more helpful. If we set aside technical uses—including minimal art and its various related terms in theater, decoration, design, and fashion—we find that the general uses of minimal fall into three broad groups. The first of these is the "least possible" sense the commentators mention. This appears to be the smallest of the three groups; it is identified most readily by the application of minimal to a noun denoting something undesirable: • Their object was to deal China a crushing blow with a minimal expenditure of men and materials — Nathaniel Peffer, Harper's, September 1938 • ... it is contoured to slice through the air with minimal fuel-wasting drag —advt., Wall Street Jour., 28 May 1980 • Following the principle of self-reliance, the Chinese are proud that shops are set up with minimal expense —Rhea Menzel Whitehead, Saturday Rev., 4 Mar. 1972 • The formula could work this year if injuries are minimal —Paul Zimmerman, Sports Illustrated, 1 Sept. 1982 A more frequently met sense is the one noticed by Bolinger. In this use the etymological minimum is viewed as the least that is acceptable rather than possible. We could define it roughly as "being a bare minimum; barely adequate; at least some." • ... recognition of the Russians as human entities, with certain minimal human rights —Harper's, June 1935 • ... the minimal virtues of good poetry are those of good prose —Joseph Wood Krutch, Samuel Johnson, 1944 • ... for the maintenance of minimal German living standards —William Harlan Hale, Harper's, December 1945 • ... held back in agreeing to even the minimal inspection —Norman Cousins, Saturday Rev., 30 Oct. 1971 • ... too poorly trained and motivated to hold even minimal jobs —Sylvia Nasar, Fortune, 17 Mar. 1986 • ... hoping for a minimal excuse to hail Woody Allen —Stanley Kauffmann, Before My Eyes, 1980 • ... are making more than a minimal living —Henry Hewes, Saturday Rev., 1 Nov. 1975 The third use probably would have been tagged "loosely" by the definers of 50 years ago, if they had defined it. In this use minimal merely means "very small," often with a connotation of insignificance; what is minimal is often hardly worth mentioning or hardly worthy of notice. • The opportunity of beating the opposition on a story is minimal —Harry Reasoner, quoted in TV Guide, 6 Nov. 1965 • ... brought together everything, with minimal exceptions —Irving Kolodin, Saturday Rev., 28 June 1975 • ... touches Africa at two or three points on its tour around the world, but the students' exposure to Africa is minimal —John Coyne, Change, March 1973 • ... had a minimal interest in the world outside — Joyce Carol Oates, N.Y. Times Book Rev., 15 Apr. 1973 • ... public opinion soon wrote off the Atlantic Charter as of minimal importance —Times Literary Supp., 9 Apr. 1970 • The anal emphasis is necessary because Miss Birkin has minimal mammaries and a second-rate face — John Simon, New York, 8 Mar. 1976 |
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