| 词组 | mostly |
| 释义 | mostly A number of handbooks comment on most and mostly, which you are warned not to confuse. The warning may be a lingering memory of the past, when mostly was used occasionally like most to mean "to the greatest degree." The OED marks this use obsolete, with its latest citation dated 1768. Our latest evidence is from Jane Austen: • ... the person whose society she mostly prized — Northanger Abbey, 1818 This use seems to be so archaic that it is not worth worrying about. It has probably dropped out of use because it would conflict directly—in the same positions—with the now prevalent meaning, "for the greatest part, mainly." Our current mostly tones down the meaning of a verb or adjective; the older use emphasized it. You can imagine what confusion there would be if both senses were still in use and you read these examples: • ... a pretty good training film, which is what this movie mostly resembles—People, 10 Oct. 1983 • Although the President carried his three-inch-thick briefing book as he padded to the beach ..., he mostly ignored it —Kurt Andersen, Time, 7 May 1984 • ... an eccentric lot who have mostly dropped out from the troublesome real world —Frank Rich, N Y. Times, 5 Apr. 1983 There is also some question about the propriety of mostly when it modifies a verb directly, as in the three examples just above. Although this use may be questioned on the basis of its elegance, there is no question that it is standard and common. Mostly is often used at the beginning of a sentence like a sentence adverb: • Mostly everyone had a jolly good time —Rick Telander, Sports Illustrated, 11 Aug. 1986 • ... mostly, I have spoken at colleges —William F. Buckley, Jr., New Yorker, 31 Jan. 1983 It can also be placed after the words it modifies: • ... a pamphlet which is to instruct and inspire filling station helpers and manicurists mostly —E. B. White, letter, 4 Feb. 1942 |
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