| 词组 | myself |
| 释义 | myself In the New York Times Magazine for 1 Feb. 1981, William Safire quotes outgoing President Jimmy Carter: • I will work hard to make sure that the transition from myself to the next President is a good one. Safire opines that the use of myself is "an unstylish, though not incorrect, use." He then goes on to recommend myself be used as an intensive, "not as a cutesy turning away from the harsh 'me'." Not mentioned in this article is the substitution of myself for I, in which Reader's Digest 1983 detected Safire indulging himself: • No longer were Price, Buchanan, and myself part of the innermost circle —Before the Fall, 1974 "One cannot escape the impression that over the last couple of decades or so there has been a marked increase in the use of 'myself for 'me'," says Foster 1968. He gives a few examples, including this one: • The Daily Express immediately asked myself, Hastings and Osborne to contribute to a series of articles called "Angry Young Men" —Colin Wilson, Encounter, November 1959 If we look at the three examples so far given, we can see that in the first myself replaced me as the object of a preposition, in the second it replaced I as the subject of a verb, and in the third it replaced me as the object of a verb. These three functions are the chief ones in which myself replaces I or me. We will subdivide them somewhat, and pick out a few particular items for notice. The substitution of myself 'for I or me had not escaped the notice of commentators earlier than Foster and Safire. Indeed it has been the subject of considerable comment for at least a century, from as early as Ayres 1881 to Harper 1985 and Trimmer & McCrimmon 1988. Two general statements can be made about what these critics say concerning myself: first, they do not like it, and second, they do not know why. An index to their uncertainty can be found in this list of descriptors that they have variously attached to the practice: snobbish, unstylish, self-indulgent, self-conscious, old-fashioned, timorous, colloquial, informal, formal, nonstandard, incorrect, mistaken, literary, and unacceptable in formal written English. Goold Brown's remark seems apropos here: "Grammarians would perhaps differ less, if they read more." The handful of commentators who have done real research have found the usage surprisingly widespread in literary sources. Hall 1917, for instance, found it in 37 authors from Malory to Robert Louis Stevenson. But Hall is longer on lists of names than on actual quotations. We will try to be long on examples. We have grouped the examples according to the three main types of usage we mentioned above. Please note, by the way, that other reflexive pronouns—ourselves, thyself, himself herself—are used in the same way as myself; a few examples of these are included among the greater number for myself. First, myself as the subject of a sentence. As sole subject, myself is not common except in poetry: • Myself hath often overheard them say —Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus, 1594 • My selfe am so neare drowning? —Ben Jonson, Ode IvdovmaaTiKT], 1601 • Myself when young did eagerly frequent —Edward FitzGerald, The Rubâiyât of Omar Khayyam, 1859 • Somehow myself survived the night —Emily Dickinson, 1871 But when the reflexive pronoun is part of a compound subject, prose examples abound: • ... Williams, and Desmoulins, and myself are very sickly —Samuel Johnson, letter, 2 Mar. 1782 • From the moment Mrs. Washington and myself adopted the two youngest children —George Washington, letter (in Pooley 1974) • ... both myself & my Wife must —William Blake, letter, 6 July 1803 • ... the Post & not yourself must have been unpunc-tual —Jane Austen, letter, 1 Nov. 1800 • I will presume that Mr. Murry and myself can agree that for our purpose these counters are adequate — T. S. Eliot, "The Function of Criticism," in Selected Essays, 1932 • The King, myself, Lord Halifax, a British Admiral, Adm. Leahy, Lascelles, the Secretary of State in that order around the table —Harry S. Truman, diary, 5 Aug. 1945 • In fact, Colonel Jimmy Gault, his British Aide, and myself got in quite a sweat —George S. Patton, Jr., War as I Knew It, 1947 • Harry and myself had the black oursin needles in our toes —William Sansom, The Face of Innocence, 1952 • The Dewas party and myself got out at a desolate station —E. M. Forster, The Hill of Devi, 1953 • When writing an aria or an ensemble Chester Kail-man and myself always find it helpful —W. H. Auden, Times Literary Supp., 2 Nov. 1967 • Although Rosenman, others and myself continued to press for this postwar domestic legislation —Chester Bowles, Promises to Keep, 1971 We also find it tacked on to the subject in an appositive: • ... but I had got tickets for 3, so we braved it, two young ladies ... and self —Lewis Carroll, letter, 12 Apr. 1881 • ... the four of us, John, Wally, Tom, and myself, moved into the astronaut quarters —Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Gemini: A Personal Account of Man's Venture into Space, 1968 • ... in the course of which several other film critics, myself included, have to take their lumps —Simon 1980 • The four of us—Baker, Darman, Regan and myself—were an odd lot —David A. Stockman, Newsweek, 28 Apr. 1986 Next, myself as the object of a verb and as a predicate noun. Most of these examples involve groups of names. • The company was, Miss Hannah More, ... Mrs. Boscawen, Mrs. Elizabeth Carter, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Dr. Burney, Dr. Johnson, and myself —James Boswell, Life of Samuel Johnson, 1791 • ... appointed Mr. Francis, then attorney-general and myself to draw up constitutions for the government of the academy —Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography, 1788 • ... it will find him here, as it will myself —Thomas Jefferson, letter, 27 Feb. 1809 • Mrs. Ives wants Mary Preston and myself to translate a French play —Mary Chesnut, diary, 4 Jan. 1864 • ... T. R. Smith, then managing editor of the Century Magazine, telephoned Mencken and myself at our office —The Intimate Notebooks of George Jean Nathan, 1932 • ... which will reconcile Max Lerner with Felix Frankfurter and myself with God —E. B. White, letter, 4 Feb. 1942 • ... Brinsley said that he was prepared to give myself and Donaghy a pint of stout apiece —Flann O'Brien, At Swim-Two-Birds, 1939 • During the lunch hour the male clerks usually went out, leaving myself and the three girls behind — Frank O'Connor, New Yorker, 11 Jan. 1958 • He said with a smile, "You Unitarians"—meaning Ted Sorensen and myself—"keep writing Catholic speeches." —Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., in Life, 16 July 1965 Before we move on to use of myself as the object of a preposition, we will give you some examples where the reflexive pronoun seems particularly popular—after those words whose status as preposition or conjunction is a matter of some dispute, words like as, than, and like: • ... when mortals no bigger—no, not so big as—ourselves are looked up to —Henry Adams, letter, 13 Feb. 1861 • Some very odd people turn up hereabouts, usually hoping to find me as unconventional as themselves —Flannery O'Connor, letter, 6 Nov. 1960 • We are not unwilling to believe that Man wiser than ourselves —Samuel Johnson, The Rambler No. 87, 15 Jan. 1751 • ... no one would feel more gratified by the chance of obtaining his observations on a work than myself —Lord Byron, letter, 23 Aug. 1811 • ... Mr. Rushworth could hardly be more impatient for the marriage than herself —Jane Austen, Mansfield Park, 1814 • I think few persons have a greater disgust for plagiarism than myself —Oliver Wendell Holmes d. 1894, The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table, 1857 • ... he judged her to be a year or so younger than himself—James Joyce, Dubliners, 1914 • ... her first husband, who was much older than herself —George Bernard Shaw, Preface, The Shaw-Terry Letters, 1937 • Her view is that he is a rare soul, a finer being either than herself or her husband —E. L. Doctorow, Loon Lake, 1979 • ... an eager lover like myself —William Wycherly, The Country Wife, 1675 • I have, like yourself, a wonderful pleasure in recollecting our travels in those islands —James Boswell, letter to Samuel Johnson, 9 Sept. 1777 • To-morrow I bury her, and then I shall be quite alone, with nothing but a cat to remind me that the house has been full of living things like myself — Charles Lamb, letter, 12 May 1800 • Like myself, she was vexed at his getting married — Samuel Butler, The Way of All Flesh, 1903 • ... to see a man, who ... in the dusk looked for all the world like myself —Robert Frost, letter, 10 Feb. 1912 • You know by now what a word from you means to any of the rest of us—& particularly to one like myself—Archibald MacLeish, letter, 9 Sept. 1926 • Only among older chaps like myself —Kingsley Amis, quoted in The Writer's Place, ed. Peter Fir-chow, 1974 • ... as to which I felt no one to be trusted but myself —Henry James, The Art of the Novel, 1934 Finally, myself as the object of some ordinary prepositions: • Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself—Exodus 19:4 (AV), 1611 • But, I warrant you, I have a Proviso in the Obligation in favour of my self —William Congreve, Love for Love, 1695 • The pheasant I gave to Mr. Richardson, the bustard to Dr. Lawrence, and the pot I placed with Miss Williams, to be eaten by myself —Samuel Johnson, letter, 9 Jan. 1758 • So much for my patient—now for myself —Jane Austen, letter, 17 Nov. 1798 • ... the Russians were playing a double game, between ourselves —W. M. Thackeray, The Book of Snobs, 1846 • ... it will require the combined efforts of Maggie, Providence, and myself —Emily Dickinson, letter, April 1873 • ... with Dorothy Thompson and myself among the speakers —Alexander Woollcott, letter, 11 Nov. 1940 • There are also two captions for Hokinson, one by myself and one by my secretary —James Thurber, letter, 20 Aug. 1948 • Indeed I hope that you will have time, amongst your numerous engagements, to have a meal with my wife and myself —T. S. Eliot, letter, 7 May 1957 • ... a monitoring exercise of BBC radio in mid-1979 undertaken by Professor Denis Donoghue, Mr Andrew Timothy and myself —Burchfield 1981 (Introduction) • ... and the Druid cannot imagine the magazine without himself —Jay Mclnerney, Bright Lights, Big City, 1984 • ... I would have sent it to James T. Farrell or myself —Mary McCarthy, Occasional Prose, 1985 In the course of this article, you have seen examples spoken or written by some forty-odd people—poets, politicians, playwrights, novelists, essayists, diarists, statesmen, even lexicographers. The evidence should make it plain that the practice of substituting myself or other reflexive pronouns for ordinary personal pronouns is not new—these examples range over four centuries—and is not rare. It is true that many of the examples are from speech and personal letters, suggesting familiarity and informality. But the practice is by no means limited to informal contexts. Only the use of myself as sole subject of a sentence seems to be restricted; all our examples are from older poetry. You will have to decide for yourself when such substitution is appropriate in your writing, and the examples above should offer you sound guidance if you are attentive to them. You will note in the examples that the context in which each reflexive pronoun appears seems natural to the writer or speaker. Use it only when it seems natural to you. Lesser literary figures than those cited do use the construction, too, and some of them no doubt do so for some of the many invidious reasons suggested by the commentators' labels. As an example of what you will want to avoid, we present this bit from a letter of inquiry received here in 1985; the writer is clearly trying to elevate his style beyond his capacity: • Quite recently, while using your lexicon, a rather interesting enigma manifested itself; one which I hope you can elucidate for myself. If you can resist this sort of temptation, reasonable use of myself ought not to give you much trouble. See also yourself, yourselves. |
| 随便看 |
|
英语用法大全包含2888条英语用法指南，基本涵盖了全部常用英文词汇及语法点的翻译及用法，是英语学习的有利工具。