| 词组 | can't seem |
| 释义 | can't seem • I must be nervous this afternoon. I can't seem to settle down to anything —Kathleen Norris, The Passing Show, 6 Dec. 1933 (in Partridge 1942) The expression can't seem is an idiom that came under critical scrutiny during the last quarter of the 19th century. It was apparently first noticed by Scheie De Vere in his 1872 book of Americanisms. He characterizes it as an odd use Yankees make of seem, apparently quoting or paraphrasing a comment made somewhere by James Russell Lowell. Bardeen 1883 interprets this to mean that seem is used redundantly. There were others who found redundancy in this use—Utter 1916 mentions it as a criticism of the phrase—and Shaw 1975 is still working that vein of criticism. Another criticism is that the expression is illogical or involves, as Partridge 1942 puts it, "misplacement of words." Partridge has correctly identified the process, but it is not an error. Bolinger 1980 calls it "raising"— a name linguists use for the process by which a negative (or sometimes another element) gets moved from a subordinate clause to the main clause. Another well-known example of raising is "I don't think it'll rain today" for "I think it won't rain today." Negatives often tend to be raised in conjunction with seem. Look at these examples: • My problem is that I cannot seem to remember this —Kilpatrick 1984 • It never seems to have occurred to him that ... —Dictionary of American Biography, 1928 • ... they do not seem to be seriously engaged in anything other than being oppressed —John Corry, Harper's, November 1970 • Senate members don't seem to recall any such understanding—Time, 23 Mar. 1953 • ... we did not seem to breed that type in Australia —Auckland (New Zealand) Weekly News, 19 Nov. 1925 Partridge would correct "I can't seem to settle down" to "I seem unable to settle down" which his American editor, W. Cabell Greet, characterizes as awkward though logical. The unraised negative with seem is also in use, but not so frequently as the can't seem, don't seem constructions. A couple of examples: • ... he seems not to have been deflected from his political views —Dictionary of American Biography, 1928 • It is surprising how many otherwise quite rational people seem not to know this —Rexford G. Tugwell, Center Mag., July/August 1970 Conclusion: while can't seem itself appears to be mostly used in speech, its cousins cannot seem, don't seem, did not seem, etc., are not uncommon in print, are all formed by negative-raising, and are all standard idioms. The more logical construction, with the negative in the subordinate part of the sentence, can be used, but it is less frequent. See raising. |
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