| 词组 | ongoing |
| 释义 | ongoing The British appear to have a particular dislike for this adjective. Howard 1984 reports that "noble and eloquent voices" in the House of Lords have spoken out against ongoing during debates on "the decay of English," and Howard himself describes it as a vogue word. Several other British sources in our files reveal a similar attitude. • The author's style is also marred by the ugly misuse of jargon words such as "ongoing" and "perceived" —Patricia Burnett, Times Literary Supp., 16 Dec. 1983 And at least one British dictionary (Longman 1984) includes a usage note warning the wary writer that ongoing is "widely disliked as a cliché." The issue enjoys some currency among American commentators as well. Those who have mentioned ongoing disapprovingly include Flesch 1964, Harper 1975, 1985, Edwin Newman (in Change, April 1975), and E. B. White (cited by James Sledd in Greenbaum 1985). Ongoing was first recorded as a noun in 1825 and as an adjective in 1877: • This edition ... will be a steady on-going thing —J. Blackwood, letter, 15 Oct. 1877 (OED Supplement) Written evidence of adjective use was scanty until the 1940s, when we collected 13 citations for it from such diverse sources as New Republic, Religion in America, Guatemala News, The Psychology of Behavior Disorders, and The Scotsman. It was in the 1950s, however, that ongoing really became a common word: • ... the ongoing life of her college —Lynn White, Jr., Atlantic, January 1950 • ... the on-going work —Friends Intelligencer, 8 July 1950 • ... the on-going affairs of men —Claude C. Bowman, American Sociological Rev., August 1950 • ... comes alive in the ongoing present —Jerome Nathanson, John Dewey, 1951 • ... ongoing automatically habitual activity —John O'Connor, Jour, of Philosophy, 3 Dec. 1953 • ... the ongoing Korean conflict —James C. Davies, American Political Science Rev., December 1954 • ... ongoing programs for junior and senior high school youth —American Child, November 1955 • ... that ongoing, steady rhythm of community life —Arthur Miller, Atlantic, April 1956 • ... on-going cancer research —Elizabeth Ogg, When a Family Faces Cancer, 1959 The popularity of ongoing has continued unabated— and may even have grown somewhat—in the years since. Therein, of course, lies the problem. A new (or newly common) word that acquires great popularity is almost certain to be derided as a vogue word by those who watch over the language, especially when an older word, such as continuing, is available to be used in the same contexts. There also seems to be something about adjectives of the form preposition + participle that strikes sensitive ears as jargonistic (see upcoming). And it may be, in addition, that the particularly strong feelings against ongoing among the British have something to do with its first having come into widespread use in the U.S. Be that as it may, ongoing has now been in common, reputable use for about 40 years. Unless you happen to be making a speech before the House of Lords, we see no compelling reason to avoid it. |
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