| 词组 | pace |
| 释义 | pace This preposition was introduced into English from Latin in the 19th century. In Latin it had been part of various polite formulas such as pace tua "by your leave" and pace Veneris "if Venus will not be offended by my saying so." In English it serves a somewhat similar purpose, being used primarily as a courteous (the OED Supplement will also allow ironical) apology for introducing a contradictory opinion. It tends to be used in writing of the learned sort, and is almost always italicized—a useful practice, for it helps distinguish the Lat-inism from the much older English noun and verb pace. Fowler 1926, 1965 takes a dim view of this word—a Latinism, he says, that English could have done very well without. He finds it not only misunderstood when used rightly, but also frequently used wrongly. The largest part of his discussion is given over to two lengthy examples, the authors of which believed pace to mean "according to." Our files have no examples of this misunderstanding. Fowler also shows a Latinist's distaste for the extended application of the Latin word in English by the Latinless. The passage that Fowler picks out as an atrocious example uses pace before a noun designating not a person but something produced by a person. In spite of Fowler's distaste, this extension appears legitimate; we have respectable examples of its use, although it is distinctly a minority usage: • English writing on Godoy has not been limited, pace the translator's foreword, to one book published some 40 years ago —Times Literary Supp., 13 Feb. 1953 • ... if one admits—as I do {pace the doctrinaire eschatology of the old and new left) —Theodore Roszak, The Making of a Counter Culture, 1969 • ... a volume which, pace the blurb, will be of much greater interest to the beginner than to the advanced student—Times Literary Supp., 12 Feb. 1970 If you suspect that this use is not uncommon in the pages of the Times Literary Supplement, you are correct. This brings us to another problem. What does this preposition mean when it is used, as it is most of the time, in front of a person's name, as, for instance, in this example? • ... an extremely mysterious figure whose date of birth is still, pace Miss Byrne, highly problematic — J. H. Plumb, N.Y. Times Book Rev., 14 June 1981 The dictionaries are not especially helpful here. They generally content themselves with English renderings of what the Latin word would have meant in Latin: for instance "by the leave of; with the permission of; with all due respect to." The last of these seems the most relevant to English contexts; it can be put in the place of pace in the quotation from J. H. Plumb, for instance. But only Fowler, apparently, has concentrated on defining the word in English context. He says it means "despite someone's opinion." Fowler has isolated the meaning of the chief use of pace better than the dictionary definers. Try his definition or these variations on it—"contrary to the opinion of, in spite of what says"—in these mainstream examples: Pace Anita Loos, six out of ten prefer brunettes — Time, 1 Sept. 1947 • Another, pace Cassidy, blamed the influence on various foreign groups —H. L. Mencken, The American Language, Supplement II, 1948 • Their systems, pace Haldane, have burdened and bored the world —Oliver Wendell Holmes d. 1935, letter, 27 Aug. 1927 • His critical poise is manifested in (pace Mr Eliot) a lively ironic humour —F. R. Leavis, The Common Pursuit, 1952 • Life, pace Jeremy Bentham, is not exclusively utilitarian— Times Literary Supp., 11 Nov. 1965 • Pace Mr. Morris, nobody is being forced to listen — Harold C. Schonberg, N.Y. Times, 7 Dec. 1975 • Pace my tormentor of 1938, it is most common in Michigan —Raven I. McDavid, Jr., American Speech, Spring-Summer 1977 • Easiness is a virtue in grammar, pace old-fashioned grammarians of the Holofernes school, who confused difficulty with depth —Howard 1984 Fowler's point about misuse was not entirely mistaken. Although the great preponderance of use is standard and clear, we do have in our files some few examples that show the author's unfamiliarity with how most writers use the word. In the first the author seems to have been uncertain; if he knew what he meant, he has not made it clear to us. In the second the preposition is put to use as a kind of deprecatory interjection; this use is not established. In the third the author seems to think pace is a French word. • Pace Woody Allen, it is a true sleeper, a movie both of substantial flaw and surprise —Jay Cocks, Time, 27 Jan. 1975 • It is without question that the modernist novel centers in Joyce; but pace, Pound, it is not all Joyce — Herman Wouk, Saturday Rev., 29 June 1974 • IBM could have bought Intel—pace the Justice Department —Howard Banks et al., Forbes, 28 Feb. 1983 In conclusion, we may say that pace is generally confined to learned or at least somewhat elevated discourse. If you are not especially familiar with its use, you should probably avoid using it. If you do use it, we suggest that you stick to the majority usage and that you italicize the word. It is used most safely when you intend to express an opinion contrary to that expressed in some conspicuous way by another person. |
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