| 词组 | arguably |
| 释义 | arguably You will notice as you browse around in this book that the sudden—or seemingly sudden—popularity of an expression or construction will almost invariably attract the negative comment of people concerned with usage. The split infinitive and the adverb hopefully are two well-documented cases. Arguably is another such. The British seem to have been first to discover it: Howard 1977 calls it "modish" and "grossly overused"; Phythian 1979 calls it "fashionable and unnecessary." Longman 1984 also notes some objection to it and to its base adjective arguable. On the American side, William Safire commented on it in his newspaper column in 1983 and James J. Kilpatrick in 1985. Now that it has been noticed, it may reasonably be supposed that other commentators will take up the cudgels against it. Both arguable and arguably are of relatively recent vintage, even though arguable turned up as a gloss on a French word in a glossary of 1611. Contextual citations do not appear until 1860 for arguable and 1890 for arguably. Our evidence shows occasional use of the adjective during the first half of the 20th century, and very little of the adverb. Usage of both begins to pick up noticeably in the 1960s. An editorial in the Boston Globe in late 1984 notes the increasing frequency with which arguably has been appearing in that newspaper. And our most recent evidence—from the past 10 years or so— shows the adverb beginning to outstrip the adjective. Safire 1986 contains a discussion of the arguably problem. He finds the root of the American objection in the fact that the adverb is regularly used in a positive way—from the idea of "argue in favor of—but the adjective is regularly used in a negative way—from "argue against." Safire thinks it strange to have such a semantic switch from the adjective to the adverb. Actually he is overstating the case somewhat. Arguable has been and is used with both positive and negative implications. Here are some examples of the use Safire is referring to (though a few are not especially negative): • Sixth-formers might enjoy the book tremendously; whether they would thereby have been introduced to philosophy proper is arguable —Times Literary Supp., 11 Sept. 1969 • ... often offering incentives of arguable legality — N.Y. Times, 24 Apr. 1977 • Even if every word they wrote were objective truth, the applicability of their work to human behavior would remain arguable —GraceAnne Andreassi DeCandido, N.Y. Times Book Rev., 13 Feb. 1983 • ... at least one hardly arguable truth—that men and women are different —Atlantic, March 1970 • ... the dictum that foreign relations were supreme among the influences that shape the history of nations. This may be arguable, but for the immediate past it is certainly maintainable —Barbara W. Tuchman, N. Y. Times Book Rev., 11 Nov. 1979 These are completely neutral examples: • ... like a doctrine in mediaeval theology, arguable almost indefinitely —Marquis W. Childs, Yale Rev., Summer 1949 • ... an arguable issue that he does not pause to argue —Walter Goodman, N. Y. Times Book Rev., 31 Oct. 1982 And these are positive examples: • There is no saying what he might have done. It is arguable that he exhausted himself in "The House with the Green Shutters" —George Blake, Introduction (1927) to Modern Library edition of George Douglas Brown, The House with the Green Shutters • ... an explanation is offered that if not self-evident is at least arguable —Gerald W. Johnson, N. Y. Herald Tribune Book Rev., 20 Sept. 1953 • It is arguable that the wounds left by these political traumas of the 1950s have not yet healed sufficiently for an objective appraisal of Evatt's later career — Times Literary Supp., 30 July 1971 • ... it's perfectly arguable that letting down all the barriers of "decency" ... will pose more problems for the really creative artist than it solves —Robert M. Adams, Bad Mouth, 1977 The adverb, then, does not show a complete reversal of attitude from the adjective; rather it springs from just one side of the adjective's usage, which may be curious but is not alarming. The adverb functions as a hedge against too absolute a statement. Early citations show no particular pattern of use: • ... a lawyer who urges a defense which he believes to be false may be held, arguably enough, to be ... a disingenuous man —Atlantic, April 1927 • ... opposite values each arguably good for the nation —Henry Seidel Canby, Saturday Rev., 13 July 1946 • ... arguably, Mount Morris was inauspicious —Elizabeth Bowen, The Heat of the Day, 1949 • Many of the weaknesses of the Middle Eastern states are arguably the result of their failure to recognize and meet adequately the problems of a prolonged social crisis —Sir Hamilton A. R. Gibb, Atlantic, October 1956 Fairly early on (as early as 1920, according to the OED Supplement), arguably was used to modify a comparative adjective: • But the theatre, behind the scenes, has an emotional freemasonry of its own, certainly franker and arguably wholesomer than the stiffnesses of suburban society outside —George Bernard Shaw, Preface, The Shaw- Terry Letters, 1931 • ... a better film critic than almost anybody else: arguably better than anybody else writing for non-specialist magazines —Times Literary Supp., 12 Mar. 1970 And, most recently, it is used to qualify a superlative: • This is, arguably, the best Shakespeare film to date —Eric Bentley, New Republic, 3 Aug. 1953 • ... Yeats, arguably the latest great poet in English — Times Literary Supp., 23 Apr. 1964 • ... arguably still the best introduction to the world that underlies and surrounds the works of art —John E. C. T. White, Johns Hopkins Mag, Spring 1967 • ... when monarchy was arguably the single most important factor in politics —Peter Stansky, Saturday Rev., 20 Jan. 1973 • Richard Savage was, arguably, the most hopeless case among all Johnson's acquaintances at this time —John Wain, Samuel Johnson, 1974 • ... described as arguably Britain's greatest living bard —Kingsley Amis, Antaeus, Spring 1975 Sportswriters have been blamed for the popularity of this use. As the foregoing examples show, sportswriters had nothing to do with its beginnings—the credit or blame belongs to reviewers, critics, and writers on a variety of subjects. Sportswriters do use it, however: • Arguably the greatest European sprinter of all time — The Oxford Companion to Sports and Games, ed. John Arlott, 1975 • ... arguably the greatest skate racer ever —Chip Greenwood, Rolling Stone, 7 Feb. 1980 • ... arguably the two finest forwards in history —Joe Klein, Inside Sports, May 1982 • ... arguably the country's leading authority on college football —Jill Lieber, Sports Illustrated, 1 Sept. 1982 In summary we may say that arguably is used in a positive sense and that it is primarily a qualifier or hedge against too strong a statement. It derives from one side of its parent adjective arguable. It is of fairly recent popularity, but did not originate with sportswriters. Safire does not find the usage objectionable and the Boston Globe editorialist concludes that it fills a need in the language. The objection of the British commentators that it is merely a faddish replacement for perhaps or probably is off-target; arguably may be close in meaning to those two, but it carries its own connotation. Unless you are a person who habitually avoids what happens to be in fashion, there seems to be no reason to avoid arguably. |
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