| 词组 | comparatively |
| 释义 | comparatively 1. The point made about this adverb by commentators is that it should not be used when no comparison is stated or implied. It should not be used for "somewhat" or "fairly," say the critics. The crux here is the interpretation of implied. James A. H. Murray in the OED seems to have placed a loose construction on the notion. His definition reads, in part, "As compared with something else implied or thought of; not positively or absolutely; somewhat, rather." The realization that a problem exists does not seem to have come until Gowers 1948. He includes comparatively and relatively in a list of "adverbial dressing-gowns" that are presumably of frequent use in British official prose to cover up "the nakedness of an unqualified statement." Gowers offers no example of comparatively so used but does give an example of relatively from "a circular." He added much the same discussion to Fowler 1965, again without any real example of comparatively used objectionably. From this modest start, comparatively has appeared in a succession of British usage books and dictionaries—Sellers 1975, Phythian 1979, Bryson 1984, and even Longman 1984. It has been treated in a few American sources too—Evans 1957, Bernstein 1965, Shaw 1975. Of the Americans, Bernstein and Shaw are primarily interested in relatively, and none of them produces a genuine example of comparatively used in the way they say it should not be. Only Bryson 1984 produces a real citation, and he limits it to a single sentence so that we have no way of judging for ourselves if a comparison is "clearly implied" to use his standard. If all the discussion has been erected upon a supposed misuse buttressed by a single citation produced after the fact, you might suspect that the alleged misuse is so rare as to be beneath notice. But quite the contrary: it is common enough to be entirely established, as the OED definition confirmed from the beginning. The OED shows an example dated 1840 that is not materially different from the construction in Bryson. And here is an 18th-century example that is older than the OED's first citation: • ... the necessity that everything should be raised and enlarged beyond its natural state, that the full effect, which otherwise would be lost in the comparatively extensive space of the theater, may come home to the spectator —Sir Joshua Reynolds, "Why Naturalism Is Not High Art" (1790 or before), reprinted in Encore, July 1947 And some later British examples show that the use has not faded: • Casual people are useless in modern industry; and ... those who want to work longer and harder than the rest, find that they cannot do it except in comparatively solitary occupations —George Bernard Shaw, The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Socialism and Capitalism, 1928 • Indeed with so much money wagered by the public, it was an uphill struggle for noble patrons to keep either the turf or the ring even comparatively honest —G. M. Trevelyan, English Social History, 1942 • ... created by a comparatively small body of soldiers, sailors, administrators, missionaries and business men —D. W. Brogan, N.Y. Times Mag., 15 Aug. 1954 The point of giving these examples is not to suggest that comparatively is used predominantly without reference to a stated or implied comparison, for such is not the case. But uses where the comparison is not obvious have existed all along beside those in which the comparison is explicitly stated or "clearly implied." • Nicanor Parra, a generation younger than Neruda, has, on the other hand, led a comparatively obscure and quiet life —Times Literary Supp., 14 Nov. 1968 • ... died ... at the comparatively early age of fifty-two — Times Literary Supp., 16 Apr. 1970 • The realistic theatre is itself a comparatively recent development—hardly much more than a hundred years old —Harold Clurman, Harpers, February 1971 In our judgment, there is nothing one need be concerned about here. The OED had the matter right, and it is unreasonable to expect that usage would suddenly march to the critics' tune after it had been marching to another for a century and a half. See also relatively, which has drawn the same criticism and most of the same critics. 2. Fowler 1926 devoted a considerable amount of space to attacking (at few) the expression "a comparatively few," and as a result the phrase is noticed as improper in Copperud 1970 and Phythian 1979 too. It is hard for us to tell you that there is a real problem, because we have no examples of its occurrence in our files. Perhaps the expression was a transient phenomenon of British journalistic writing. |
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