| 词组 | credulity, credibility |
| 释义 | credulity, credibility Credulity and credibility come close in meaning only when used with such verbs as strain, tax, or stretch. Even here use is quite straightforward in most instances. Credulity is used of the receiver: • It is hard, without an inordinate strain upon the credulity, to believe any such thing —H. L. Mencken, Prejudices: Second Series, 1920 • ... this bird—whose fabulous numbers, estimated from two to five billion, had taxed the credulity of spectators —Thomas Foster, N Y. Times Book Rev., 27 Feb. 1955 • He stretched credulity beyond the limits of all but the inner circle of the faithful —George E. Reedy, NY. Times Book Rev., 18 Oct. 1981 Credibility is used of the sender: • ... she has occasionally stretched credibility far in reaching the solution of a problem —A. C. Ward, British Book News, May 1954 • Howard's sudden transformation... puts a strain on the novel's credibility —Harry T. Moore, Saturday Rev., 12 Feb. 1972 • ... because the author places too much weight on these characters' shoulders, their credibility is strained —Susan Isaacs, NY. Times Book Rev., 26 Sept. 1982 But credulity carries overtones of gullibility, an aspect often stressed in dictionary definitions. As a result, some writers have used credibility of the receiver in an apparent attempt to avoid the negative overtones of the alternative: • ... the contrast between the respectable exterior and the turbulent interior of this family strains her reader's credibility —Times Literary Supp., 4 May 1951 • ... wants us to believe that the narrator wrote this manuscript in a few hours on that Sunday afternoon, which somewhat taxes credibility —Ivan Gold, N. Y. Times Book Rev., 12 Aug. 1979 Most writers, however, are content to use credulity of the receiver; the neutral use of credulity is not rare, even though somewhat underemphasized in the dictionaries. |
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