“in a family way 不拘礼节地: They compared notes in a family way. 他们不拘形式地交换了意见。
in the family way 怀孕, I heard that his wife is in the family way. 我听说他的妻子怀孕了。”(《大学英语解答手册》, 四川人民出版社, 1995, p. 25)
上面的说法似乎与下面原文的用法有矛盾：
She gets herself in a family way and is then, as a matter of course, married off.
她怀孕了，于是理所当然地嫁了出去。
《大学英语解答手册》的说法,就英国英语来说,是正确的。但是,在美国英语中,in a family way 也用于表示“怀孕”,不仅美国作家这么用,而且美国的英语词典也收入了这种用法:
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in a [or the] family way: pregnant(《韦氏词典》, 电子版)
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Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language: in a family way: pregnant; with child
下面是我们收集到的一些实例：
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The Ferguson family are promising kittens to everyone because their cat is in a family way. (DAI) 弗格森家里人因他们家的猫怀了胎而答应送给每个人小猫。
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I can remember the ladies talking about how Mrs. Nabb just couldn't get in a family way no matter what she tried. 我记得女士们谈论过纳布太太无论怎么想办法也不能怀上孕的事。