They argued about nothing.
请问这句话是什么意思？
这句话可以有两个解释：
A. nothing 作“没有什么”解(You use nothing when you are referring to no things, for example no objects, no events, or no ideas):
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The man nodded but said nothing. (EED) 那个人点点头,但是没说什么。
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I've got nothing at all. (LDCE) 我一无所有。
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There's really nothing to be said. (Dreiser) 确实没有什么可说的。
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He knew absolutely nothing. (Dreiser) 他根本什么也不知道。
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There's nothing to worry about. (EED) 没有什么可担心的。
按照这种理解,全句的意思是:
他们没对任何事情进行争论。(They didn't argue about anything.)
B. nothing 作“没有意义的事情”“没有价值的东西”“没有地位的人”解(If you say that someone or something is nothing, you mean that they are very unimportant.)：
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She's an interesting person but her husband is a real nothing. (LDCE) 她是一个有趣的人,但她的丈夫却是个乏味的人。
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In those days time was nothing. Now it is everything. (EED) 在那些日子里, 时间并不算什么。现在它是非常重要的。
按照这种理解,全句的意思是:
他们对无意义的事情进行了争论。（They argued, but the argument was about nothing (of significance).）