词典词条 · 问答

to say nothing of

核心问题 1

许孟雄教授编著的《英语难题解答400则》(p.185)说:“to say nothing of指跟在这短语后面的事物素质要比前面说的东西或素质在程度上更容易。(ALD)He had his wife and seven children with him in the car, to say nothing of two dogs, a cat and a parrot.(他既然连老婆、七个孩子都养得起,更不在乎再养上两只狗、一只猫和一只鹦鹉了。)(Chambers Universal) When her mother comes to stay with us she brings all her jewellery, to say nothing of her three fur coats. (她母亲到我家住时,把所有的金银首饰都带来了,她那三件皮大衣就更不用说了。)这两例的 to say nothing of 指‘更易为的’、‘更理所当然会做到的’等。”

作者在另一个地方(p.183)又说:“(《新英汉词典》第883页)In old China, there was hardly any machine-building industry, to say nothing of an aviation industry. 在旧中国几乎没有什么机器制造工业,更不必说航空工业了。这句似乎应该改写为: In old China there was hardly any machine-building industry, not to say an aviation industry. 因为用 not to say 才能显出‘更先进’的工业,即不必说更先进的航空工业。”

我对这种说法抱怀疑态度。请谈谈您的看法。该书(p.185)又提出了to say nothing(即没有介词of)的用法(The child can run, to say nothing walk),不知这种用法是否正确?

词典解答 1

我们认为,《400则》所提出的to say nothing of的后接部分一定比其前的部分“在程度上更容易”或“更易为”的说法是不符合英语惯用法的。实际上,有的辞书提出了与《400则》针锋相对的观点。例如,《韦氏第三版国际大辞典》说:say nothing of = to leave out of consideration (an important or essential factor) [更不用说(重要的或基本的因素)]:The expedition will be expensive, to say nothing of the danger.(探险将花费很多的钱,更不必说危险了)。“危险”显然比“花费大”在“程度上”“在重要性上”更进了一步。我们认为,《400则》和《韦氏第三版国际大辞典》的说法都犯了以偏概全的错误。比较全面、比较准确的说法应当是:使用to say nothing of有时是为了补充追加某种不重要的东西,有时则是为了强调更为重要的东西。上面两部著作所引用的例句已足以证明我们这里所陈述的观点。但是,我们还是愿意再补充一些例句,加以进一步的证明:

  1. The effort required is immense, to say nothing of the cost. (EED) 所需的努力是巨大的,更不用说花费了。(the costeffort“在程度上”或“在重要性上”更进了一步)

  2. 3 people badly hurt, to say nothing of damage to the building. (LDCE) 三个人受了重伤,建筑物受到损坏那就不用说了。(“在程度上”前者为重,后者为轻。)

  3. He had his wife and seven children with him in the car, to say nothing of two dogs, a cat and a parrot. (ALD) 他的汽车里载着他的妻子和七个孩子,此外还有两只狗、一只猫和一只鹦鹉。

(to say nothing of 所连接的部分处于次要地位, 仅是附带说明而已。在这里 to say nothing of = as well asand in addition, including)

  1. It is a well-paid job, to say nothing of the short hours. (MED) 这份工作报酬很好,而且工作时间也短。

  2. Sally takes singing and dancing lessons, to say nothing of swimming and tennis lessons. (DAI) 莎莉不仅上游泳课和网球课,而且还上歌唱课和舞蹈课。

  3. There were no longer any ground forces in existence, to say nothing of air forces,says Speidel. 斯派达尔说:“地面部队已荡然无存,更不用说空军了。”(《英汉百科翻译大辞典》)

  4. He knows no mathematics, to say nothing of cybernetics. 他连数学都不懂,更不用说控制论了。(控制论显然在程度上并不比数学容易)

  5. He hadn't seen the art galleries, the museums—to say nothing of the theatrical district. (Sinclair) 他没有参观过画廊和博物馆——更不用说剧院区了。

《韦氏第三版国际大辞典》所举的例子以及上面的例1和例7足以证明《新英汉词典》上的那个例句并没有错误,而《400则》的作者修改后的句子倒是站不住脚的。因为按英语惯用法,not to say并没有那种用法(参见 not to say)

至于你所提出的第二个问题,我们的回答是:to say nothing of 所连接的只能是名词短语,而不可能是其他词性的词项(参见 mention),因此,我们没有查到 to say nothing 的用法。

as was said earlier/as it was said earlierit 20^{20} scale

on a large scale

核心问题 2

There are many ways of separation, two of which are generally used both in the laboratory and on a large scale in industry. [北大《英语》(二), p. 60]

[原译]……其中两种方法在实验室和大规模工业上都普遍采用。(教参)

我认为 on a large scale 并不是 industry 的定语。您的意见呢?

词典解答 2

on a large scale 显然是状语,而不是 industry 的定语,因为采用过滤法和蒸馏法的不仅仅是大规模的工业。

[试译]……其中两种方法不仅广泛地用于实验室,而且也大规模地用在工业上。scarcely 1^{1}

核心问题 3

The old man sold most of his belongings. He has scarcely ____ left in the house.

A. everything B. something C. anything D. nothing

我选了D,但有的同学告诉我选D是错误的。但不知错在何处。

词典解答 3

应当牢牢记住: scarcely 是否定词, 应将它理解为“几乎不”, 而不要理解为“几乎”。由于 scarcely 具有否定意义, 因此, 在否定句中 scarcely 不能与其他否定词 no, not, none, nothing 连用:

  1. He scarcely knew a word of English. 他几乎连一个英语单词都不认识。

  2. I scarcely believed my eyes. 我几乎不敢相信我的眼睛。

由于含有 scarcely 的句子是否定句,所以应当选 C(anything)(参见 hardly 1^{1} )。

练习题

请做下面的英语试题:

Many young Americans didn't scarcely know about the terrible hardships that the European A

people suffered during the Second World War. (上海高考,94-33)

来源:英语常见问题解答大词典-7.md · 第 80148084 行 · 原文哈希 fa86ae543c