

章节:
Part I | Principles
1. The Transaction
2. Simplicity
3. Clutter (Writing clean English Sentence)
4. Style (Preserving your identity)
5. The audience (Who am I writing for)
6. Words (The only tools you’ve got)
7. Usage (What is good usage)
Part II | Methods
8.Unity (Anchor of good writing)
....
Words and expressions:
1. We should apply the test of convenience. Does the word fill a real need? If it does, let’s give it a franchise.
Franchise有两个重要含义:选举权和特许权,最近又引申出文学上的含义:丛书或者电影系列。
a. the right to vote in an election,especially one in which people elect a parliament(不可数);
【例句】The 1867 Reform Act extended the franchise to much of the male working class.
b. businesses from which you can buy a license in order to sell or use their products (可数);
【例句】the fast-food chain McDonalds is a franchise。
c. a particular series of books or films
【例句】 the Harry Potter franchise
2. The writer who cares about usage must always know the quick from the dead.
“the quick from the dead”,比较古老的用法,来自于圣经,表示"All souls - alive or dead"
背景: https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/quick-and-the-dead.html
3. Today I still receive ballots from The American Heritage Dictionary soliciting my opinion on new locutions.
solicit 是ask for 的比较正式的用法,表示“ to ask someone for money, help, or information“。
【补充例句】
They were soliciting signatures for a petition banning smoking in the football locker rooms.
4. His blood astir with reminiscence.
memoir的近义词,常见用法 reminiscence of/about.
【释义】
Someone's reminiscences are things that they remember from the past, and which they talk or write about. Reminiscence is the process of remembering these things and talking or writing about them.
【补充例句】
The book is a collection of his reminiscences about the actress.
Thoughts:
词汇的使用是很灵活的,并且具有主观性。那么什么才是correct usage and good usage?
个人认为,guardians of usage还是有必要的,由专业的人士来对一些新词进行甄选,再推广使用。
(有机会要找一些关于词典的编纂的书来看看)
但说到good usage,真的是依赖每个人的taste。但如果能用已有的词汇清晰简明的表达自己,那就是good usage。
风格的统一,包括unity of pronoun/tense/mood,不要让人觉得有跳跃性,更不要精分的自言自语。
如何做到统一呢?
要目的明确,想好自己要传达什么,希望读者记住的是什么。
想法也不要太多,think small。击中一点,好过多点分散。
所以要做一个不贪心的作者,才能做到足够专注于当前的想法。
同时也不用太拘泥,在大方向不变的情况下,想到哪里写哪里,然后再回头进行风格的统一。
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