本文经授权转载自微信公众号:田间小站
SAT TEM8 GMAT
外刊例句
- Then came volumes of pedantic laws. Mr Memmert either bent them or complied as far as possible.
然后就是连篇累牍、细枝末节的法律。梅默尔特要么打擦边球,要么尽可能遵守。
——《经济学人》 - Huberman is not a pedantic, encyclopedic curator, however, but an enthusiast and an explorer, willing to let his theme lead him where it may.
然而,休伯曼不是一个迂腐、百科全书式的策展人,而是一个狂热爱好者和一位探险家,愿意让他的主题领他去任何可能的地方。
——《纽约时报》
基本释义
[adjective] of or like a pedant
[形容词] (似)学究的
深入解读
话说在莎士比亚时代,具体而言是从16世纪80年代起,人们开始用经古法语 pédant 或直接由意大利语 pedante (教师、男教师)进入英语的 pedant 表示“男教师、教书先生”。
但到了16世纪90年代后, pedant 则演变为一个贬义词指“迂夫子、书呆子、学究”,也就是过分关注书本知识、不重要的小细节或传统规则的人,通常追求字面意义上的准确性或形式而忽视普通常识,比如:
- 我们所需要的是一个有政治头脑的人,而不是书呆子。
What we need is someone with political savvy, not a pedant.
由此衍生而来的 pedantic 则相应表示“迂腐的、学究式的、书呆子气的”,也是指过分拘泥于书本知识、不重要的小细节或传统规则,却对重大问题兴趣不大,或者说过分纠结于无关紧要的事实、细节或形式,而忽视事物的重点,比如:
- 一个迂腐的办事员在一群漂亮服务员的簇拥下侍候着这位哲学家。
A pedantic clerk, surrounded by a gorgeous train of attendants, waited on the philosopher. - 他们太拘泥于形式,坚持要求由贝利本人而不是他谨慎的妻子来宣布,这实在没有必要。
They were being unnecessarily pedantic by insisting that Berry himself, and not his prudent wife, should have made the announcement.
此外,这类迂腐的学究除了意味着说教(didactic)和古板外,还很容易让人联想起孔乙己那种拿着“茴”字的四种写法这种细枝末节的知识来卖弄学问的场景。同样的道理, pedant 和 pedantic 相应也被用来表示“卖弄学问者”和“卖弄学问的”。
名著用例
Mary had neither genius nor taste; and though vanity had given her application, it had given her likewise a pedantic air and conceited manner, which would have injured a higher degree of excellence than she had reached.
曼丽既没有天才,格调也不高,虽说虚荣心促使她刻苦用功,但是同样也造成了她一脸的女才子气派和自高自大的态度。有了这种气派和态度,即使她的修养再好些也无补于事,何况她不过如此而已。
出自19世纪英国小说家简·奥斯丁(Jane Austen)的代表作《傲慢与偏见》(Pride and Prejudice)。
同近义词
- bookish: (of a person or way of life) devoted to reading and studying rather than worldly interests
- academic: not of practical relevance; of only theoretical interest
- fastidious: very attentive to and concerned about accuracy and detail