Today’s word is belittle. It was first used by Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States.
Many years ago, a French naturalist, the Count de Buffon, wrote some books about natural history. The books were a great success even though some critics did not like them. Some critics said, “Count Buffon is more of a poet than a scientist.”
Thomas Jefferson did not like what the Count had said about the natural wonders of the New World. It seemed to Jefferson that the Count had gone out of his way to speak of natural wonders in America as if they were unimportant.
This troubled Thomas Jefferson. He too was a naturalist, as well as a farmer, inventor, historian, writer and politician. He had seen the natural wonders of Europe. To him, they were no more important than those of the New World.
In seventeen eighty-eight, Thomas Jefferson wrote about his home state, Virginia. While writing, he thought of its natural beauty and then of the words of Count de Buffon. At that moment, Jefferson created a new word – belittle. He said, “The Count de Buffon believes that nature belittles her productions on this side of the Atlantic.”
Noah Webster, the American word expert, liked this word. He put it in his English language dictionary in eighteen-oh-six. ‘Belittle – to make small, unimportant.’
Americans had already accepted Jefferson’s word and started to use it. In seventeen ninety-seven, the Independent Chronicle newspaper used the word to describe a politician the paper supported. “He is an honorable man,” the paper wrote, “so let the opposition try to belittle him as much as they please.”
In eighteen forty-four, the Republican Sentinel of Virginia wrote this about the opposition party: “The Whigs may attempt to belittle our candidates … that is a favorite game of theirs.”
In eighteen seventy-two, a famous American word expert decided that the time had come to kill this word. He said, “Belittle has no chance of becoming English. And as more critical writers of America, like those of Britain, feel no need of it, the sooner it is forgotten, the better.”
This expert failed to kill the word. Today, belittle is used, not only in the United States and England, but in other countries where the English language is spoken. It seems that efforts to belittle the word did not stop people from using it.
《绯闻女孩》(Gossip Girl):第六季之后终结
2010年度盘点之年度最佳喜剧TOP10
《纳尼亚3》最长版中文花絮曝光 揭秘新角色
影评欣赏:导演你到底是有多想要罗恩和赫敏在一起
电影《超人》开拍 "超人&quo
《青蜂侠》北美热映-周杰伦接受采访"秀"英文
(组图)阿尔芭素颜携女购物 小奥诺手捧洋娃娃
记住10部经典电影的10句爱情箴言
6分钟看2010年270部电影 剪辑达人力作
2010年绝不能错过的文学改编电影(组图)
"纳尼亚3"推圣诞贺卡 "
卡梅隆拍板《阿凡达》续集系列 预计2014年圣诞起上映
紫藤街新年更多悬疑 《绝望主妇》1月2日回归
不得不看 职场20部经典电影
影帝级才是王道:8部经典男性飙戏电影盘点
《创》全球首映 超酷现场营造眩目未来感
迈克尔-杰克逊新MV《握住我的手》曝光
《加勒比4》探班花絮 德普跳车佩内洛普亮相
看美剧指南:盘点2010最给力的美剧Top10(组图)
影评欣赏:白羽黑翼,疯魔了小青衣《黑天鹅》
《哈利波特与死亡圣器》剧组十大采访语录
男生必看:盘点十大让男人泪奔的电影
《哈利-波特》电影对原著删减情节(组图)
莉顿-梅斯特透露《绯闻女孩》六季终结
《王子殿下》新预告 弗兰科 波特曼疯癫历险
2011年总有你喜欢的电影--2011年电影资料
欧美最推崇的20部圣诞必看经典电影
神作降临:《Cinema 2010》回顾2010的电影
2010年好莱坞电影的十一个特色
《娱乐周刊》揭晓15位年度娱乐人物(组图)
不限 |
英语教案 |
英语课件 |
英语试题 |
不限 |
不限 |
上册 |
下册 |
不限 |