英语词汇knee jerk的起源、历史背景-英语词源词典

knee jerk. Used to indicate an automatic, unthinking re- sponse to anything, knee jerk (as in knee-jerk liberal) is one of those relatively few terms that can be traced back to its exact origins. In 1948, the distinguished etymologist Sir Ernest Gowers proudly gave us the expression’s medical roots: “Some 70 years ago a promising young neurologist made a discovery that necessitated the addition of a new word to the English vocabulary. He insisted that this should be ‘knee jerk,’ and ‘knee jerk’ it has remained, in spite of the effort of ‘patellar re- flex’ to dislodge it. He was my father; so perhaps I have inher- ited a prejudice in favor of homemade words.” Sir Ernest’s contention seems to be borne out by the O.E.D., which gives as 1878 the first recorded use of the term, in Sir Michael Fos- ter’s Text-book of Physiology: “Striking the tendon below the patella gives rise to a sudden extension of the leg known as the ‘knee-jerk.’ ” The first figurative use of the term isn’t known, but it seems to have been soon after the phrase’s coining.

词汇	knee jerk
词源	knee jerk. Used to indicate an automatic, unthinking re- sponse to anything, knee jerk (as in knee-jerk liberal) is one of those relatively few terms that can be traced back to its exact origins. In 1948, the distinguished etymologist Sir Ernest Gowers proudly gave us the expression’s medical roots: “Some 70 years ago a promising young neurologist made a discovery that necessitated the addition of a new word to the English vocabulary. He insisted that this should be ‘knee jerk,’ and ‘knee jerk’ it has remained, in spite of the effort of ‘patellar re- flex’ to dislodge it. He was my father; so perhaps I have inher- ited a prejudice in favor of homemade words.” Sir Ernest’s contention seems to be borne out by the O.E.D., which gives as 1878 the first recorded use of the term, in Sir Michael Fos- ter’s Text-book of Physiology: “Striking the tendon below the patella gives rise to a sudden extension of the leg known as the ‘knee-jerk.’ ” The first figurative use of the term isn’t known, but it seems to have been soon after the phrase’s coining.
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