| 词源 |
mark time. First mention of the military parade ground term to mark time is in a British Army manual Regulations for the In- struction of the Cavalry (1833). “On the word ‘mark time,’ ” the manual says, “marching is continued without gaining any ground.” Naturally the process of marking time suggested any action that fills time but doesn’t lead to progress, and not long after its first military use the phrase was used as a metaphor for just that. |