| 词源 |
speak now or forever hold your peace. These words come ultimately from the “Solemnization of Matrimony” in the Book of Common Prayer, the official service book of the Church of England, the book first issued in 1549 (revised in 1928 in the United States). The exact words in the Book of Common Prayer are “Let him now speak, or else hereafter for ever hold his peace.” In addition to its use in the matrimonial ceremony, the words, in the form of to hold one’s peace, have come to mean “to remain silent.” |