英语词汇by and large的起源、历史背景-英语词源词典

by and large. By and large originated in the days of sailing ships, roughly meaning “to sail a ship to the wind and off it.” These instructions to a helmsman were not precise, and so the 17th-century nautical term came to indicate imprecise general- ities in everyday English and to mean “generally speaking,” “on the whole”—especially when the speaker or writer is telling the substantial truth, despite minor exceptions. Literal-minded linguists object to the expression because by and large really describes a more complex marine operation than is indicated in the above definition.

词汇	by and large
词源	by and large. By and large originated in the days of sailing ships, roughly meaning “to sail a ship to the wind and off it.” These instructions to a helmsman were not precise, and so the 17th-century nautical term came to indicate imprecise general- ities in everyday English and to mean “generally speaking,” “on the whole”—especially when the speaker or writer is telling the substantial truth, despite minor exceptions. Literal-minded linguists object to the expression because by and large really describes a more complex marine operation than is indicated in the above definition.
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