读书破万卷下笔如有神英文谚语（尽信书不如无书）

(甲) 缘起

十多年前的一个下午，突然心血来潮，想要从身边的词书里找到以“Excellency”尊称总统或国家元首 (主席) 的书证。在常用的几部词书里都找不到让我满意的答案，例如：

· 牛津高级英英·英汉双解辞典，1990

“Excellency......title of ambassadors, governors and their wives, and some other officers and officials：阁下 （对大使，省长，大使及省长夫人，以及若干其他官员的尊称）”

· 英汉大词典，第二版，2007

“Excellency 阁下（对大使、总督、主教、总理等的尊称......”

· The Random House Dictionary of the English Language (Unabridged Edition), 1993

“Excellency......a title of honor given to certain high officials, as governors, ambassadors, and Roman Catholic bishops and archbishops......”

· The World Book Dictionary, 1995

“Excellency......a title of honor used in speaking to or of a prime minister, governor, bishop, ambassador, or other high official......”

虽然后两本英英词典的正文前部说明或后部附加资料都有详细的称谓语 (Forms of Address) 使用指南，我还是不很满意......再翻过几本词书之后，终于在一本1946年出版的美国词典Funk & Wagnalls New Practical Standard Dictionary of the English Language找到白纸黑字的明证：

“Excellency......An honorary title of various high official, specifically belonging to the governors......also used to address a foreign President ......”

【President就是总统或国家元首 (主席)。】

(乙) 比尔·盖茨及马克·扎克伯格等人算不算是哈佛校友？

换言之，肄业生 (未毕业) 可否称为校友？【Alumnus 是男校友，复数 alumni。Alumna 是女校友，复数 alumnae。Alumni 可指男女校友；alumni and alumnae 是男女校友较为平等的表达方法。】

(1) 答案

算是。校友包含毕业生和自愿退学的肄业生 (dropout)。【非自愿退学 (被开除学籍) 的学生视乎个别学校的处理方针。】

(2) 依据 (Authorities)

· Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language, 2nd College Edition, 1976

“alumnus [:] a person, especially a boy or man, who has attended or is a graduate of a particular school, college or university” (p. 41) 【无论毕业与否，曾在某校就读都会被该校视为校友。】

· John B. Bremner, “Words on Words”, 1980

“…. The generic word for all former students, whether graduates or not, is alumni, embracing both men and women.” (p. 23) 【无论毕业与否，总称为校友。】

· William and Mary Morris, Harper Dictionary of Contemporary Usage, Second Edition, 1985

“An alumna is a female former student of a school or college. An alumnus is a male former student of a school or college. They may also be graduates of the institutions they attended, but this is not essential. In other words, a person who falls short of completing the graduation requirements of an institution is nonetheless an alumnus or alumna of it.” (p. 31) 【校友可以是毕业生，但毕业并非必要。肄业生也不失为校友。】

· Morton S. Freeman, A Handbook of Problem Words & Phrases, 1987

“…. The term alumni embraces both sexes of coeducational institutions…. Note that alumni are not only graduates but also those who left without diplomas.” (p. 13) 【校友指毕业生和未取得文凭的肄业生。】

· J. N. Hook, The Appropriate Word, 1990

“…. Note that graduation is not a requirement for being an alumnus or an alumna. If completion of a degree program is to be shown, standard written English uses graduate: ‘Graduates are fewer than alumni.’” (p. 13) 【鉴于校友不是毕业生的专称，肄业生也是校友，因此校友的人数会比毕业生多。】

(3) 以下将几十种词书提供的定义分为两类：

3.1 有误导之嫌的定义

以下词书在“alumnus/alumna”词条里的定义/注释有误导之嫌（1950年及以前出版的词书从略）：

· The Thorndike Barnhart Handy Pocket Dictionary, 1955.

· The Scribner-Bantam English Dictionary, 1979.

· Modern Business Language and Usage in Dictionary Form, 1984.

· Dictionary of Problem Words and Expressions, 1985.

· Kenkyusha's New Collegiate Dictionary of the English Language, 1986.

· The New American Dictionary of Good English, 1987.

· The Columbia Guide to Standard American English, 1993.

· Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary, 1993.

· A Dictionary of Modern American Usage, 1998.

【作者Bryan A. Garner是美国律师、教授及世界闻名的词书编纂家。他将alumni（alumnus的复数）和alumnae（alumna的复数）依次解释为男毕业生和女毕业生，前者可兼作男女毕业生的集合复数名词，后者则仅可作女毕业生的复数。他的这个解释在2015年改版兼改名面世的第4版Garner's English Usage里维持不变。但他在1995年面世的第2版A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage是这样正确无误解释alumnus的：“……Strictly speaking, one need not be a graduate to be an alumnus. One who abandons a course of study is still an alumnus.” (p.47) 附有关词条快照，前词条解释错误，后词条才是正确】

· Mind the Gaffe, 2001.(附“alumnus/alumna”词条快照)

· 时代英英·英汉双解大辞典，2003，中国台湾。(仅英文定义不准确，附“alumnus/alumna”词条快照)

· Collins English Dictionary (Complete and Unabridged), 2003.

· The Wall Street Journal Essential Guide to Business Style and Usage, 2003. (附“alumnus/alumna”词条快照)

· The Gregg Reference Manual, 2005.

3.2 堪称正确无误的定义

以下词书在“alumnus/alumna”词条里的定义/注释堪称正确无误（1950年及以前出版的词书从略）：

· The Shorter Oxford Dictionary, 1956 and 2002.

· A Dictionary of Contemporary American Usage, 1957. (附“alumnus”词条快照。肄业生被视为“校友”的原因 —— 获得更多捐款 —— 值得留意)

· The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English, 1964 and 1982.

· The Pocket Oxford Dictionary of Current English, 1969.

· The Little Oxford Dictionary of Current English, 1969.

· Webster's Universal Dictionary, Unabridged International Edition, 1970.

· Collins Universal Dictionary, 1972.

· Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language, 2nd College Edition, 1976.

· The American Dictionary of the English Language, 1979.

· 牛津高级英英·英汉双解辞典，1990，中国台湾。

· Longman Dictionary of the English Language, 1991.

· The Chambers Dictionary, 1993.

· The Random House Dictionary of the English Language (Unabridged Edition), 1993. (附“alumnus/alumna”词条快照)

· The Compact Oxford English Dictionary, 1993. (附“alumnus”词条快照)

· The Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual, 1994.

· The World Book Dictionary, 1995. (附“alumnus/alumna”词条快照。“前成员、前[小区]住户、前同事”这些新意值得留意)

· The Oxford Dictionary and Thesaurus, 1995 (由The Concise Oxford Dictionary, 8th Edition, 1990和The Oxford Thesaurus, 1991两词书合二为一).

· New Fowler's Modern English Usage, 1996.

· 牛津高阶英汉双解词典，1997.

· Larousse English Dictionary, 1997.

· 朗文当代英语大辞典 (英英·英汉双解)，2004.

· Longman Exams Dictionary, 2006.

· 英汉大词典，第二版，2007. (附“alumnus/alumna”词条快照。“前成员、前[小区]住户、前同事”这些新意值得留意；本词条的依据 (包括例句) 是上述The World Book Dictionary，1995)

· Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 2011.

(丙) 附记

(1) 与母校及毕业生有关的几个字

Alma mater是母校/校歌。

英式英语：还未取得本科学位 (first degree) 称为undergraduate，取得本科学位之后称为graduate，读硏究院 (硕士或以上) 称为postgraduate。

美式英语：中学和大学毕业生都称为graduate。研究院课程graduate course相当于英式英语的postgraduate course。

(2) 宜培养透过对比资料独立解决疑难的能力

例如本文“校友”的定义，只看中文难免会误入歧途，皆因中国人对“校友”有不同的想法。“校友”的首要条件是 (乙)(2)指明的 “has attended...... a particular school, college or university”曾于某校就读，是否毕业并非必要。据我的经验，很多时必需看英文注释才能正确掌握英文的含意。

例如：暂停、中止的英文suspend, suspension经常被人画蛇添足在前面加上temporarily或temporary，导致经常有Flush water will be temporarily suspended或Temporary suspension of water supply之类的句子，不知suspend，suspension本身已有“暂时”的含义。

另外，suspended sentence是缓刑的意思。

看本文之前，你视肄业生（dropout）为校友吗？

补遗

本文发布之后，收拾卧室的书籍时才发现遗漏了一本可靠的美语用法指南*有关“校友”的词条。

以下是该词条完整的原文：

alumnus, alumni, alumna, alumnae

An alumnus is the “foster son” of an alma mater (“mother who fosters or nourishes”), a term that originally applied to such Roman goddesses as Ceres and Cybels and in the 17th century began to be applied to a person's former school or college. Alumni (final sound “eye”) may be used as the plural of alumnus or as the term for a group of men and women intellectually “nourished” by an educational institution.

The “foster-daughter” words are alumna and its plural alumnae (final sound “ee”). The year-2000 edition of The American Heritage Dictionary notes that “the choice of many women's colleges that have begun to admit men” is the phrase alumnae and alumni or the term alumnae/i.

These designations apply to anyone who attended a particular campus, whether or not that person graduated. Graduate is the correct noun for someone who earned a degree.

* Mark Davidson, “Right, Wrong, and Risky: A Dictionary of Today's American English Usage”, 2006, pp. 62-63.

,