密歇根新闻广播 in and of itself多余吗

 

Apparently¹, in and of itself is the source of some concern about redundancy. This phrase wasn't actually on our radar² until a listener brought it up at our most recent Grammar Night event.

The listener wanted to know whether the phrase is redundant³. Why would you need to say in and of itself when you could just say in itself?

When someone brings a particular phrase to our attention, we find it's often because its use is on the rise. Even though “in and of itself” has been around since at least the 18th century, it has seen a dramatic increase since the middle of the 20th century.

The phrase breaks down to two parts: "in itself" and "of itself." If you look at the history of both of these shorter phrases, there is an arguable difference.

"In itself" means it's in something's nature or essence, by the very definition of it. For example, you might say, Generosity⁴ in itself is good, but it also makes you happy. In other words, generosity is already good on its own, but it has the additional benefit of personal happiness.

"Of itself" historically meant by its own will, without instigation from others. Here's an example from 1707: "The goats would many of them come of themselves to be milked." That is, the goats showed up for milking without any prodding⁵ or human intervention⁶.

Somehow, these two shorter phrases combined to form "in and of itself." Some may feel that this is redundant, but you could also argue that it's emphatic⁷. You're saying this is what it is, both in its essence and without any other intervening factors.

Here's another question, do we even need a preposition for these phrases? For example, instead of the idea that speaking to Russia is in itself a crime, couldn't we say, the idea that speaking to Russia is itself a crime? Using in may feel more colloquial⁸, but it doesn't seem necessary.

In the end, this is just a place where there's a lot of variation. You'll see "itself" all by itself, you'll get "in itself," and, emphatically, you'll get "in and of itself." The choice is yours.

1 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

2 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

3 redundant   

adj.多余的，过剩的；(食物)丰富的；被解雇的

参考例句：

• There are too many redundant words in this book.这本书里多余的词太多。
• Nearly all the redundant worker have been absorbed into other departments.几乎所有冗员，都已调往其他部门任职。

4 generosity   

n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为

参考例句：

• We should match their generosity with our own.我们应该像他们一样慷慨大方。
• We adore them for their generosity.我们钦佩他们的慷慨。

5 prodding   

v.刺，戳( prod的现在分词 )；刺激；促使；（用手指或尖物）戳

参考例句：

• He needed no prodding. 他不用督促。
• The boy is prodding the animal with a needle. 那男孩正用一根针刺那动物。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

7 emphatic   

adj.强调的，着重的；无可置疑的，明显的

参考例句：

• Their reply was too emphatic for anyone to doubt them.他们的回答很坚决，不容有任何人怀疑。
• He was emphatic about the importance of being punctual.他强调严守时间的重要性。

8 colloquial   

adj.口语的，会话的

参考例句：

• It's hard to understand the colloquial idioms of a foreign language.外语里的口头习语很难懂。
• They have little acquaintance with colloquial English. 他们对英语会话几乎一窍不通。