密歇根新闻广播 as of 和as from有啥区别

It appears that as of today, there isn't much concern about the phrase "as of."

Perhaps that's because it's such a simple phrase. Two words, two letters each, nothing flashy.

But this is That's What They Say, and when Michigan Radio's chief engineer Bob Skon asked us about the distinction between the phrases "as of today" and "as from today," we had to check it out.

The form "as of today" is seen as distinctly¹ American. It shows up in the 18th century in formal dating. That is, when you're trying to suggest a date on which something starts. Around this same time, the competing form "as from" shows up, as in "as from today."

What we have here is an American/British distinction. "As of today" is more American, while "as from today" is British. It should be noted² that British English is converging³ with American English on this point. "As of today" is now more common in both American and British English.

However, "as from today" does show up in American English from time to time. For example, Britney Spears uses it in this lyric⁴ from her song "Stronger": "I'm not your property as from today."

Regardless of which form you choose, "as of" can be confusing. A phrase like "as of Wednesday" has two potential meanings. It can mean either that something starts on Wednesday or that something ends on Wednesday.

Context⁵ helps though. For example, if someone says, "As of Wednesday, the new policy will be in effect," it's pretty safe to assume that the policy doesn't start until Wednesday. But if someone says, "As of Wednesday, we had sold 50 boxes of cookies," it sounds like it's possible more were sold, but the last time someone counted was on Wednesday.

Ambiguity⁶ aside, which do you prefer, "as of" or "as from"?

1 distinctly   

ad.清楚地；显然

参考例句：

• We were distinctly underwhelmed by the director's speech. 主任的讲话显然令我们感觉索然无味。
• He was beginning to feel distinctly uneasy about their visit. 他对他们的造访明显地感到不安起来。

2 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

3 converging   

adj.收敛[缩]的，会聚的，趋同的v.（线条、运动的物体等）会于一点( converge的现在分词 )；（趋于）相似或相同；人或车辆汇集；聚集

参考例句：

• Plants had gradually evolved along diverging and converging pathways. 植物是沿着趋异和趋同两种途径逐渐演化的。 来自辞典例句
• This very slowly converging series was known to Leibniz in 1674. 这个收敛很慢的级数是莱布尼茨在1674年得到的。 来自辞典例句

4 lyric   

n.抒情诗，歌词；adj.抒情的

参考例句：

• This is a good example of Shelley's lyric poetry.这首诗是雪莱抒情诗的范例。
• His earlier work announced a lyric talent of the first order.他的早期作品显露了一流的抒情才华。

5 context   

n.背景，环境，上下文，语境

参考例句：

• You can always tell the meaning of a word from its context.你常可以从上下文中猜出词义来。
• This sentence does not seem to connect with the context.这个句子似乎与上下文脱节。

6 ambiguity   

n.模棱两可；意义不明确

参考例句：

• The telegram was misunderstood because of its ambiguity.由于电文意义不明确而造成了误解。
• Her answer was above all ambiguity.她的回答毫不含糊。