discourage, pleonasm, tired cliche/ heck

 起初於南京組成一個中印學會，蔡元培為當時的會長。中印學會第一個送到國際大學 的學生魏風江，他寫的《我的老師，泰戈爾》書中說到，有一次他在泰戈爾的家裡看到蔡元培1936年二月六日寄給泰戈爾的一封信，信中有這樣一句話：「I will do my little part in cooperating with Prof. Tan Yun-shan in his courageous effort to work for the endowment of a Chinese Hall, although the present financial conditions in China are bad enough to discourage a less brave man than Prof. Tan.」(128頁)（我將與譚雲山教授合作爲中國學院籌備基金，然而中國當前的財政情況是非常艱難的，如果沒有譚教授那種勇氣，人們早就洩氣了。）


pleonasm (PLEE-uh-naz-uhm)

noun: The use of more words than those necessary to express an idea; redundancy.
Example: free gift.

[名]

1 [U]《修辞学》冗語法；[C]冗語的な表現（true factなど）.

2 余分な語［表現］.

Etymology
From Latin pleonasmus, from Greek pleonasmos, from pleonazein (to be in excess), from pleon (more). First recorded use: 1610.

Notes
Pleonasm is often used for emphasis, as in free gift, true fact, or revert back. While such repetition is discouraged, sometimes it becomes part of the language and is used idiomatically, as in a hot water heater.

Usage
"Why some people walk around with a little dark cloud over their heads all the time, while others ceaselessly view the world through rose-colored glasses, to use a tired cliche ('tired cliche' is also a cliche, as well as a pleonasm, but what the heck)." — Otto Penzler; What a Wonderful Year!; The New York Sun; Dec 28, 2005.

heck

(hĕk)
interj.
Used as a mild oath.

n. Slang
Used as an intensive: had a heck of a lot of money; was crowded as heck.

[Alteration of HELL.]

Definition of discourage

verb

[with object]

• cause (someone) to lose confidence or enthusiasm:I don’t want to discourage you, but I don’t think it’s such a good idea
• prevent or seek to prevent (something) by showing disapproval or creating difficulties:the plan is designed to discourage the use of private cars
• persuade (someone) against an action:we want to discourage children from smoking

Derivatives

discourager

noun

Origin:

late Middle English: from Old French descouragier, from des- (expressing reversal) + corage 'courage'