2020-11-28
ศัพท์ น่าสับสน ชุด P – peruse & pursue
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Dictionary.com
ออกเสียง peruse = ‘puh-ROOZ’
ออกเสียง pursue = ‘per-SOO’
Abused, Confused, & Misused Words by Mary Embree
Peruse = read through thoroughly;
examine in detail: peruse a map
Not to be confused with:
pursue – trail, hunt;
follow close upon: pursue the escapee;
continue to discuss or study: pursue the options;
go on with: pursue an education
American Heritage Dictionary
peruse
USAGE NOTE:
Peruse has long meant “to read thoroughly”
and is often used loosely when one could usethe word read instead.
The worst that can be said about the latter use is that
it is excessively literary or precious.
However,
common misuse of the word in the sense “to glance over, skim,”
as in I only had a moment to peruse the manual quickly,
was unacceptable to 66 percent of the Usage Panel.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language,
pe·rus′a·ble adj.
pe·rus′al n.
pe·rus′er n.
Usage Note:
Peruse has long meant "to read thoroughly,"
as in He perused the contract until he was satisfied that it met all of his requirements,
which was acceptable to 75 percent of the Usage Panel in our 2011 survey. But the word is often used more loosely, to mean simply "to read,"
as in The librarians checked to see which titles had been perused in the last month and which ones had been left untouched.
Seventy percent of the Panel rejected this example in 1999,
but only 39 percent rejected it in 2011.
Further extension of the word to mean "to glance over, skim"
has traditionally been considered an error,
but our ballot results suggest that it isbecoming somewhat more acceptable.
When asked about the sentence
I only had a moment to peruse the manual quickly,
66 percent of the Panel found it unacceptable in 1988, 58 percent in 1999, and 48 percent in 2011.
Use of the word outside of reading contexts,
as in We perused the shops in the downtown area,
is often considered a mistake.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Frequently Asked Questions About peruse
Does peruse mean "read in detail"?
Peruse can mean "to read something in a relaxed way, or skim"
and can also mean "to read something carefullyor in detail."
It is what is known as a contronym,
a word having two meanings thatcontradict one another.
There are numerous examples of these in English, including sanction, oversight, and dust.
If you use peruse simply take care
that your intended meaning is made clear bythe context.
Does peruse mean "to skim"?
Yes; one of our definitions for peruse is"to skim."
However, you should be aware that another of our definitions
for this word is "to read something in detail."
Some usage guides feel that the ‘"read carefully" sense is correct
and that the "skim" sense is not.
Both have been in widespread use for some four hundred years.
What is the noun form of peruse?
Peruse is a verb, referring to either the casual
or the thorough and detailed examining ofsomething.
The related noun meaning
"the act or an instance of perusing something" is perusal.
Another noun related to peruse is peruser, "one who peruses."
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Usage Notes
Does Peruse Mean "to Skim" or"to Read Carefully"?
Peruse means "to read carefully" and "to skim"? How?
What to Know
Peruse can mean "to read something in a relaxed way, or skim"
and can also mean "to read something carefully orin detail."
Peruse is thus a contronym
because it has multiple definitions thatseem contradict each other.
A Merriam-Webster user recently pinged us on Twitter
to ask us about the entryfor peruse:
: to look at or read (something) in aninformal or relaxed way
: to examine or read (something) in a very careful way
"Is this real?" he asked. "How did this happen?"
It is real: peruse is a contronym,
or a word that has two meanings which seem to contradict each other.
How peruse got those two meanings is complicated.
Original Use of Peruse
When peruse first entered English in the late 1400s,
it didn't refer to reading at all
but to going through or examining something
(like a to-do list) item by item.
This meaning gave rise to another,
more general meaning:
"to examine or consider with attention and in detail."
Peruse in this sense was common:
Shakespeare used it in Romeo & Juliet ("Let me peruse this face") and Milton used it in Paradise Lost
("My self I then perus'd, and Limb by Limb Survey'd").
One common object of study was, of course, the book, and by the early 1500s, peruse had come to mean, simply, "to read through or over."
When a writer meant to convey something
about the carefulness of a perusal,
they did so by using a modifier.
Washington Irving in Salamagundi writes of a lady
"who so attentively peruses her book," implying a careful study;
Samuel Johnson in The Idler complains that "advertisements are now so numerous that they are very negligently perused," implying that they are merely skimmed over.
Peruse lived with this broad "read" meaning for many centuries.
Until 1906, that is, when usage commentator Frank Vizetelly,
in his A Desk-Book of Errors in English, wrote:
peruse should not be used when the simple read is meant.
The former implies to read with care and attention
and is almost synonymous with scan,
which is to examine with critical care and in detail.
A person is more apt to read than to scan or peruse the Bible.
Where Vizetelly got this idea is beyond us
—it appears he made up the rule out of thin air.
Perhaps he was hearkening back to the original "examine" sense of peruse and ignoringcenturies of more general use.
But Vizetelly's prescription was picked up and repeated by other 20th-century usage commentators.
Two "Opposite" Meanings
The effect this had was to split
the broad "read" meaning of peruse intotwo narrower meanings:
one that referred to carefully examining or reading something,
and the other that referred to casually looking at or reading something.
These two meanings aren't contradictory; rather, they are just two sides of the same coin.
Nowadays, peruse is almost always used in literary contexts.
If you decide to use it, make sure that its meaning is clear.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Choose the Right Synonym for pursue
mean to go after or on the track of something or someone.
CHASE implies going swiftly after and trying to overtake something fleeing or running. a dog chasing a cat
PURSUE suggests a continuing effort to overtake, reach, or attain. pursued the criminal through narrow streets
FOLLOW puts less emphasis upon speed or intent to overtake. friends followed me home in their car
TRAIL may stress a following of tracks or traces rather than a visible object. trail deer trailed a suspect across the country
Common Errors In English Usage Dictionary
peruse
This word, which means “examine thoroughly”
is often misused to mean “glance over hastily.”
Although some dictionaries accept the latter meaning, it is not traditional.
