2022-01-08 ศัพท์ น่าสับสน – Set – C - Canvas & canvass

Revision C

2022-01-08

ศัพท์ น่าสับสน – Set – C - Canvas & canvass

แนะนำการใช้ ตามที่ส่วนใหญ่ใช้ แต่ละท้องถิ่น 

ความหมาย อาจผันแปร ตาม ตำแหน่ง/หน้าที่ ในประโยค

 

Dictionary.com

ออกเสียง Canvas & canvass = “KAN-vuhs”

 

Dictionary of Problem Words and Expressions:

canvas & canvass

Canvas is a kind of cloth.

To canvass is “to request,” “to solicit.”

“The canvas of the tent was covered with pine needles.”

“Jim was asked to canvass the block for donations to the United Chest.”

 

Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

Word History

What Does 'Canvass' Mean?

Yes, it's related to the word 'canvas'

The campaign season is upon us, which means that you'll find plenty of people canvassing  your neighborhood. 

The verb has a number of meanings, 

but there's one that sees quite a bit of use when the politicians are out.

 

The verb form of 'canvas' 

first referred to the process of tossing a person or animal around 

in a canvas sheet, either as punishment or for fun.

 

This meaning of canvass 

refers to campaigningin a district or 

to specific people in an effort to get that district 

or person to support a particular candidate:

 

But his path in aiding Mr. Sanders so far has been uphill, 

Mr. Gudiño-Rosales said. He has knocked on about 140 doors

—but nearly every Latino voter he has canvassed, 

he said, has asked the same question: "Who is Bernie Sanders?"
—Yamiche Alcindor, New York Times, 16 February 2016

 

Wondering whether the "survey" canvass 

has anything to do with the "thick woven cloth" canvas? 

It does, in a very roundabout way.

The verb canvass first appeared in written English in the early 1500s 

as a descendant of the noun canvas. 

The transition from noun to verb was pretty literal: 

the verb first referred to 

tossing a person oranimal around in a canvas sheet, 

either as punishment or for fun. 

Shakespeare used it in Henry VI, Part I: 

"I'll canvas thee in thy broad Cardinal's Hat, 

If thou proceed in this thy insolence."

From there, the verb came to refer to 

throwing someone or something around, 

or subjecting someone to attack or assault, 

both literally and then figuratively. 

The figurative sense was used of attacking a person in writing, 

or criticizingthem heavily.

 

This is the seed that led to the senses 

that have to do with examination: 

in order to criticize someone or something properly, 

you must thoroughly examine it, 

and when you critique, you discuss. 

 

While the more literal, early uses of canvass waned into obscurity, 

the "examine" and "discuss" senses grew. 

In fact, they're still in use today.

 

But how did we get into politics? 

In the early 1700s, the "examine" sense of canvass 

was applied very specifically to votes: 

votes that were canvassed were examined for authenticity.

Once canvass was applied to the political realm, 

it dragged its "discuss" meaning with it. 

Nowadays pollsters are as likely to canvass public opinion 

as campaigners are to canvass voters.