OUTLIVE
英英释义:live or last longer than
例句:The one-child policy had outlived its usefulness.
2. 体会这个词 (进阶篇)
“outlive”的基本意思是“比…活得长”、“比…持久”,例如 He outlived his wife. Outlive 还经常和 one’s usefulness 搭配使用,表示某人或某物不再有用。想说:“你现在对我来说,已经没什么用了”,就可以说:Now you have outlived your usefulness to me.
我们想表达“no longer useful”时,就可以用到 outlive one’s usefulness 这个常见表达。例如某个政策虽然还存在,但是实际上已经没有效力了,这时就可以说: The one-child policy had outlived its usefulness.(注意这里的时态是过去完成时。由于计划生育政策已经被废除了,存在于废除这个动作的过去,所以使用了过去完成时。)
类似地,“在创业公司,标准的作息制度早已形同虚设”就可以说:In startups the conventional/standard work schedule, i.e. from 9 am to 5 pm, has long since outlived its usefulness.(很多创业公司采用的是“996”模式,早 9 点到晚 9 点,一周上 6 天班。)
个人拓展:
OUTLIVE vs. SURVIVE
两者都有“比…活得长”的意思。但是survive的直接宾语要么是一个亲人,要么是一件负面的事件;outlive的直接宾语则可以是没有亲属关系的人或是任何性质的事件。
//outlive its usefulness/purpose
背句子:
The UN is an organisation which has long since outlived its usefulness.形同虚设
Dave’s problem is not that he has a tangible lack of wealth, but that he has the intangible fear of outliving his assets. 钱花完了人还没死