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Was I gypped by the landlord when he called the folding contraption that shuts off my kitchen a door?
房东把隔开我的厨房的那个可以折叠的新奇玩意儿称作门，是不是在欺骗我?
I go to the Second Inter national, which the editor of the Post urges me to use in preference to the Third International.
于是，我便去查第二版，因为《邮报》的编辑敦促我不要用第三版而要用第二版。
Here I find that a door is the movable frame or barrier of boards, or other material, usually turning on hinges or pivots or sliding, by which an entranceway into a house or apartment is closed and opened; also, a similar part of a piece of furniture, as in a cabinet or book case.
我在第二版中查到门的定义是用木板或其它材料制成的可移动的框架结构或障碍物。
This is only forty-six words, but though it includes the cellar it excludes the barn door and the accordion-like thing.
通常绕着铰链或轴转动，或者滑动，通过这种东西，一所房子或公寓的入口处得以关闭和打开;另外，也指一件家俱如衣柜或书柜等的与此相似的部分。
So I go on to the Third International. I see at once that. the new definition is longer. But I'm looking for accuracy,and if I must sacrifice brevity.
因此，我接着又去查第三版，马上便发现，门的新定义要长一些，但我所求的是准确，如果为了准确必须牺牲简洁的话，我也愿意这样做。
To get it, then I must. And sure enough, in the definition which raised the Post's blood pressure, I find the words "folding like an accordion.”
果然。在这个使《邮报》血压升高的定义中，我找到了"像手风琴一样可以折叠这几个字。
The thing is a door, and my landlord is using the word in one of its currently accepted meanings.
那种东西的确也算是门，我的房东使用的是"门"这个词现在人们所接受的各种意义当中的一种。
The new dictionary may have many faults. Nothing that tries to meet an ever-changing situation over a terrain as vast as contemporary English can hope to be free of them and much in it is open to honest and informed, disagreement.
这个定义总共只有四十六个词，但尽管它包含了地下室的门，却没能包括仓库的门和那像手风琴一样的东西。
There can be linguistic objection to the eradication of proper names.
这部新词典也许有不少缺点。
The removal of guides to pronunciation from the toot of every page may not have been worth the valuable space it saved.
这部词典的许多地方有待于人们提出公允的、有眼光的批评意见。
The new method of defining words of many meanings has disadvantages as well as advantages.
任何一部词典要想适应当代英语这样一个广阔领域里的日益变化着的情况就不可能没有缺点。
And of the half million or more definitions, hundreds, possibly thousands, may seem inadequate or imprecise.
有几百条，甚至是几千条可能有些欠当或不够准确;删掉"口语用法，
To some (of whom I am one) the omission of the label "colloquial" will seem meritorious ; to others it will seem a loss.
这种语体说明标志的做法，在有些人(包括我)看来是值得称道的，但在另一些人看来，却可能是一个损失。
But one thing is certain: anyone who solemnly announces in the year 1962 that he will be guided in matter s of English usage by a dictionary published in 1934 is talking ignorant and pretentious nonsense.
然而，有一点是确定无疑的：如果有人在1962年的今天竞郑重其事地宣布在英语用法问题上要以1934年出版的词典为指南的话，那他就是愚昧无知、狂妄自大，是在胡说八道了。
