| 释义 |
dumb down, v. colloq. (orig. U.S.).
Brit. |(ˌ)dʌm ˈdaʊn|, U.S. |ˈˌdəm ˈˌdaʊn|
[‹ dumb v. + down adv.]
1. trans. To simplify or reduce the intellectual content of (esp. published or broadcast material) in order to make it appealing or intelligible to a larger number of people. Also in extended use.
1933H. T. Webster in Forum Dec. 372, I can cheer, too, for the Hollywood gag men in conference on a comedy which has been revealed as too subtle when they determine they must dumb it down. 1951S. J. Perelman Let. 23 Nov. in Don't tread on Me (1987) 119 The bulk of the changes was an effort to dumb the piece down for the Redbook reader. 1983Atlanta Jrnl. & Constit. 3 July b3/4 Once out of school, former students, needing to break into a tough job market, are so used to being ‘dumbed down’ that they find reading this newspaper's job ads a difficult challenge. 1988Daily Tel. 26 Sept. 18/3 ITV is already ‘dumbing down’ its programmes in anticipation of deregulation. 1994Amer. Scholar Winter 14/2 My teachers, far from dumbing things down, were regularly smartening things up on me. 2000T. Robbins Fierce Invalids home from Hot Climates 336 It's hardly headline news that the corporate state and its media are using the latest gadget-com and gimmick-tech to dumb us down.
2. intr. To become less intellectually challenging or sophisticated, or produce less intellectually demanding material, esp. in order to appeal to a mass audience.
1984N.Y. Times (Nexis) 29 July i. 2/5 Secretary of education T. H. Bell led the way with a speech earlier this year in which he accused textbook publishers of ‘dumbing down’ to accommodate students at the bottom of the class. 1991Washington Journalism Rev. Apr. 23/2 I've never heard so many editors talking about readers, thinking about readers... It doesn't mean dumbing down. It means a stronger push for clarity. 1993N.Y. Rev. Bks. 12 Aug. 54/4 It is so ironic, but I fear that mammon and the perception (false I hope) of the need to dumb-down for mass audiences have brought us to this impasse of utter inconsistency. 2000Sunday Herald (Glasgow) 27 Aug. (Seven Days section) 1/1 This is just the BBC dumbing down.
Derivatives. dumbed-down adj.
1982Washington Post (Nexis) 21 Sept. c3 [The] country faces a serious problem with the large numbers of people who choose not to read or only read simple ‘*dumbed down’ material. 1999Independent 26 May ii. 2/4 It is not that our dumbed-down education system produces students who do not know where (or what) Portugal is.
dumbing-down n.
1980U.S. News & World Rep. 4 Feb. 42/1 Education has taken several very backward steps in the last 20 years—for example, the so-called *dumbing down of the textbooks: You don't teach difficult books, because college freshmen and sophomores can't read them. You don't ask for essay examinations, because they can't write. These are very serious losses. 1995Daily Tel. 3 Aug. 14/7 If you doubt me, consider the dumbing down of big American movies for the international market in the past few years: all slapstick and Schwarzenegger. |