| 释义 |
▪ I. overˈsell, ˌover-ˈsell, v.
[over- 26, 27.]
1.
†a. trans. To sell at more than the real value. Obs.
1580Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Survendre, to ouer⁓sell. 1697Dryden æneid ix. 265 The thing call'd life, with ease I can disclaim, And think it over-sold to purchase fame. 1768Woman of Honor III. 247 If he waits to do it, for his asking him, he oversells the benefit.
b. To make excessive or unrealistic claims for (goods advertised or offered for sale, etc.); to give (someone) an exaggerated idea of the value or worth of something. Also absol., transf. and fig.
1928Publishers' Weekly 10 Nov. 1978/2 We remember—how perfectly!—the names and the publishers of books on which we were oversold last season, and had, subsequently, to send the way of all deadwood. 1957Technology July 174/1 The word ‘syndicate’ and the syndicate method in management training has been over-sold for some time. 196020th Cent. Sept. 234 Mr. Wesker's enemies dismiss him as a mere brand-name oversold by the theatrical Left. 1970A. Toffler Future Shock (1974) xx. 463 It would be foolish to oversell the ability of science, as yet, to forecast complex events accurately. 1971P. Dickinson Sleep & his Brother iii. 56 ‘Why does he want to see me?’ ‘Aha! I fear I may have oversold you. We are his hobby, and he is not a patient man.’ 1971Nature 19 Nov. 118/3 The current disenchantment with science arises because science was oversold in the postwar years. 1973E. Lemarchand Let or Hindrance xi. 132 Chap oversells himself..but he knows his way round in business. 1977R. E. Harrington Quintain iv. 34 ‘They believe they're safe.’ Diamond.. knew he was over-selling to Felix, and he damned himself for it.
†2. To fetch a higher price than. Obs. rare.
1618Fletcher Chances ii. i, A distressed Lady..whose beauty Would over-sell all Italy.
3. Speculation. To sell more of (a stock, etc.) than one can deliver, or than is in existence. Also refl.
1879Webster Suppl., Oversell,..(Stock Exchange), to sell beyond one's means of delivery. 1881Daily News 14 Sept. 4/6 He secured nearly 500,000 bales, or, in fact, considerably more cotton than was actually in existence, the market thus being what is termed ‘oversold’. 1891Pall Mall G. 14 Sept. 6/2 The state of affairs..is due to..cultivators having oversold the paddy crop. 1897Daily News 26 Feb. 8/7 For mohairs there is a good many inquiries, some merchants having apparently over-sold themselves.
Hence overˈselling vbl. n.; overˈsold ppl. a.
1583Babington Commandm. viii. (1637) 71 It condemneth all over-selling: I meane knowne and wilful ouerselling of any thing. 1879–90Webster s.v. Oversell, Oversold market, a market in which stocks have been sold ‘short’ to such an extent that..it is difficult to obtain them for delivery. 1934Sun (Baltimore) 5 Apr. 27/1 Word of this amendment..caught the wheat market in apparently an oversold condition. 1968L. Sellers Doing it in Style 206 If a reporter writes a story too hard it may get into the paper unqueried and result in trouble. If he oversells in advance he will only infuriate the executives... Overselling is the way to trouble. 1971Daily Tel. 28 Oct. 19/4 The market is in a heavily oversold condition.
▪ II. oversell, n.|ˈəʊvəsɛl|
[f. the vb.]
Excessive or ambitious claims for, or promotion of, goods offered for sale; also transf. and fig.
1969Computers & Humanities IV. 53 No doubt we are partly the victims of oversell by our ibm salesmen and computer directors, who promised us the computer would do things it is quite unsuited for. 1970G. Greer Female Eunuch 13 Perhaps the sexual sell was oversell. 1974‘G. Black’ Golden Cockatrice i. 17 It was another case of oversell, like that soap powder campaign..which drove irritated women to buy the brands which didn't promise..a ten per cent whiter wash. |